Chris morris get one more change

[mokka]

Big news. i'm considering moving back UK now.

[sermad]

Jason Deans, broadcast editor
Thursday April 15, 2004


Morris in Brass Eye: unlikely to return to the satirical news show format

Controversial comedian Chris Morris could be back with a new Channel 4 show before the end of 2004, three years after his Brass Eye paedophile special provoked an almost unprecedented level of complaints.
Channel 4 has given the go-ahead to a new series from Morris, which is understood to feature Nathan Barley, a character from the satirical website TVGoHome.

Barley, the loathsome star of a fictional docusoap, is a public school educated, Hoxton-dwelling new media type who is obsessed with gadgets and extreme sports.

Morris is working on his new Channel 4 show with Charlie Brooker, the Guardian Guide's TV critic and co-creator of the TVGoHome.

"We're working on a series that I think will be on later in the year, or possibly early next year," said Brooker, who was also one of Morris's collaborators on the Brass Eye special.

Brooker would not be drawn on whether the new show will feature the Barley character.

However, he hinted that the series is likely to move away from the spoof news and current affairs format of Brass Eye, towards a slightly more traditional sitcom style.

"It's got narrative elements. I think it's fairly pointless to say any more because everything could change. But it's probably not going to be quite what people would expect," he said.

Morris said in a Guardian interview last year that he was unlikely to return to the Brass Eye format.

A pilot for Morris's next show was shot last summer but he works in such secrecy that even the Channel 4 commissioning editors responsible for the project are thought not to know what it is about.

The programme is to be made by independent TV producer Talkback in association with Zeppotron, the company behind TVGoHome.

Morris's last TV work, the 2001 one-off Brass Eye special, was the second most complained-about programme in the Independent Television Commission's 13-year history, attracting 992 complaints.

However, the ITC received a similar number of calls from viewers applauding the programme's satirical approach to how the media cover paedophilia.

[wooly]

any new chris morris material is an exciting prospect.

[Benicio Del Toffo]

Morris is a God. End of.

He's also a brave fucker and seemingly some sort of barometer/early warning system for trends in the media.

How long ago was it when Brasseye got into bother for suggesting a potential West End run of......'Sutcliffe - The Musical'?! And last week, families of Sutcliffe's victims were kicking off because a film production is being mooted.

He just explores certain issues while they're sensitive and taboo, and in time we become desensitised to the taboo and it enters the mainstream, by which time Morris has moved on.

Don't know if he's quite 'sitcom' material though, I'd rather he did something more like 'Jam', which was a bit hit and miss, but I thought it hit more than it missed. Especially the older guy who played the doctor role, he was great.

[Blighty]

All I have to say is April 26th.

[Nick Cope]

Great!

This has really cheered me up! I'm a big fan of the Nathan Barley character and knowing the Morris track record, this will be one sick sitcom. I'm all for new sitcom approaches - the genre is incredibly stale and is screaming out for something like this... Brilliant news, hope it doesn't get pulled!

Though I can't leave without something vaguely negative...

I hope he uses some fresh faces for it. I'm kind of sick of the same old actors on all the Morris stuff now. It's got to a point where it's difficult to see the character cos you've seen the actual person on every 'highbrow' comedy show, ever. Bit like trying to take the Cornish marauders in Straw Dogs seriously when you saw them on Emmerdale the day before!

[Matt Hero]

Quote[/b] (Nick Cope @ April 16 2004,11:21)]I hope he uses some fresh faces for it. I'm kind of sick of the same old actors on all the Morris stuff now. It's got to a point where it's difficult to see the character cos you've seen the actual person on every 'highbrow' comedy show, ever. Bit like trying to take the Cornish marauders in Straw Dogs cos you saw them on Emmerdale the day before!

Ahh, the British comedy mafia innit.

There is a scene in 'Shaun Of The Dead' where for a moment you have a good portion of all the usual suspects on the screen at the same time.

On an related subject, is is just me who stills refers to '..the actor Kevin Eldon...' when said individual appears on screen ?

[Nick Cope]

Yup, still just you, Matt!