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A dark seven-part comedy mystery starring The League of Gentlemen's Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith
Broadcast:
2009 (BBC Two)
Starring:
Steve Pemberton, Jason Tompkins, Dawn French, Reece Shearsmith, Adrian Scarborough, Daniel Kaluuya, Elizabeth Berrington, Daisy Haggard, Alison Lintott, Debbie Chazen, Christopher Biggins
Writers:
Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith
Production:
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Psychoville is a dark character comedy mystery in which five different characters are strangely linked.
The main characters are: Mr Jelly, an embittered one-handed clown who makes balloon animals with his hook; Joy, a desperately misguided midwife; Robert, a lovestruck dwarf; Mr Lomax, a blind avaricious collector; and David Sowerbutts, a serial-killer-obsessed man-child.
All five are at first seemingly unconnected, but we know they share at least one thing in common... despite having different backgrounds, different interests, and coming from different parts of the country, they have each been sent an anonymous, black-edged card marked with the words: "I know what you did..."
As the series progresses, we learn more about the background of the main characters, and discover they all spent time together at Ravenhill Hospital.
Our Review: Psychoville was easily one of the best comedies of 2009. Its a very likely BAFTA winner we think!
Pemberton and Shearsmith returned to what they do best to create this show - dark and twisted comedy. The characters they've created are all interesting, and the storyline driving the show forward was genuinely intriguing. The scripts sucked you straight into the dark and secretive world of Psychoville which, at the end of each episode, left one desperate for the next instalment (the weekly wait to find out what happens was agonising).
Of course, Psychoville is not just a mystery thriller, it's most definitely a comedy too. It delivers on this count also - there's some particularly good laugh-out-loud sight gags and clever culture-based references, in much the same style as the The League of Gents.
Oh, and the show looked amazing too. Some great production design, lighting and direction.
The achievements of the ambitious fourth episode, in which the whole 30 minute episode was composed of just two takes, shouldn't be overlooked. Modern British comedy hasn't seen an episode like it before.
Fans of Psychoville certainly had lots to lap up during the broadcast, as the creators crafted a whole series of supporting websites on top of the series. Meanwhile the DVD is packed with bonus features.
We're thrilled to hear the BBC have ordered a second series of the comedy. There will be a special at the end of 2010, and a six-part series in 2011.
In the meantime there's a special Pyschoville screening and Q&A with the creators taking place in London in April - More info
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