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"Phoenix Nights" is a true modern comedy masterpiece.
Written and produced by natural talents Peter Kay, Dave Spikey
and Neil Fitzmaurice this sitcom, with its tongue-in-cheek
subtle (and not so subtle) humour, is comedy at its best.
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The show originally started off as a special episode of "That
Peter Kay Thing" called 'In The Club' and it was so popular
that Peter Kay and Dave Spikey decided to make it into a proper
sitcom. The first series was broadcast from January to February
in 2001, and after a very positive reaction a second series
was created and beamed out in August and September of 2002.
"Phoenix Nights" is all about one man's quest to
change club land, that man being the moving wheelchair-bound
disaster that is Brian Potter. Brian has been the proud licensee
of two clubs prior to the opening of 'The Phoenix' but due
to the bad luck that follows him through every turn of his
wheels both clubs are now no more. His first club was flooded,
the second was burnt down and his first attempt at 'The Phoenix'
ended the same way. The series mainly focuses on wheelchair
bound Brian Potter and his attempts to out do arch enemy Den
Perry, the owner of neighbouring club 'The Banana Grove' by
making the most profits and gaining the most customers in
the Bolton area. The rivalry includes the fight to convince
the board that the massive club show that is 'Talent Trek'
should be held in their premises. Whoever stages 'Talent Trek'
knows they've hit the big time, in Brian's words will 'The
Phoenix Club' become 'The World Famous Phoenix Club' he wants
it to be?
During the series, Brian gets into a host of trouble and
each episode is half an hour full of excitement, one liners
and a major incident! For all Brian tries he can't seem to
get it just right and although it shouldn't, poor Brian does
give us a lot of laughs along the way. Brian isn't alone in
his quest to create 'Sunshine Indoors' for the people of Bolton,
he is helped (sometimes hindered!) by his gang of staff and
friends; his right hand man and local entertainer Jerry 'St
Clair' Dignan, the club's bouncer duo Max and Paddy, the resident
DJ Ray Von, the ultimate tall story teller Kenny 'Dalglish'
Senior, the handy man Young Kenny, Alan and Les part of Jerry's
backing band 'Les Alanos', the bar staff and cleaners Holy
Mary, Marion and Joyce, the idiotic barman Spencer and the
Chinese cooks which Brian has appropriately named Ant and
Dec.
This truly is one of the great sitcoms of current times and
such a refreshing change from some of the other sitcoms made
since the millennium. Peter Kay, now one of the top standup
comedians in the country, did a wise thing of stopping 'Fawlty-Towers-like'
early - it has ensured that this sitcom will be remembered
for nothing but laughs. Recent reports suggest Kay may infact make a third series but all concentration is currently on the spin-off series about
the two bouncers Max and Paddy.
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