Dead Man Weds is a six-part comedy series shown on ITV in Britain in January and early February 2005, and repeated on ITV2.[1]
The series was written by Dave Spikey, who played the part of Jerry St Clair in Phoenix Nights. It was produced for ITV by the Red Production Company, and starred Spikey and Johnny Vegas.[2]
The series concerns the staff of a fictional newspaper, The Fogburrow Advertiser,[3] and the title of the series is a typical example of the paper's front-page headlines; Spikey saw the headline on a newspaper billboard about a man who had died but was resuscitated and then later married. The billboard did not have quote marks around the word dead, which made Spikey laugh and so he developed the sitcom from that headline.[4]
In the series, a new editor, Gordon Garden (played by Spikey), is determined to shake up the newspaper. The acting editor, Lewis Donat (played by Vegas), is convinced that he should have been made editor himself, and believes that journalism involves going on a break as soon as he gets in, stealing stories from old newspapers and getting the rest of the news from Joan at the cake shop, Cake That.
The series was filmed in several locations, notably Castleton in Derbyshire.[5]
The theme music, also used as incidental music and stings throughout the series, is a version of Jonathan King's composition "It's Good News Week", which was a hit for Hedgehoppers Anonymous in 1965.
The production company has announced that the series will not be released on DVD because of problems obtaining copyright clearance for the music used.
References
- ^ Thomas, Liz (14 December 2004). "Spikey draws up painting sitcom | News | The Stage". thestage.co.uk. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
- ^ Rampton, James (4 January 2005). "Johnny Vegas: Comedy's big hitter". The Independent. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
- ^ "Spikey could film sitcom in Adlington". The Bolton News. 23 July 2004. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
- ^ "Spikey reads all about it in LEP". Lancashire Evening Post. 7 October 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
- ^ "Mind your language and enjoy a Spikey night". The Sheffield Telegraph. 14 October 2011. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
External links
- Dead Man Weds at IMDb
- Dead Man Weds at British Comedy Guide
- Red Production website