8.6 /10 1 Votes
8.6/10 TV First episode date 2 October 2008 Genres Comedy, Drama | 8.5/10 IMDb Narrated by Samuel Barnett Networks BBC, BBC Two, BBC HD | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Written by Jonathan Harvey (adaptation)
Simon Doonan (source material) Directed by Gareth Carrivick
David Kerr Starring Luke Ward-Wilkinson
Layton Williams
Sophie Ash
Samuel Barnett
Olivia Colman
Aidan McArdle
Sarah Niles
Meera Syal Theme music composer Dan Gillespie Sells
Ian Masterson Opening theme "Beautiful People Theme" Cast Luke Ward‑Wilkinson, Olivia Colman, Samuel Barnett, Aidan McArdle, Meera Syal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dancing in the street melody crescent medley beautiful people bbc two
Beautiful People was a British comedy drama television series based on the memoirs of Barneys creative director Simon Doonan. The series takes place in Reading, Berkshire, in 1997, where thirteen-year-old Simon Doonan and his best friend Kylie dream of escaping their dreary suburban surroundings and moving to cosmopolitan London "to live amongst the beautiful people". The first episode aired on BBC Two on 2 October 2008 and recorded overnight ratings of 1.5 million viewers and positive critical reaction. Episodes are self-contained, but do follow a loose story arc throughout the course of each series. The second and final series finished airing on 18 December 2009.
Contents
- Dancing in the street melody crescent medley beautiful people bbc two
- Beautiful people my best friend kyle kylie minogue
- Cast and characters
- Occasional characters
- Series synopses
- Production
- Broadcast and ratings
- Critical reaction
- Series Two
- Awards
- Merchandise
- References
Beautiful people my best friend kyle kylie minogue
Cast and characters
Occasional characters
Series synopses
Series 1
In 2008 New York City, Simon Doonan, a window-dresser at Barneys, tells his boyfriend Sacha various tales from his childhood in Reading. Most of Simon's stories center around how he came to own some of his most treasured possessions, which he finds a place for in his eccentric window displays. Over the course of the series, young Simon struggles to express his love of music, theatre, and fashion in a working class community, with local hooligans hounding him at school and a supportive but quirky family squashing his efforts at home. While it is implied, sexuality is not relevant.
Series 2
The second series of Beautiful People was broadcast in 2009, when Simon returns to Reading to mend his heart after breaking up with his boyfriend Sacha. As in the first series, Simon recounts stories from his childhood in Reading, but speaks directly to the viewer instead of to Sacha. Simon and Kylie's sexuality becomes more overt in the second series as the two lads become more comfortable with themselves. In the series finale, Simon finds himself attracted to a new boy at school, prompting him to come out to his mother after being dissuaded from running away from home.
Production
The comedy was greenlit in May 2008 by Controller of BBC Two Lucy Lumsden and Controller of Comedy Commissioning Roly Keating. The six episodes were written by Jonathan Harvey (Gimme Gimme Gimme) and directed by Gareth Carrivick. Studio filming was done at Shepperton Studios and exterior locations at South Oxhey and Bushey, Hertfordshire, Harrow, London, Grahame Park concourse and New York City. Exterior scenes of the cul de sac where Simon lives are filmed on Crabtree Close in Bushey. Doonan grew up in Reading in the 1960s but Harvey moved the setting forward to the 1990s. Executive producer Jon Plowman hoped audiences would relate to Simon's childhood; "Every teenager thinks they're different [...] I hope the audience will think: 'That's me as a teenager being laughed at. Everyone else was in a gang together, and I was in a gang of one.' But the truth is, everyone is in a gang of one."
Olivia Colman helped the cast to bond on set by arranging a visit from a mobile blood donor unit.
Broadcast and ratings
Series 1 of Beautiful People was broadcast on Thursdays at 21:30 on BBC Two, during the channel's "Thursdays Are Funny" strand, and at 22:00 on BBC HD. Series 2 was broadcast at 22:00 on Fridays on BBC Two.
Critical reaction
The series was previewed by The Guardian's Grace Dent as "a sort of camp, working-class British Arrested Development". Dent wrote that it "made [her] laugh more than anything [she had] seen so far on TV this year". Tim Teeman, the entertainment editor for The Times, rated "How I Got My Vase" three out of five stars. Teeman complimented Ward-Wilkinson's and Williams's acting but did not believe the 1990s were long ago enough to feel nostalgia for. Hermione Eyre for The Independent praised Williams and Colman, and compared the show to The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole.
Series Two
The second series began on 13 November 2009 on BBC Two. The flashbacks in the second series are set in 1998. In the present-day scenes, Sacha and Simon have split up and Simon has returned to Reading. An ongoing storyline in 1998 concerns the unplanned pregnancy of Simon's sister Ashlene.
Awards
In 2010, Beautiful People was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding Comedy Series" during the 21st GLAAD Media Awards.