Archive | 12:38 pm

Onion Talking: Matt Berry

25 Jun

© Talkback Thames

To celebrate the launch of series four of The IT Crowd, we at The Velvet Onion wanted to bring you something genuinely worthy of your attention.  And, thankfully – we got it, in the form of an exclusive interview with one of the show’s stars, and a heavy weight figure in Booshdom – the utter legend that is Matt Berry.

Matt has been a familiar figure on our tv screens ever since the sublime nonsense of Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace back in 2004.  An accomplished actor, writer and composer, Matt has acclaimed albums, numerous film appearances and countless cult tv classics under his belt, from Snuffbox and AD/BC: A Rock Opera, to guest slots on The Peter Serafinowicz Show and The Wrong Door.  Forever immortalised as Dixon Bainbridge in The Mighty Boosh, and now as Douglas Renholm in The IT Crowd, Matt’s work continues to fascinate TVO’s readers and writing team alike, and we’re overjoyed that he agreed to this interview.

Don’t forget all of this is in aid of The It Crowd, which returns for its fourth series on Channel 4 at 10pm tonight!  You’d have to be a fool to miss it!

Hi Matt, welcome to The Velvet Onion!  Obviously the big news right now is the new series of The IT Crowd.  How does it feel to have another six episodes under your belt?

Hi there. We only finished filming this series a couple of weeks ago.  Then I went on holiday, so I don’t really know what’s going on.  It’s fresh.

You joined the show after the departure of Chris Morris.  How did you end up getting involved?

Well, Graham Linehan asked me if I wanted to do it, which was a huge honor.  And then he wrote me a ridiculous character to play which was an even bigger honor.

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The IT Crowd: Peelers Favourites

25 Jun

© Talkback Thames

In the last few weeks, we’ve been asking you, dear peelers, to submit your top three episodes of The IT Crowd to TVO in order to determine which episode is your favourite (so far!).

The results are now in, and we can confirm your top ten episodes, in reverse order!  What will be crowned the Ultimate IT Crowd Episode?  With love for all three series, and the top four episodes in particular literally edging each other for the top slot, the results show that, whichever episode wins out, love for this show is almost unanimous and every episode has lots to adore.

Don’t forget the show returns for a fourth series tonight on Channel 4 at 10pm. We can’t wait!

10. Friendface

This third series episode sees the gang become obsessed with a new social networking site, resulting in Jen attending a high school reunion which ends in disaster as she is forced to ask Moss to pretend to be her husband!

9. The Haunting Of Bill Crouse

Adam Buxton guest starred in this first series episode, as a sleazy and rather dull executive who is led to believe Jen is dead in order for her to get out of a second date!

8. From Hell

Jen’s new builder may be a cowboy, so she persuades Roy to spy on him in the opening episode of series three.  Meanwhile, Douglas finds his father’s gun…

7. Are We Not Men?

Using a Football Speak phone app, Moss and Roy befriend several blokes at the local pub, only to find themselves in far deeper than they anticipated when it turns out they’re planning an armed robbery in this third series episode.

6. Return Of The Golden Child

“FATHERRRRRR!” cried Douglas, as he made his entrance to the series in this second series episode, after Renholm commits suicide and leaves the company in the hands of his roguish son.

5. Aunt Irma Visits

A very popular episode from the first series, this sees Jen suffering the effects of PMT – which somehow gets passed onto Roy, Moss and Richmond, before hitting all of male-kind!

4. Calamity Jen

The second episode of the first series was hugely popular with peelers, as Jen tries her hardest to fit into a pair of shoes several sizes too small, and Renholm wages war on stress.

3. The Dinner Party

Jen hosts a dinner party to show off her new man, Peter File, and invites Roy, Moss and Richmond as company for three female friends, with hilarious consequences in this second series classic.  The words ‘balsamic vinegar’ will never be the same again!

2. The Work Outing

A very close second goes to the series two opener, in which Roy and Moss try to convince Jen her new man is a closet homosexual, and the bloke in question takes them all to see a musical called GAY…

1. The Red Door

Perhaps unsurprisingly, though the results were very close indeed, just edging out in front is the first series episode which introduces Noel Fielding’s Richmond – banished to the IT department by Renholm for his Cradle Of Filth inspired antics, and banished behind the Red Door by Roy and Moss for bringing them down, is Jen the only one who will take pity on him, and for how long will he hold her favour?

So there you have it – your favourite IT Crowd episode.  Catch six more on Channel 4 starting tonight at 10pm.

Peeling The Onion: Graham Linehan

25 Jun

© Talkback Thames

As part of the conclusion to our IT Crowd week in honour of its return to tv screens tonight, we asked our newest contributor (and extra in the forthcoming series, no less!) ComedyNerd, to bring us her debut piece for TVO – a profile of IT Crowd head honcho and all-round genius, Graham Linehan.

This then, is her peeling.

“Nobody pays attention to the writer” says writer and director Graham Linehan. A humble statement from a man who has been named as the fifth most influential person on twitter ahead of Downing Street and Barack Obama. He has more than 40,000 followers on the site, and you can bet most of those are regular readers of his blog too. Linehan is respected by many as one of the most talented comedy writers of this generation and his career so far certainly stands to support this.

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Tiny Acts LA Part Deux!

25 Jun

Tiny Acts... just £3.09 in TVO Store now!

We thought we had him back for good, but it seems LA just can’t get enough of dear Rich Fulcher.

The Mighty Boosh star returns to Los Angeles next month, signing copies of his book Tiny Acts Of Rebellion at Skylights Bookstore in the Los Feliz district on July 7th.

And best of all, the event is free to attend – so what are you waiting for?  Well, July 7th obviously – but any California fans who want another chance to meet Fulchy-baby have no excuse not to attend.

Find out more info on the Tiny Acts website, and don’t despair if you’re a UK fan hoping for another fix of Fulcher goodness – as we previously reported, he’ll be bringing Eleanor The Tour Whore to the Edinburgh Festival from August 21st to 30th, and tickets can be bought right here!

The Return Of The Berry Pods

25 Jun

© Funny Or Die

It’s been a long time coming, but seven months after his last podcast for Absolute Radio, Matt Berry has returned.

Matt recorded a series of podcasts for the station between August and November last year, but they unceremoniously came to a halt and it seemed they were unlikely to return, so this news comes as a welcome surprise – especially on IT Crowd launch day!

You can download his first podcast of 2010, as well as all of last years efforts over at Absolute Radio now.

Click here to be taken to the audio delights of that fruity voiced legend.

Pretty Vacant

25 Jun

© Big Finish

Back in May, we reported on the news that James Bachman – a notable figure in Booshdom with appearances in The IT Crowd, The Mighty Boosh, Beehive and Saxondale under his belt – was to star in a forthcoming Doctor Who audio play entitled Situation Vacant.

According to the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine (released to news-agents yesterday, fact fans), the play will be released on cd and download on July 31st via Big Finish, who have been producing audio stories featuring past Doctors for the last decade.

Bachman’s part is particularly interesting, as he is one of four possible companions for the eighth Doctor (played by Withnail & I legend Paul McGann) – auditioning for the slot left vacant by Lucie Millier (2 Pints… star Sheridan Smith).  Big Finish are keeping quiet about which of the four characters are going to join the Doctor on his travels, so this may not be the last we hear of James’ character, Hugo.

For more info on Big Finish, visit their website over yonder.

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