Ladies And Gentlemen

Sitcom pilot following the lives and loves of a group of 30-something friends who share a London house... in 1865

Strand:
Channel 4 Comedy Showcase 2007
AKA:
Comedy Showcase: Ladies And Gentlemen; Modern Men (Working Title)
Genre:
Sitcom
Broadcast:
2007  (Channel 4)
Episodes:
1 Pilot
Starring:
Darren Boyd, Reece Shearsmith, Adam Buxton, Lucy Punch, Rosie Cavaliero, Cara Horgan, Christina Cole, Dominic Coleman, Neil Edmond, Karl Johnson, Jessica Regan
Writers:
Sam Bain, Jesse Armstrong
Production:
TalkbackThames

Sitcom following the single lives and awkward loves of a group of 30-something friends who share a house in London... in 1865.

Horatio is the youngest son of a Baron, a man incapable of earning a living who gets by because of his superior social position.

Freddie is a middle-class clerk in a dead-end job who is obsessed with status and manners.

Jack is a doctor and a serial romantic - there isn't a woman in London who he hasn't tried to become engaged to.

Alice is Horatio's lover, far cleverer than he is but still not as clever as she thinks she is.

Louisa is the less attractive sister of Alice, and resolutely left on the shelf despite her youth.

Finally, Emily is the fairly incompetent but pretty maid who Freddie continually lusts after but can never bring himself to do anything about.

When Horatio's uncle dies and the entire estate is left to him, Horatio suddenly finds himself the number-one suspect for murder. Did Horatio purposely kill his uncle to get his hands on the estate? Or was it his cousin, the daughter of his dead uncle, the beautiful Elizabeth, who was recently betrothed to his friend and flatmate Jack?

Our Review: Ladies and Gentlemen was fun, but nothing amazing. We'd expected slightly more given the calibre of the cast and the writers' previous work.

Darren Boyd was once again great though - we expect him to become one of Britain's top comedy actors in the coming years.