Sick of It (TV series)

Sick of It is a British comedy-drama television series that premiered on Sky One on 27 September 2018.^[1][2] It was created and written by Karl Pilkington and Richard Yee (who also directed the series).^[3] Pilkington stars as both lead characters, playing his namesake Karl, and the voice inside his head that takes the form of his Doppelgänger.

Sick of It
Genre	Comedy drama
Created by	Karl Pilkington Richard Yee
Directed by	Richard Yee
Starring	Karl Pilkington Sondra James Marama Corlett
Theme music composer	Joshua Moshier
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	12
Production
Producer	John Pocock
Production locations	West London Dungeness Eastbourne New York City
Editor	Chris Watson
Running time	22 minutes
Production companies	Me+You Productions Alrite Productions
Distributor	BBC Worldwide
Release
Original network	Sky One
Picture format	16:9 1080p
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	27 September 2018 (2018-09-27) – 24 January 2020 (2020-01-24)

The series is set around Ladbroke Grove in London and follows Karl, a bored taxi driver who has been dumped by his girlfriend Zoe and moves in with his elderly American aunt Norma, and is struggling to get his life back on track. Karl's closest companion is the voice in his head, a sardonic, outspoken alter ego who takes the form of his double – it's the uncensored true version of Karl that says what he really thinks without the risk of offending others.^[4][5] As Karl attempts to move on from the break up and sort out his life, the voice in his head appears periodically to guide, criticise and dispense his unorthodox philosophy of life.

Pilkington and Yee have worked together since 2009 on An Idiot Abroad and The Moaning of Life. Sick of It is the first scripted project they have collaborated on.^[6]

The show was renewed for a second series, which premiered in January 2020. In March 2020 in an interview with Lorraine Kelly on Lorraine, Pilkington stated that the second series would likely be the last.

Episodes

Series	Episodes		Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired
1	6		27 September 2018 (2018-09-27)	11 October 2018 (2018-10-11)
2	6		10 January 2020 (2020-01-10)	24 January 2020 (2020-01-24)

Series 1 (2018)

No. overall	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions) ^[7]^[8]
1	1	"The Sofa"	Richard Yee	Unknown	27 September 2018 (2018-09-27)	1.079m (combined Wed/Thu screening)
Karl and Norma are holding a wake for Uncle Vinnie at his house. There could be no better time for a delivery man to rock up with a new sofa and Karl needs to get shot of the old one fast. When he puts an ad online, he is given the runaround by Neil.
2	2	"The Scream"	Richard Yee	Unknown	27 September 2018 (2018-09-27)	710,400 (combined Wed/Thu screening)
Next door's noisy baby is doing Karl's head in, so when he picks up two mums and their crying kids in his taxi the next day, he loses it. This sends him off to counselling for anger management. There, his therapist forces him to confront his issues.
3	3	"Lonely People"	Richard Yee	Unknown	4 October 2018 (2018-10-04)	596,000
Karl books a holiday alone as he needs some me-time and decides to escape Auntie Norma for a holiday in the middle of nowhere. However, his hopes of a quiet week are dashed when the nosy locals discover he is on his own.
4	4	"Uncle Vinnie"	Richard Yee	Unknown	4 October 2018 (2018-10-04)	496,800
Karl and Norma wind up on a mad journey to Eastbourne after Karl accidentally takes a cherished photo to the charity shop. While Norma basks in her memories, Karl realises that things were not quite what they seemed when he stumbles on a secret.
5	5	"The Kid"	Richard Yee	Unknown	11 October 2018 (2018-10-11)	456,500
Karl's big plan to woo Zoe goes out the window when a dad and his son get into his cab. Then, an urgent pick-up derails things even further when he gets stuck in the traffic at the Pride festival.
6	6	"Bunged Up"	Richard Yee	Unknown	11 October 2018 (2018-10-11)	428,100
Dating is not going well for a constipated Karl; he has been out the game for a long time and finds himself constantly saying the wrong things. Well, that is until he meets someone who cannot understand what he says.

Series 2 (2020)

No. overall	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date ^[9]	UK viewers (millions)
7	1	"The Biscuit"	Richard Yee	Unknown	10 January 2020 (2020-01-10)	N/A
Karl sets out to hire a carer for Norma, although he doesn't think she really needs one.
8	2	"The En-Suite"	Richard Yee	Unknown	10 January 2020 (2020-01-10)	N/A
Karl takes a job as a chauffeur in order to pay for a new car and, eventually, a place of his own but his new job prevents him from spending time with Norma.
9	3	"Useless Lump"	Richard Yee	Unknown	17 January 2020 (2020-01-17)	N/A
A health scare sends Karl into despair when he realises he may have another forty years to live. Ruby convinces him to go back to Manchester to see an old friend.
10	4	"Love & Laughter"	Richard Yee	Unknown	17 January 2020 (2020-01-17)	N/A
Karl just can't seem to laugh anymore, at least, not while he's awake. A night out at a comedy club brings Karl and Ruby closer together.
11	5	"Use By Date"	Richard Yee	Unknown	24 January 2020 (2020-01-24)	N/A
Karl starts to realize how much he likes Ruby. The trouble is he doesn't know if she likes him back
12	6	"The End"	Richard Yee	Unknown	24 January 2020 (2020-01-24)	N/A
Karl and Ruby take a trip to New York to clear up some family business.

Cast

Pilkington stars as the show’s two lead characters and appears in every episode. Sondra James plays his American Auntie Norma. In Series 2 Norma's carer Ruby is played by Marama Corlett who also becomes a love interest for Karl. Sick of It doesn’t have a regular fixed cast and instead features guest appearances each week from actors including Craig Parkinson, Kate Ashfield, Perry Benson, Finn Bennett, Remy Beasley, Mark Silcox, Raad Rawi, David Vujanic, Cokey Falcow, Lou Sanders, Shola Adewusi, Cavan Clerkin Julia Krynkeand & Doug Stanhope.

Reception

Lucy Mangan from The Guardian gave the first two episodes 3 out of 5, observing, "It may not have been pure Pilkington, but perhaps in these melancholy times we couldn’t cope with that simple, shining joy anyway."^[10] Morgan Jeffery at RadioTimes.com gave the second series 4 stars out of 5, calling it "a smart, well-observed, touching and, yes, funny reflection on the intricacies and trivialities of modern life, and a step-up from the already formidable first series".^[11]

References

1. "Sky Corporate". Sky. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
2. "Karl Pilkington to write and star in new comedy series Sick of It". Metro. 21 September 2017. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
3. "Karl Pilkington's 'Sick of It' Goes Global". www.theairwaves.org.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
4. "Karl Pilkington is finally getting his own sitcom". ShortList. 21 September 2017. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
5. Solutions, Powder Blue Internet Business. "Karl Pilkington to star in his own sitcom : News 2017 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2018. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
6. "Karl Pilkington is coming back with a brand new comedy show". The Independent. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
7. "Weekly Top 10 Programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
8. "Four Screen Dashboard". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
9. "Sick of It – Listings". Next Episode. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
10. Mangan, Lucy (27 September 2018). "Sick of It review – Karl Pilkington's new comedy is more melancholy meditation than shaggy dog stories". theguardian.com. from the original on 2 April 2020.
11. "Sick of It season 2 review: Karl Pilkington's superb series finds the profound in the mundane".

External links

• Sick of It at IMDb
• Sick of It at British Comedy Guide
• Sick of It at epguides.com