TV & Showbiz

Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps set for comeback

The Runcorn-set comedy series - which ran between 2001 and 2011 - is set to return after more than a decade off screens.

The Manc The Manc - 19th July 2021

Iconic North-West sitcom Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps is all set for a comeback, the show’s creator has confirmed.

Susan Nickson – who penned the original BBC comedy series – revealed that she is planning to reboot the show after more than a decade off screens.

Two of the series’ main stars – Will Mellor and Ralf Little – are apparently on board for the new series, with discussions currently being held with the BBC.

Susan Nickson told the Drama School Dropout podcast: “We are talking to the BBC.

Two Pints original cast // BBC

“They are a corporation and in a corporation there are many cogs and those cogs move extremely slowly.

“So basically what you’ve got, it’s me, Will, Ralf and all three of us are just going, ‘Yeah, we’re here, we’ll do it,’ and the BBC are going, ‘Ah brilliant, yeah let’s do it,’ and I’m sort of sat here going, ‘Ok, when?’ and they go, ‘Well, we don’t know.’”

Two Pints, which ran for nine series from 2001 until 2011, had Little, Mellor, Natalie Casey, Sheridan Smith and Kathryn Drysdale in its original lineup, with Luke Gell also becoming a main cast member in 2008.

Nickson said she was unsure whether Sheridan, Casey, Drysdale or Gell would return just yet, but did confirm that the reboot of Two Pints may include themes such as toxic masculinity.

“I would like to pick up the story with two ageing working-class geezers in a pub combating the terrible things that we say about men at the moment,” Nickson stated.

“Some men might not understand that the bad guys exist. I want to see the comforting story of people like Gaz and Jonny, who live in a world where bad guys don’t exist.

“I want them to acknowledge the bad guys are out there though, but I don’t want Gaz and Jonny to be them.”

All 80 episodes of Two Pints are currently available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

TV & Showbiz

Ruth Jones and James Corden are making a new Gavin and Stacey follow-up project

Danny Jones Danny Jones New Gavin and Stacey follow-up series

TV writing, directing and acting double act, Ruth Jones and James Corden, are teaming up once again for a follow-up show to UK comedy favourite, Gavin and Stacey.

After the success of last year’s one-off reunion, de facto third Christmas special and series finale – which was one of the biggest British telly events in some time – the two are getting back together to deliver their next project.

The aforementioned 2024 conclusion broke multiple records when it aired on BBC One, so it’s little surprise that there was plenty of interest in commissioning the next chapter, though it’s still unclear as to how connected to the Gavin and Stacey universe it will be.

Either way, you know there’ll be plenty of people grabbing a subscription to watch this one.

ruth jones james corden new show
Ruth Jones and James Corden in 2008, at the height of Gavin & Stacey‘s popularity. (Credit: Ben Salter via Flickr)

Amid Netflix, Amazon Prime and their long-time collaborators at the BBC all courting the new series, it is Apple TV that has picked up the latest script from Jones and Corden, as per the Radio Times.

Set right here at home, the duo will be keeping things domestic, as they are set to star alongside an all-British cast over the course of 10 episodes.

Having picked up the inaugural season for a reported £8 million, Apple’s streaming platform will no doubt be banking on a big hit.

It’s said that Corden’s existing relationship with the network was a key factor in sealing the deal, as they acquired the rights to the standalone Carpool Karaoke series format back in 2016.

Once again, details remain tight-lipped at the moment, and it’s unclear if any familiar faces (be they actors and/or their actual on-screen characters) will be returning besides Jones and Corden, but an insider told RT that fans can expect it to be “uplifting, gentle and very funny.”

The source goes on to add that, besides just appealing to folks on our side of the pond, by introducing a “new format and new characters, they wanted to let an international audience enjoy their work”, and hopefully, have moments like this:

It goes without saying that America is obviously a big target market, given the former Late Late Show host’s eight years spent in the States, but Apple TV’s global reach is a big plus for the pair.

Nevertheless, they are hoping to achieve a similar heartwarming feel and those ‘water cooler’ moments with the Gavin and Stacey follow-up, and we can’t wait to see what they come up with.

Already said to be hard at work writing the show, we don’t care if it’s a sequel or spin-off show per se, we just pray it’s as touching and funny as their magnum opus.

That ending was pretty perfect, wasn’t it? Well, by one little niggle we had…

Viewers find just ONE flaw with ‘perfect’ Gavin and Stacey finale

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Featured Images — BBC (screenshot)

TV & Showbiz

The story behind one of Noel Gallagher’s best bits of songwriting and greatest ever performances

Danny Jones Danny Jones The

Noel Gallagher is not only one of the greatest songwriters of a generation, but perhaps one of Britain’s best-ever; he’s certainly in the top five of all time from Greater Manchester, but did you know how the story behind how one of his best (you heard) songs, ‘Dead In The Water’ came to be?

Or rather, do you know how one little radio performance produced one of his best vocal performances to date? Keep reading…

In case you’ve never heard the haunting ‘Dead In The Water’, taken from Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds LP three, Who Built The Moon?, it is very much just that: an almost ghostly and preciously quiet, acoustic song that became a cult favourite on the LP and even more beloved live track.

But this tune was never even supposed to be on the album; the deep cut, which was only ever played live a few times during concerts prior to its being released to the world, was taken from a radio show on Irish station RTÉ 2FM – and Noel didn’t even know it was being recorded.

Played during 2015, and it barely even needed ‘mastering’ before being released in 2017.

As explained by RTÉ’s Damian Chennells, Noel was promoting the previous album, Chasing Yesterday (his sophomore HFB outing and just second solo album up to that point), and during the session in the studio, Damian decided to hit record on an otherwise behind-the-scenes moment.

You can actually hear him going back and forth with the sound engineer at the start of the track – one he’d only just finished writing the night before – before he actually starts playing and the rest, as they say, is history.

We love the notion that the piano player didn’t even know what he was doing until Noel started playing.

Taped and ultimately tracked thanks to a spur-of-the-moment decision made in 2FM Studio 8 at the national free-to-air network’s radio centre in Dublin, Oasis and High Flying Birds fans, as well as lovers of Noel and music in general, got one of the most beautiful stripped-back listening experiences imaginable.

Returning to Ireland some time later, and just four years prior to getting Oasis back together for the Live ’25 world tour show that is now well underway, he performed it once again for The Late Late Show, which goes out on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.

Some might argue he sounds even better this time around, but just as he says in the interview above, there is something truly special and unfiltered about that first raw and ridiculously good live recording.

From 2015 to 2021, and even present day, the story behind the original ‘Dead in the Water’ recording is fascinating.

Many have even speculated that the chatter recorded at the start and played to crowds on just a handful of occasions may have even foreshadowed the eventual reunion, as it seems to feature discussion surrounding Liam

The radio tech himself said in the recent retrospective interview of his own, he felt in the moment that “this song is an Oasis B-side” and was the only one played on the day that could easily slip onto one of their records.

As for Who Built The Moon?, a.k.a. HFB3, the album never featured ever B-sides of its own; instead, it just had one extra bonus track right at the very end of the 48:46 run-time – ‘Dead in the Water (live at RTÉ 2FM Studios, Dublin)’.

So there you have it: one of Noel’s most emotional, in-the-zone/lost-in-the-moment vocal performances in history, and one that so many still rate right up there with his very bits of music, may never have been if it wasn’t for ‘Damo’. So thanks, mate, I guess…

Are there any other tracks like ‘Dead in the Water’ where you love the back-story almost as much as the song itself? Bonus points if they’re by Greater Manchester artists.

A new online series spotlighting Manc songwriting is set to debut this month
Speaking of songwriting, there’s still plenty of it coming out of Greater Manchester.

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Featured Images — Jose Francisco Del Valle Mojica (via Flickr) RTÉ One/Sour Mash Records

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