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Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps

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Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (commonly shortened to Two Pints or Two Pints of Lager) is a BBC sitcom written by Susan Nickson. It is set in the town of Runcorn in Cheshire, England and revolves around the lives of five twentysomethings; it was first broadcast in 2001.

The title was inspired by the 1980 hit single "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please" by Splodgenessabounds.

History

The executive producer of the show, Stephen McCrum, began the show after seeing 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. Aged just fourteen, Nickson was asked by McCrum to come and work with him after a few years; consequently, Nickson began working on Two Pints when she was just eighteen.

McCrum tried to persuade the producers of the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks to get Will Mellor and Natalie Casey to work with him, when the two acted on the programme. Casey had to go through several auditions to get the part. McCrum had wanted to work with Sheridan Smith since she began performing at a very young age. Smith auditioned for the part but was turned down; however, she was later cast for the first series, and has been part of the cast ever since. Ralf Little was cast soon after completing work on another BBC sitcom The Royle Family, on which he had also acted with Smith. Although initially reluctant, he agreed to audition when he realised that Two Pints would be very different to The Royle Family. Kathryn Drysdale was brought in after producers saw her perform at her drama school.

The show's pilot starred Little and Mellor, though the characters of Janet, Louise and Donna were portrayed by other actresses. Smith, Casey and Drysdale were then cast to be in the first series, and have been acting in the show ever since. Both Ralf and Sheridan, and Will and Natalie play couples Jonny and Janet, and Gaz and Donna. Will and Natalie also played couples on-screen in the past when they portrayed a couple in Hollyoaks. Sheridan stated how lucky she was to work with Ralf after starring together before, as playing such a close couple would have been awkward for them both. Will stated in a past interview how he sees Natalie Casey as a younger sister to him, and mentions that he feels awkward during kissing scenes because of this. Sheridan also classes Natalie 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 about her parents turning down his request for her hand in marriage.

In 2007, a seventh series was commissioned. Speculation began after the showing of the last episode in series six, which led many people to believe the characters have been killed off. In one interview, Ralf Little stated in the future he would be doing "more Two Pints", and commentary on the series six DVD seemed to hint at the fact the show hasn't finished. Will Mellor hinted on television interviews, one being Loose Women, and more or less confirming it on The Paul O'Grady Show, after saying statements like "we'll keep on making it". Little announced during an interview for This Morning on 19 September 2007 that he would not be returning for the next series of Two Pints... due to an overwhelming schedule, and Jonny Keogh was therefore killed off screen in the first episode of the seventh series.

Broadcast

BBC Two broadcast the first series, then the now-defunct BBC Choice screened series two. BBC Choice was rebranded as BBC Three shortly before it screened series three, and has shown the first run of each new series ever since. The channel currently broadcasts repeats of the show on an almost-nightly basis, covering all six present series. Back-to-back episodes are broadcast around 11pm, then there is sometimes a repeat broadcast of these two episodes the same night, at around 1am-2am. BBC Two also repeated the show, though only once, and used to be shown every Thursday. Dave is another channel that show repeats of the sitcom, and occasionally alongside UKTV Gold. Dave started showing later episodes in 2006 after only broadcasting the first few series. To mark this, the channel displayed "NEW" underneath its on-screen logo, leading to many people believing that the rights to show new episodes have gone to UKTV.

After series four, in which Jonny was shot by armed police, there was a text and phone vote for the viewers to determine if Jonny should die or not. Series five began with a funeral, which was revealed to be that of Donna's mother, Flo, rather than Jonny's.

Main cast

Episodes

Distribution

DVD releases

All series to current date (1 to 6) have been released
Series Episodes Discs DVD release date
Region 2
1 & 2 12 2 UK: August 18 2003
All episodes from the first and second series.
3 & 4 18 4 UK: September 6, 2004
All episodes from the third and fourth series (including the musical special).
1 to 4 30 5 UK: October 24, 2005
All episodes from the first to the fourth series.
5 14 2 UK: September 5, 2005
All episodes from the fifth series.
6 10 2 UK: September 4, 2006
All episodes from the sixth series plus interviews with the creators and cast, and a feature showing making of the horror special.
1 to 6 54 10 UK: October 16, 2006
All episodes from the first to the sixth series (including the musical special) with interviews with the creators and cast, and a feature showing making of the horror special
7 8 2 UK: April 21, 2008
All episodes from the seventh series.
The first four series have been released in packs of two (1&2 and 3&4), and as a complete series 1 to 4 single pack. Series 5 and 6 have been released separately. The six series were released as a single 10-DVD pack.

Filming locations

Many of the places featured on Two Pints are actual real places:

  • The Archer is a real pub in Runcorn. However in real life it's called The Waterloo and for the series it is renamed after the script editor. The Waterloo is only used for the exterior shots (the interior scenes are recorded in the studio at BBC Television Centre in London). The Waterloo can be found at 88 High Street in the Old Town area of Runcorn, near the canal.
  • Sayer's Bakery where Janet works is also real, being located at 30 Church Street, Runcorn Old Town.
  • Gaz's workshop (Brindley Autos) can be found on Brindley Street in the northwest of the town under one of the rail bridge's arches.
  • The Castle ruins featured in the opening title sequence are those of Halton Castle, in the east of the town.
  • The exterior of Gaz's flat is real too. It can be found opposite the indoor market near Alcock Street and the bus station in the Old Town.
  • Janet and Jonny's house can be found at 9 Clarks Terrace, in the Weston Point area of Runcorn.

References

External links



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Last updated on Thursday March 13, 2008 at 13:08:24 PDT (GMT -0700)
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