Bellamy's People

Bellamy's People, also known as Bellamy's People of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is a British comedy show first broadcast on BBC Two as an eight-episode series. The show is a spin-off from the BBC Radio 4 show Down the Line. The show stars Rhys Thomas as the eponymous Gary Bellamy and the supporting cast features Charlie Higson, Paul Whitehouse, Simon Day, Felix Dexter, Amelia Bullmore, Lucy Montgomery, Adil Ray, Daniel Kaluuya and Robert Popper.

Bellamy's People
The white sans-serif text "Bellamy's People of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" over a collage of clips of Bellamy's interviewees, arranged to form the flag of the United Kingdom.
Bellamy's People title card
Also known asBellamy's People of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
GenreSituation comedy
Directed byCharlie Higson
Paul Whitehouse
StarringRhys Thomas
Charlie Higson
Paul Whitehouse
Simon Day
Felix Dexter
Amelia Bullmore
Lucy Montgomery
Adil Ray
Rosie Cavaliero
Robert Popper
Daniel Kaluuya
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes8
Production
ProducersCharlie Higson
Paul Whitehouse
Ali Bryer Carron
Running time30 minutes
Production companiesBBC
Down the Line Productions
Release
Original networkBBC Two
Original release21 January (2010-01-21) –
11 March 2010 (2010-03-11)

Production

Down the Line is a spoof radio chat show broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 2006 and 2013 which satirises populist radio phone in shows. Following its success, writers Higson and Whitehouse looked to transfer the format to television; however, it was apparent that the phone-in format would not work, so they decided instead to satirise the celebrity travelogue such as David Dimbleby's How We Built Britain and Alan Titchmarsh's British Isles – A Natural History.[1] In the television programme, radio talk show host Gary Bellamy travels around Britain in his Triumph Stag 'personality vehicle' meeting the people of Britain and trying to find out what makes them tick. The show's working title was Bellamy's Kingdom.[2]

The show was Higson and Whitehouse's first television appearance together since Swiss Toni in 2004. Whitehouse's characters included 23-stone Graham Downes who rarely left his bed.[3]

On 13 May 2010, the BBC announced that they would not be commissioning a second series of Bellamy's People.[4]

Reception

The first and second episodes gained 1.2 million viewers, a 6% and 5% audience share respectively.[5][6]

Spin-offs

In April 2010, ahead of the UK General Election, the self-styled community leader Mr Khan (Adil Ray) began broadcasting his own comedy videos commenting on the election, the main political parties, and UK politics in general.[7] Khan was subsequently given his own comedy sitcom, Citizen Khan, which was broadcast first in August 2012.

References
  1. "Bellamy's People – The Celebrity Road Trip Gets Skewered". The Independent. London. 15 January 2010. Archived from the original on 19 January 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
  2. Smith, Emma (2 December 2007). "On the move:Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson". Times. London. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  3. "BBC Paul Whitehouse back in character for TV series". BBC News. 18 January 2010. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  4. "BBC2 cancels Bellamy's People". British Comedy Guide. 13 May 2010. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  5. Deans, Jason (25 January 2010). "TV ratings: 1.2m join Bellamy's People". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 29 January 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2010.
  6. Tryhorn, Chris (29 January 2010). "TV ratings: Skins storms back with nearly 1 million viewers". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 2 February 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2010.
  7. "BBC Comedy: Mr Kahn". bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 April 2010. Retrieved 16 April 2010.
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