Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps

Background

The original executive producer of the show, Geoffrey Perkins, saw writer Susan Nickson's work on Channel 4's Lloyd's Bank Film Challenge, entitled "Life's A Bitch", which starred Sean Hughes and Kathy Burke. At just 14, Nickson was asked by Perkins (who was also Head of Comedy at the time) to come and work with the BBC after a few years; consequently, Nickson created Two Pints when she was just 18.

The BBC tried to persuade the producers of the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks to get Will Mellor and Natalie Casey to work with them when they appeared in the show. Ralf Little and Sheridan Smith were cast soon after completing work on another BBC sitcom, The Royle Family. Although initially reluctant, he agreed to audition when he realised that Two Pints would be very different from The Royle Family. Kathryn Drysdale was brought in after producers saw her perform at drama school.

The show's unbroadcast pilot starred Little and Mellor, though the characters of Janet, Louise and Donna were portrayed by Clare Buckfield, Lucy Punch, and Maxine Peake. Little and Smith, and Mellor and Casey, play couples Jonny and Janet, and Gaz and Donna. Mellor and Casey had previously portrayed an onscreen couple in Hollyoaks. Smith stated how lucky she was to work with Little after starring together before, as playing such a close couple would have been awkward for both. Mellor stated in a past interview how he sees Casey as a younger sister—which makes kissing scenes a bit awkward. Smith also classes Casey as the "mummy" in the show, due to her knowledge and problem-solving skills. Typically, episodes end with a particularly dramatic scene, such as Jonny breaking the news to Janet that her parents turned down his request for her hand in marriage.

BBC Two broadcast the first series, BBC Choice screened series two but was re branded as BBC Three shortly before it screened series three, and has shown the first run of each new series ever since. BBC Two also repeated the show, though only once, previously shown every Thursday. Series four ended with Jonny being shot by armed police, and viewers were asked to vote, by text or phone, on Jonny's fate. Series five began with a funeral, which was revealed to be that of Donna's mother, Flo. Some series are accompanied by a special programme exposing errors that occurred during the filming. The show, titled Two Pints of Lager Outtakes, features interviews with cast and crew, each explaining the difficulties of getting various scenes to be performed as expected.

The outcome of the final episode of series eight was decided by the public, who in episode seven were asked to vote whether Gaz should be with Donna or Janet. Following the final episode of series 8 which was broadcast on 10 May 2009 showing the audience's views and opinions of the show and who Gaz should be with; the audience chose Donna, with 76.9% of the vote. The final episode concluded with Donna at Gaz's bedside.

Although Two Pints is largely comedy, it sometimes, especially at the end of a series, becomes more dramatic and serious. Such storylines have included Janet and Jonny's split, Jonny's shooting, Gaz's coma and Janet's imminent departure as a cruise singer.

Will Mellor has described the show as being "driven by sex and alcohol" and the show is known for its adult, sometimes scatological humour, mostly involving references to sex and private bodily functions. Vulgar language is also used, except that the word 'fuck' is uttered only once during the last episode of each series.

Series

The first six series with the original cast including Ralf Little ran until 2006 when Little said he would not return to the series. Will Mellor hinted at the series continuation in television interviews, one being Loose Women, and more or less confirming it on The Paul O'Grady Show, with statements such as "we'll keep on making it". Ralf Little announced during an interview for This Morning on 19 September 2007 that he would not be returning for the following series due to an overwhelming schedule, and Jonny Keogh was therefore killed off-screen in the first episode of the seventh series.

An eighth series was confirmed by Mellor in an interview in the Metro on 21 April 2008, in which he said that they would be filming the series from November 2008 to January 2009. In January 2009, the BBC announced recording dates for the next series at BBC Television Centre from 1 February to 3 April. A special edition for Comic Relief was also recorded on 25 January. The eighth series began airing on 8 March 2009 starting with a Comic Relief special, which featured characters from Coming of Age and Grownups, as a curtain raiser, with subsequent episodes as normal. Natalie Casey, Kathryn Drysdale, Luke Gell, Will Mellor and Sheridan Smith all returned and the new character of Wesley was played by Thomas Nelstrop.

Two special episodes of Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps were filmed in 2009. The first was set a few minutes after the ending of the previous episode, its cast being limited to Janet, Wesley and Tim, and was recorded on 13 August 2009 at BBC TV Centre. It was a musical extravaganza set entirely inside the Archer and was broadcast on 15 December 2009. The second, "Sliding Gaz", was recorded on 18 August 2009 and shown on 22 December 2009. The cast consists of Donna and Gaz only and shows Donna in a "sliding doors" technique, imagining Gaz being healthy and also paralysed.

In April 2010, it was revealed that the show was to return, albeit 'refreshed' by the BBC, which could mean cast changes, and the loss of the creator of the show, Susan Nickson, who is reportedly moving on to work in America. Location filming for series 9 is set to begin in Runcorn on 25 January as reported in The Runcorn Weekly News. To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the show the official BBC website uploaded many of the viewers' favourite clips as well as Will Mellor and Natalie Casey presenting a 5-minute video about the 10 things you didn't know about the show. A plot summary of the new 2011 Ninth Series was then revealed by the BBC. Original cast members Sheridan Smith and Kathryn Drysdale announced in 2010 that they would not be returning to the show. They were written out of the series and their departures were mentioned in the first episode of series 9. On 23 July 2011, following a decline in ratings and feeling the series had come to a natural end following the departures of half of the main cast members the BBC decided that the show would not return for a tenth series.

Filming locations

Many of the places featured in Two Pints are real: