Babes in the Wood revolves around three women in their 20s who share a flat in St John's Wood in London. Leigh is streetwise and tough, while Ruth is bossy and Caralyn is ditzy. In the flat next door lives Charlie Lovall, the former owner of a video shop whose divorce has cost him dearly, although he still has his Porsche. Leigh works as a waitress for public school-educated Benito at the nearby Bar Coda. Ruth marries an old millionaire and leaves after the first series and is replaced by would be model Frankie.
Productionedit
The creator and writer was Geoff Deane and it was produced by Lucky Dog, the company founded by Deane and producer Kenton Allen.[2] Deane had got the germ of the concept from his play, Three Cups of Sugar that had toured in 1990, which focused on divorced and near-broke businessman Martin Lovall (Charlie Lovall in the TV series) forced to rent a downmarket flat; his three 'attractive young neighbours', although much mentioned by him, are never actually seen on-screen in that version. The show took a long time to get to the screen: it was in production for five years, with a pilot episode featuring an almost totally different cast, that was only broadcast in 2001 (after the TV series was discontinued) and a long casting process.
The show faced high expectations on its launch, due to the contemporary lack of good-quality mainstream British comedy and ITV's desire for a big hit. It was intended to rival the American show Friends,[3] and ITV showed their confidence by ordering a Christmas special before the first series was broadcast.[2]
Critical reactionedit
Maggie Brown found it funny though a bit contrived and possibly unrealistic in its portrayal of the girls' living arrangements. She praised Van Outen's repartee with Hayford.[2] Other reactions were less favourable. The Times called it "very shoddy".[4]The Rough Guide to British Cult Comedy called it "hackneyed".[5] The Daily Mirror was highly critical of Claire King's guest appearance.[6]
In an overview of ITV programmes, Stuart Heritage named Babes in the Wood as one of the worst shows in the network's history. He described Babes in the Wood "a show where some babes live in St John’s Wood and literally nothing else happens"[7]
Mark Lewisohn, "Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy", BBC Worldwide Ltd, 2003
Babes in the Wood at British TV Comedy
February 10, 2024
babes, wood, series, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, babes, wood, series, news, newspapers, books, s. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Babes in the Wood TV series news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2012 Learn how and when to remove this template message Babes in the Wood is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 1998 to 1999 Starring Karl Howman and Denise van Outen Babes in the Wood was written by Geoff Deane Paul Alexander Simon Braithwaite Ian Searle and Fleur Costello 1 Babes in the WoodOpening titles of Babes in the WoodGenreSitcomStarringKarl Howman Denise van Outen Natalie Walter Samantha Janus Madeleine CurtisCountry of originUnited KingdomOriginal languageEnglishNo of series2No of episodes14ProductionRunning time13x30 minutes1x45 minutesOriginal releaseNetworkITVRelease23 July 1998 1998 07 23 3 September 1999 1999 09 03 Contents 1 Cast 2 Plot 3 Production 4 Critical reaction 5 Episodes 5 1 Series one 1998 5 2 Christmas special 1998 5 3 Series two 1999 6 See also 7 References 8 External linksCast editDenise van Outen Leigh Jackson Natalie Walter Caralyn Monroe Munroe Karl Howman Charlie Lovall Mark Hayford Benito Samantha Janus Ruth Ford Frause series 1 and 1998 special Madeleine Curtis Francesca Frankie Fraiser Jones series 2 James Buller Nick series 2 Plot editBabes in the Wood revolves around three women in their 20s who share a flat in St John s Wood in London Leigh is streetwise and tough while Ruth is bossy and Caralyn is ditzy In the flat next door lives Charlie Lovall the former owner of a video shop whose divorce has cost him dearly although he still has his Porsche Leigh works as a waitress for public school educated Benito at the nearby Bar Coda Ruth marries an old millionaire and leaves after the first series and is replaced by would be model Frankie Production editThe creator and writer was Geoff Deane and it was produced by Lucky Dog the company founded by Deane and producer Kenton Allen 2 Deane had got the germ of the concept from his play Three Cups of Sugar that had toured in 1990 which focused on divorced and near broke businessman Martin Lovall Charlie Lovall in the TV series forced to rent a downmarket flat his three attractive young neighbours although much mentioned by him are never actually seen on screen in that version The show took a long time to get to the screen it was in production for five years with a pilot episode featuring an almost totally different cast that was only broadcast in 2001 after the TV series was discontinued and a long casting process The show faced high expectations on its launch due to the contemporary lack of good quality mainstream British comedy and ITV s desire for a big hit It was intended to rival the American show Friends 3 and ITV showed their confidence by ordering a Christmas special before the first series was broadcast 2 Critical reaction editMaggie Brown found it funny though a bit contrived and possibly unrealistic in its portrayal of the girls living arrangements She praised Van Outen s repartee with Hayford 2 Other reactions were less favourable The Times called it very shoddy 4 The Rough Guide to British Cult Comedy called it hackneyed 5 The Daily Mirror was highly critical of Claire King s guest appearance 6 In an overview of ITV programmes Stuart Heritage named Babes in the Wood as one of the worst shows in the network s history He described Babes in the Wood a show where some babes live in St John s Wood and literally nothing else happens 7 Episodes editSeries one 1998 edit Episode One 23 July 1998 Episode Two 30 July 1998 Episode Three 6 August 1998 Episode Four 13 August 1998 Episode Five 20 August 1998 Episode Six 27 August 1998 Christmas special 1998 edit Christmas Special 45 minutes 30 December 1998 Series two 1999 edit Episode One 13 July 1999 Episode Two 20 July 1999 Episode Three 27 July 1999 Episode Four 3 August 1999 Episode Five 10 August 1999 Episode Six 17 August 1999 Episode Seven 24 August 1999 See also editList of sitcoms known for negative receptionReferences edit Guilty Crushes Now women are behaving badly too The Irish Independent Retrieved 21 November 2012 a b c Brown Maggie 20 July 1998 Girls will be Babes The Guardian p C6 Carlton starts sponsor talks for new sitcom Marketing Week 12 28 May 1998 Carry on Denise Interview The Times 11 September 1999 p Times Magazine 16 Hall Julian 2006 The Rough Guide to British Cult Comedy Rough Guides pp 131 ISBN 9781843536185 Purnell Tony 25 August 1999 LAST NIGHT S VIEW Daily Mirror UK p 24 Brideshead Revisited or Celebrity Wrestling the best and worst of ITV The Guardian 22 September 2015 Retrieved 24 September 2015 External links editBabes in the Wood at IMDb nbsp Babes in the Wood at British Comedy Guide Mark Lewisohn Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy BBC Worldwide Ltd 2003 Babes in the Wood at British TV Comedy Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Babes in the Wood TV series amp 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