Chickens. Image shows from L to R: Cecil (Simon Bird), George (Joe Thomas), Bert (Jonny Sweet). Copyright: Big Talk Productions
Chickens

Chickens

  • TV sitcom
  • Sky One / Channel 4
  • 2011 - 2013
  • 7 episodes (1 series)

Sitcom set in a sleepy English village during the first world war. It follows three young men who are not on the front line fighting. Stars Simon Bird, Joe Thomas, Jonny Sweet, Sarah Daykin, Emerald Fennell and more.

Chickens. Image shows from L to R: Agnes (Emerald Fennell), Dot (Amy Dawson), Gracie (Louise Ford), George (Joe Thomas), Cecil (Simon Bird), Bert (Jonny Sweet). Copyright: Big Talk Productions

Key details

Genre
Sitcom
Broadcast
2011 - 2013
Channels
Sky One, Channel 4
Episodes
7 (1 pilot + 1 series)
Stars
Simon Bird, Joe Thomas, Jonny Sweet, Sarah Daykin, Emerald Fennell, Louise Ford, Amy Dawson, Vicki Pepperdine and more
Writers
Simon Bird, Joe Thomas and Jonny Sweet
Director
Ben Palmer
Producers
John Rushton, Kenton Allen, Caroline Leddy, Lucy Lumsden and Matthew Justice
Company

Chickens is a comedy about three young men who avoid combat in the First World War: George is a conscientious objector, Cecil would love to be fighting for queen and country but his flat feet mean the army won't have him - and then there's Bert, a philandering scaredicat on the run.

In the eyes of their neighbours they're all the same: Chickens. So in a world of (quite sexy) women, children and the infirm these twenty-something chaps have only each other for company - and nothing else in common.

The women of the village are bound to treat them with the contempt they deserve - any man worth their salt should be doing their duty for the war effort abroad. But with pretty much every other man away, can George, Cecil and Bert claw themselves back into the good books of the ladies on the home front?

Chickens is a sitcom about three young guys in a woman's world, trying to prove their manhood. Every day they live in fear of being labelled as cowards - an argument they've already lost in the mere act of still being in England.

This started out as a Channel 4 Comedy Showcase pilot but switched to Sky for the series.

Additional details

Part of

Channel 4 Comedy Showcase 2011

Also known as
  • Comedy Showcase: Chickens (Pilot)
Production
Location
Camera set-up
Single camera
Picture
Colour

Website links

Broadcast details

First broadcast
Friday 2nd September 2011 at 10:30pm on Channel 4
Most recent repeats
  • Wednesday 31st December 2014 at 3:30am on Sky1 - Episode 6
  • Wednesday 31st December 2014 at 3:00am on Sky1 - Episode 5
  • Wednesday 24th December 2014 at 1:30am on Sky1 - Episode 4

Recording details

  • Finchingfield (Essex) - Location filming

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