Funland

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Funland is a comedy / thriller serial, produced by the BBC that was first screened from Sunday 23 October 2005, on the digital channel BBC Three. Created by Jeremy Dyson (of The League of Gentlemen) and Simon Ashdown, the series consists of a sixty-minute opening episode followed by ten half-hour installments.

Cast

• Daniel Mays – Carter Krantz
• Kris Marshall – Dudley Sutton
• Sarah Smart – Lola Sutton
• Ian Puleston-Davies – Shirley Woolf
• Judy Parfitt – Mercy
• Frances Barber – Connie
• Roy Barraclough – The Mayor
• Mark Gatiss – Ambrose Chapfel
• Cheryl Campbell – Lola's Mum
• Ewan Bailey – The Finn

Plot Summary

The series followed the dark and seedy tale of a group of people, all interlinked through family, work or debt. It started with Shirley Woolf and his wife Connie's feud to separate them from Shirley's mother Mercy. And the arrival of a southern stranger and a prudish couple from Stoke. As the series developed more sinister plotlines and characters were introduced, the corrupt Mayor of Blackpool, the mysterious figure of power Bridewell and a strange hooded figure. Other mysteries arrive such as the disappearance of the last vicar of Ambrose Chapel, what lies behind the door opened by the mysterious key and what are Mercy's plans for Blackpool.

All was revealed in the final episode, as the screeching figure in the parka arrives with a package for Mercy, as she, Shirley and Carter are situated at the very top of Blackpool tower in a raging gale on the night of the Cross Ball. The package is opened, and the deeds to the entire Lancashire coast, "Wax's way"; stretching all the way to Lytham St. Annes and Mercy reveals her plan as her iron grip over the bustling seaside towns tighten following her purchase of the tower. But the paperwork flies out of her hands and Shirley climbs up the tower framework to reach it but is shot by Mercy and plummets to his death.

The last scene as Carter and Lola walk along the beach, they find the deeds and know, now that Mercy has been imprisoned for her crimes; that they, and the town of Blackpool are safe.

Notes

• Produced by Sanne Wohlenberg, the series is directed by Dearbhla Walsh, Susan Tully and Brian Kirk, and filmed on location in Blackpool, the town in which the programme is also set.
• Funland was nominated for a BAFTA (2006) in the "Best Drama Serial" category, but was beaten by Bleak House.
• A scene involving Mercy and the Mayor is filmed on the Big Dipper at Pleasure Beach Blackpool.

DVD releases

The complete boxset was released in 2006.

DVD	Release date
The Complete First Series (2 discs)	26 June 2006

External links

• Funland at bbc.co.uk
• " Episode one" script at BBC Writers Room
• "Filming begins on BBC THREE's Funland" at BBC Press Office

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Last updated on Tuesday March 11, 2008 at 15:16:27 PDT (GMT -0700)
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