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Luxury To Look Forwards To

2 Jan

If you’re a regular peeler of this here Onion it won’t have escaped your attention that we’re mere weeks away from a very exciting TV happening. Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy hits our screens on 26th January on E4 – this month!

© Channel 4

For those of you who already know for certain that a tangible version of the show just has to grace your shelves you can pre-order the DVD now. It’s released on 19th March for £11.99, and you can pre-order it via The Velvet Onion’s Amazon store. As yet there’s no information about the Blu-ray release or the extras included on the DVD, but given Noel’s track record with Boosh DVD releases, it’s bound to be bursting with added bits & bobs.

Some of you may also have spotted that a series of brilliantly obtuse trailers advertising Luxury Comedy have started appearing on E4. As soon as we can get hold of official links to the trailers we’ll share them with you.

We’re already counting down the days to 26th!

“It’s Behind You!” A Look Back At What Went On In 2011

31 Dec

2011 was The Velvet Onion’s second year in operation, and whaddya know – it turned out to be quite an eventful one! If you’ve joined us more recently, or if you’ve lost a few brain cells over the festive period and can’t remember much before December, here’s Part 1 of our review of 2011 to bring you up to speed on the TVO events of the year:

January

© Channel 4

The year started by looking backwards, with The Big Fat Quiz Of The Year sadly not quite taking retro to its logical conclusion, but reuniting Noel Fielding and Richard Ayoade nonetheless. TVO were also feeling reflective, as we considered our first birthday! We interviewed James Pilkington, the director of early Boosh-starring short Sweet, about his latest feature.

On the live front Paul Foot & Colin Hoult were busy announcing send-offs for their 2010 Edinburgh shows, and Kim Noble was taking his hit show Kim Noble Must Die to New York City.

For Noel & Julian, however, this was a period of new adventures – and the pair couldn’t have chosen more varied career paths if they tried. Noel’s appearance on Comic Relief’s supporting talent show Let’s Dance was announced, and while Boosh fandom debated exactly what he’d perform, Julian’s acting chops were about to be stretched as he began work on Treasure Island and was announced as the one of the lead roles in Government Inspector at The Young Vic.

February

© Lauren Taylor

February began on a sad note, with the passing of much loved actress Margaret John. Best known for her roles in Gavin & Stacey, Run Fatboy Run and Doctor Who, she was forever immortalised in Booshdom by her apperance as the wicked Nanatoo in the Nanageddon episode of The Mighty Boosh. She was 84.

On a more positive note, IAMX unleashed the first fruits of their latest album, and DeadDogInBlackBag returned to the London stage with a one-off gig, with TVO on hand to document proceedings. And whilst Matt Berry unleashed an x-rated iPhone app, the careers of his TVO cohorts couldn’t be more different – as a whole bevvy of names cropped up on CBBC throughout the month.

In other news this month, Chris Morris became a BAFTA winner, although champions of the passing-fad, the NME, decided Noel Fielding and Never Mind The Buzzcocks didn’t deserve an award this year. The world of mainstream rnb seemed to disagree – in one of the weirdest stories we’ve come across for TVO, cyber-singer T-Pain sang an interpolation of the Boosh track Electroboy for Benny Benassi’s dancefloor hit, ‘Electroman‘. Somehow, it just about worked…

© BBC

TVO took the time to speak to the fabulous Colin Hoult as he brought his 2010 Edinburgh Show, Enemy Of The World, to the Soho Theatre for a final hurrah, and we also interviewed Diva Zappa ahead of her exhibition at Maison Bertaux.

But February’s big interview came from Fielding himself – as we celebrated his appearance on Let’s Dance For Comic Relief with a two part interview about the show, and his career past, present and future. As Kate Bush, Noel whizzed around with startling precision to Wuthering Heights, sending fangirls across the land a-flutter – and he made it through to the final the following month..

(more…)

Boosh On Your Radio!

24 Dec

© BBC

Treat yourself to a trip down memory lane and listen to the Boosh Radio Series, on the radio! BBC Radio 4 Extra is broadcasting the series at 10:30pm on Tuesdays.

Unfortunately we’ve missed the first episode but the second (Jungle) is available on BBC iPlayer until Tuesday 27th December, when the next episode (Jazz) will be on at 10.30pm.

If you’re feeling nostalgic after listening to the radio show, you can read our interview with Noel Fielding about making the radio series.

Laugh At The Noughties

19 Dec

© Channel 4

On Saturday Catherine Tate hosted a look back at the comedy that made the decade from 2000-2010, including some TVO favourites! It’s not just one of those clip and talking head shows that seem to be around at this time of year, as Catherine interviews fellow stars of comedy including Alan Carr, David Walliams, Noel Fielding and Rob Brydon, as well as her Doctor Who co-star, David Tennant.

There are also insights into the news and pop culture at the time the shows aired to give context to the comedy of the era.

If you missed it, it’s available on 4OD for the next 28 days.

This show was the second in a short series, the first one (shown in August) highlighted the 1990′s with Jennifer Saunders and Ben Elton will celebrate the 1980′s on 28th December.

BIFA Awards

6 Dec

© Warp Films

As we mentioned previously, there was a strong Booshniverse connection to the British Independent Film Awards ceremony that was held on Sunday. Chris O’Dowd hosted and IT Crowd co-star Richard Ayoade and his debut feature film Submarine were nominated for several awards.

We are pleased to announce that Richard received the  Best Screenplay Award for Submarine.

Michael Smiley (Spaced), received the award for  Best Supporting Actor for his role in modern horror Kill List, directed by The Sightseers’ Ben Wheatley, which features TVO faces Gareth Tunley, Alice Lowe and Steve Oram (in cameos).

And Tyrannosaur,  produced by Warp Films who also produced Submarine and Kill List, won Best Film, Best Director and Olivia Coleman won Best Actress.

For a full list of winners head over to the BIFA Website.

Film Awards For Chris (And Richard?)

17 Nov

© www.bifa.org.uk

Chris O’Dowd is to host this year’s British Independent Film Awards for the first time, on Sunday 4th December at Old Billingsgate. He takes over from James Nesbitt who will become a patron this year. This is the Awards 14th year and the films nominated  include Senna, Shame, Tyrannosaur, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Kill List, Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy and Submarine.

Submarine, directed by O’Dowd’s IT Crowd co-star Richard Ayoade has five nominations including  Ayoade himself for the Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) and Best Screenplay.

That’s not the only TVO connection;  modern horror Kill List, directed by The Sightseers’ Ben Wheatley, features TVO faces Gareth Tunley, Alice Lowe and Steve Oram (in cameos).

 Although Tyrannosaur doesn’t include any  TVO regulars,  it’s produced by Warp Films who also produced Submarine and Kill List.

For more information about these and the other nominations go to the BIFA website.

Noel Fielding: Radio Past and Future

3 Nov

© BBC

As you may have spotted we’ve been commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Mighty Boosh radio series with a collection of articles about the show and the relevant artists that preempted it. But what do the originators of the Boosh series think about what they created?

To conclude our series we were lucky enough to talk to Noel Fielding about the Boosh radio show – and about a new radio offering he’s been working on.

If you were to arrange everyone in the world into a long line starting from the least visual people and ending with the most visual, Noel Fielding would be somewhere at the very far end. His colour-mashing paintings, the fantastical costumes and characters he’s designed for the Boosh and his new TV show, and even the clothes he wears all point to someone whose creativity flourishes in the visual image. So how does that sit with the Boosh’s first broadcast outing taking place through the medium of sound? Noel smiles, “I found it quite frustrating – I used to paint the characters for the radio show and Julian would go ‘You do know this is a radio show don’t you, you idiot!’”

“But I love the fact you can paint amazing pictures in radio, like if you want to go inside a club inside a tree you can just go ‘There’s a club inside this tree Howard’…(makes creaking noise)…and then you’re in there, and it’s great. Because of what we wanted to do with the Boosh, personally I think the radio show might be better than the TV show. I love being able to create those worlds, and for us radio was probably the best medium. If it was the 50s and we’d done it live with an audience we’d probably have just done a hundred of those.”

Radio offers a freedom of visual expression which has also resonated with one of Noel’s heroes, Spike Milligan: “Milligan had massive problems with people trying to get him to do television. He said ‘You can’t get what’s inside my head on a screen.’” (more…)

Big Up The BIFA Nominations!

31 Oct

© Warp Films

The nominations for the 14th annual British Independent Film Awards have been announced, and  several TVO-connected productions and artists have been included!

First up is Submarine, Richard Ayoade‘s critically-acclaimed coming-of-age movie, which has garnered nominations for Ayoade in the ‘Best Debut Director’ category, for Sally Hawkins in the ‘Best Supporting Actress’ category, and for its young stars, Craig Roberts and Yasmin Paige, in the ‘Most Promising newcomer’ category.

Next up is modern horror Kill List, directed by The Sightseers’ Ben Wheatley, which features TVO faces Gareth Tunley, Alice Lowe and Steve Oram (in cameos). Kill List is up for ‘Best Director’ (Ben Wheatley), ‘Best Screenplay’ (Ben Wheatley, Amy Jump), ’Best Actor’ (Neil Maskell), ‘Best Actress’ (MyAnna Buring), ‘Best Suppprting Actor’ (Michael Smiley) and ‘Best Achievement in Production’.

Another movie that’s up for several awards is Tyrannosaur, a film about a man plagued by self-destructive violence who earns a chance of redemption through a Christian charity shop worker. Although it doesn’t include any appearances from TVO regulars, Tyrannosaur is produced by Warp Films… and the observant amongst you will have spotted that Submarine and Kill List are also Warp productions – so 2011 looks set to be a fantastic year for the Sheffield-based film company.

To see the list of nominations in full click here. We wish all of the nominees the best of luck!

A Velvet Weekend

28 Oct

© Warp X / Optimum Films

What with Halloween being on the most awkward day of the week, we at TVO have been wondering what to do with ourselves this coming spooky weekend and have found there to be a plethora of Booshdom goodies on throughout.

Of course, in true Boosh form, this schedule is more suitable for our vampire/insomniac readers but here is our TV Guide of all that’s in store this coming Saturday and Sunday.

Tonight you can find the lovely Paul King‘s Bunny & The Bull being repeated tonight at 00.10 (a good way to gear you up for Ed Hogg’s performance in Anonymous). We’re sure Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt feel more than comfortable in this air-time slot.
If you still haven’t seen this film, it is well worth staying up for and you can read our review of it right here. If this is too far past your bedtime then you can of course grab it in our shop.

On Sunday and Monday mornings, BBC3 is having a Mongrels marathon from 01.50 until 03.50! Remember to set that coffee machine early for some gloriously  rude, potty-mouthed fun! The entire first series will be aired and then the first episode will be repeated again in a loop at 03.50. We can’t say why, but we can’t complain.

© Channel 4

In true Halloween form it wouldn’t be the perfect October weekend without Dead Set – Charlie Brooker’s (writer of Nathan Barley) reality tv zombie-spoof. Also Starring Kevin Eldon and with as much blood and killings as you could wish for. This starts at 23.40 on E4, Sunday night.

Lastly, this wouldn’t be our kind of TV Guide if we didn’t have to give you a good old ultimatum. Over on More 4 they are offering you a Graham Lineham package where from 23.40 you can see Father Ted, IT Crowd, then Black Books back-to-back.

It’s a tricky choice but whichever decision you choose to make you can always find any of these in our Amazon shop and all of Lineham’s shows are available to watch on 4OD whenever you want.

Then, on Halloween night Never Mind The Buzzcocks returns! We’re overly excited by this episode especially as Paul Foot is making his glorious return to the show! This starts at 10pm Monday evening and as usual, we will be chattering away to all of you lovely lot for our TVO Tweet View (#NMTB) which will be kicking off as soon as the show starts so do follow us and join in the fun!

Take a look at a clip below and if you have plans, naturally, you can catch up with this episode for 7 days after it airs on BBC iPlayer.

Enjoy the weekend with our Oniony Guide and let us know what your plans are!

IT Crowd Uninstalled

21 Oct

© Talkback Thames / Steven Peskett

Graham Linehan has confirmed that The IT Crowd is to end next year, following an extended special.

Previous announcements were made in regard to a fifth series expected in April 2012, and indeed, writers were attached to the show’s brainstorming stages in a bid to support Linehan’s scriptwriting work on the show.

TVO had heard mumblings that the fifth series may not be emerging some time ago, but naturally, kept silent until we could be certain.

That certainty arrived last night, when Linehan engaged in a Reddit chat with fans, stating:

“I’ll say right off the bat…the bad news is no IT Crowd Series 5. The good news is an extended special next year called…actually I won’t tell you the title because you’ll end up imagining better storylines than the one I’ve written.”

Answering questions from fans, he continued by explaining that he “just wasn’t looking forward to it the way [he] used to”, despite the last series giving him some of his favourite episodes.  However, he promised a big special to round off and didn’t rule out a movie if the idea was strong enough.

Taking to Twitter post-discussion, he also defended the increasingly popular cast from accusations they had become too big for the show stating: ”They were all up for it. Even Chris [Morris]. I was the one who couldn’t face it.”

So there you have it – we at TVO will naturally be sad to see it go, as will a great number of people worldwide, but with one more special episode to look forward to next year, and maybe even a film version in the pipeline, there’s just enough life in the Crowd yet.  And what a glorious run of episodes they leave behind – all of which you can buy on dvd now from The Velvet Onion Amazon Store!

Warp Speed

9 Oct

© Warp Films

Warp Films will be familiar to fans of the Booshdom (and its cousins). The film production company was behind Richard Ayoade‘s Submarine, Chris Morris‘s Four Lions, Paul King‘s Bunny & TheBull, and the mysteriously still-unreleased Spit on Your Rave featuring Noel Fielding. Warp was also responsible for the recent release, Kill List, a critically-acclaimed horror featuring Gareth Tunley, with Alice Lowe and Steve Oram in cameos.  So their Booshniverse pedigree is second-to-none.

The film company is the subject of a new article on the BBC’s Entertainment site, which calls them “a major force in British film with a vision for innovative, uncompromising films.” The piece includes an interview with Warp’s founder, Mark Herbert, and an overview of the company’s history – from its humble beginnings as an offshoot of Sheffield music label Warp Records to the creative powerhouse they are today.

As Herbert says, “I always look back to the original mission statement, which was to make bold and innovative films, and to work with artists over a number of years, not just on one project. And I think we’ve kept very true to that.”

Read the article in full here and prepare to marvel at the calibre of Warp’s filmic output.

© Warp

Friday Night Comedy

17 Sep
© Talkback Thames/Steven Peskett

Two stars of The IT Crowd are appearing in separate panel shows on Friday night (23rd September).

First up is Katherine Parkinson, who joins David Mitchell, Rob Brydon and Lee Mack in Would I Lie To You?, which airs on BBC1 at 9.30pm.

Next Richard Ayoade is joining Jimmy Carr, Sean Lock and Jon Richardson in 8 Out Of 10 Cats, which is shown on Channel 4 at 10.30pm.

As we have mentioned previously, The IT Crowd is due to be back on our screens in the Spring.

Edit: Both shows are now available to view online.

Click for Would I Lie to You?
Click for 8 out of 10 Cats

 

Ayoade In The Neighbourhood

15 Sep

© Larry Busacca / Getty Images North America

Following a successful stint behind the movie camera Richard Ayoade has taken on an acting role in a forthcoming film written by Seth Rogen and starring Submarine‘s executive producer Ben Stiller.

Ayoade replaces Chris Tucker (who was previously cast) in the role of Jamarcus in the Sci Fi comedy ‘Neighbourhood Watch’. The film features Stiller as a man who moves from the big city to the suburbs, and worries that his life will be boring now he’s away from the excitement of the city. When he signs up for the local neighbourhood watch scheme, however, he’s thrust into uncovering a massive conspiracy. Sounds a tad different to Submarine!

For more information about the film, which is scheduled for a 2013 release, visit imdb.

Forgotten Favourites: Man To Man With Dean Learner

1 Sep

© 4 DVD

Earlier this year, Richard Ayoade wowed audiences with his directorial movie debut, Submarine.

With his next feature in the writing stages, and his former collaborator Matt Holness also writing and directing a forthcoming film, we felt this was an opportune time to look back at their last project together – 2006′s Man To Man With Dean Learner.

To do this, we turned to friend of the Onion, Ashley Silverstein, who reflects on the six-part series below.

Man To Man With Dean Learner, aired just once for six weeks on Channel 4 in late October 2006.  Shot almost a year earlier (from 13th to 17th December 2005), before a live studio audience under its working title, Deano’s After Dark in Cambridge, Richard Ayoade and Matt Holness brought to Channel 4 much more than just Garth Marenghi’s long awaited return to tv sets in this twisted, almost anti-Alan Partridge chat show undertaking.

Produced by Boosh allumni Spencer Millman, the show is a study in the hauteur of characters first brought to life in its predeceasing show, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, and featuring  appearances by fellow Darkplace allumni Matt Berry, Kim Noble, Stuart Silver and Alice Lowe.  More a narrative continuation than a spin off, Man To Man of course focuses on the titular Dean Learner, a man whose character flirts with the boundaries of humour and odiousness, oftentimes leaning more toward the latter. (more…)

Ayoade And The Author

26 Aug

© telegraph.co.uk

As Richard Ayoade‘s Submarine continues its glorious filmic assault on audiences around the world (this week marks its release in Sweden!) a new interview with the director has surfaced, courtesy of The Telegraph.

In this video interview Ayoade appears alongside Submarine author, Joe Dunthorne. The pair discuss how Dunthorne’s writing and Ayoade’s directorial approach combined to bring the characters and stories credibly to life whilst avoiding over-sentimentality. Dunthorne describes the experience of handing his book over to Ayoade to film as a good one saying, “He was sensitive with the baby and did a rightly brave job.”

To watch the interview in full and read The Telegraph’s review of the DVD, which concludes: “This imaginative and moody coming-of-age story announces the comedian as a singular talent in British filmmaking” click here.

If you fancy purchasing the DVD yourself why not pay a visit to The Velvet Onion’s Amazon store?

Spring Crowd

22 Aug

© Talkback Thames/Steven Peskett

The fifth, and likely final series of The IT Crowd looks set for a Spring broadcast.

Speaking to The Guardian this weekend, Channel 4′s head of comedy Shane Allen, discussed his plans for the future following a whopping £9m addition to his comedy budget after the channel dropped reality series Big Brother.

Alongside plans for fresh episodes of Peep Show and the long awaited one-off return of The Comic Strip Presents…, Allen confirmed that The IT Crowd would return in April.

At present, judging by the increasingly successful careers of its stars, it’s looking increasingly likely this will be the show’s final run.  Richard Ayoade recently told The Velvet Onion he planned to move increasingly behind the camera after the next series, stating: “If I was better at it, I’d probably be more keen. It’s not really my strength, so I think just on the basis of ability, I’ll probably end up doing less of it.”

The article also makes a passing reference to the forthcoming Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy, and notes that a new three part series about the perils of technology, entitled Black Mirror, is being written by Nathan Barley co-creator Charlie Brooker, as well as indicating that teen sitcom The Inbetweeners (which has previously featured our very own Waen Shepherd) is to go on hiatus indefinitely.

If you missed them last summer, don’t forget you can download exclusive IT Crowd wallpapers from our Downloads page.

 

Eisenberg And Ayoade See Double

6 Aug

© amazon.co.uk

Social Network actor, Jesse Eisenberg, has been confirmed for the lead role in Richard Ayoade‘s next film, an adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s The Double.

Ayoade recently spoke to us about his new film, describing the project with typical understatement: “It seems ok, I think. I’ve enjoyed writing with Avi [Korine], who came up with the idea to adapt it… I feel pretty pleased with it at the moment, so we’ll see.”

The Double is a classic doppelganger tale, about a Russian bureaucrat who arrives at work one day to discover that a double of himself has begun working there. The book is very dark and disturbing, although Ayoade has hinted that he may explore the comedic potential of the story. The film is scheduled for release in 2012 – we’ll be sure to let you know as soon as we hear any more.

Second Helpings Of Submarine

2 Aug

Most of you will be well aware that the wonderful Submarine, directed by Richard Ayoade, was released earlier this week on DVD and blu-ray.

The release has been marked by a flurry of interviews with Ayoade and members of the cast. If you’re worried you’ve missed something interesting worry no more, because here’s a round-up of what’s been going on (click on the links to read the interviews in full):

First up is an interview with Richard Ayoade on the strangely-named website HeyUGuys. Ayoade talks about the unique challenges of filming a novel and raises some interesting points about working with a first-person narrative: “Because the novel is first person you only have Oliver’s description of them and because he is unreliable and selective you aren’t really sure what the other characters are like. There’s a lot of work in the script and in rehearsal and even in the filming of it to nail those characters down so they could exist in an objective world and not just in the head of the main character.”

© warp

 

Craig Roberts, who plays the main part of Oliver, spoke to View London earlier this week – about his role, the classic films he watched by way of preparation and what it was like to work with Ayoade. He says of him: “I think he’s so quiet because there’s so much going on in his head. Like he’s thinking all the time and he’s a genius. I think he’s one of a kind.”

Next up is a short interview on Clash Music with Noah Taylor who plays Lloyd, Oliver’s father in the film. He talks about the mix tape he gives to Oliver and why he’s unlikely to play the role of Nick Cave in a biopic.

Finally, to cap things off there’s a short Q&A with Sally Hawkins in last week’s Guardian; and don’t forget TVO’s exclusive interview with Ayaode!

For more Submarine updates and exclusives visit the movie’s Facebook page. And to buy a copy of the DVD head on over to The Velvet Onion’s Amazon store.

IT Crowd And Submarine Competition

30 Jul
© Optimum Releasing

To celebrate the release of Submarine on 1st August, Channel 4 have a competition to win prizes including the whole of The IT Crowd on DVD, and a copy of Submarine author Joe Dunthorne’s new novel Wild Abandon. One lucky winner will also get a copy of Submarine on Blu-ray and a Panasonic Blu-ray player to watch it on! Five runners-up will win copies of Submarine on Blu-ray.

Click here for more information and to enter the competition.

Don’t miss our exclusive interview with Submarine director Richard Ayoade.

If you aren’t lucky enough to win the Channel 4 Competition, then you can buy Submarine and The IT Crowd from The Velvet Onion Amazon Store.

Onion Talking: Richard Ayoade

29 Jul

© Optimum Releasing

Monday, August 1st sees the dvd & blu-ray release of Submarine – Richard Ayoade’s directorial feature-film début.

The film was a huge hit earlier this year, and its home media release has been one of the most anticipated releases in TVO’s calendar for some time.

We managed to catch up with the insanely busy Mr Ayoade, to find out a little more about the film and his future prospects.

You can read the results below, and Submarine, its soundtrack and the original novel are all available to order now!

Hi Richard! It’s a pleasure to talk you… we at TVO loved the film.

Thank you very much!

How did you prepare for the challenge of making your first film?

The main thing seems to be spending time on the script. Writing it and getting it right seems to be the most time-consuming element, that you’re most focused on for the longest. That’s the major thing to get right.

© Gary Williamson

There’s quite dark subject matter in the film, even if it’s ultimately uplifting. Would you say it’s fair to say it’s not really what people would expect of you?

I suppose it’s hard for me to know what people would have expected, really. I think because it’s an adaptation of a book, it hopefully follows the tone of the novel, so I don’t think it’s like something I would be in. It’s different, I suppose. (more…)

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