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Desmond's 
Desmond's TitlesGenre Sitcom Created by Trix Worrell Starring Norman Beaton
Carmen Munroe
Ram John Holder
Gyearbuor AsanteCountry of origin United Kingdom Language(s) English No. of seasons 6 No. of episodes 71 (list of episodes) Production Executive producer(s) Al Mitchell
Humphrey BarclayProducer(s) Humphrey Barclay
Charlie HansonCamera setup Multi-camera Running time 70x30 min
1x60 minBroadcast Original channel Channel 4 Picture format 4:3 Original run 5 January 1989 – 19 December 1994 Chronology Followed by Porkpie Desmond's is a British television situation comedy broadcast by Channel 4 from 1989 to 1994. The first series was shot in 1988, with the first episode broadcast in January 1989. The show was made in and set in Peckham, London, England and featured a predominantly West Indian cast.
Conceived and co-written by Trix Worrell, and produced by Charlie Hanson and Humphrey Barclay,[1] this series starred Norman Beaton as barber Desmond Ambrose. Desmond's shop was a gathering place for an assortment of local characters.
Contents
Notability
While the show was not the first black (or predominantly black) British television situation comedy (The Fosters, 1976-77[2]), it was the first to be set mainly in the workplace,[1] which provided an insight on black family life different from those seen before on British television.[3] The characters had aspirations (Desmond to return to Guyana, Michael to run his own branch of the bank, Gloria to get a job in fashion, Sean to get to university) and were socially mobile.[1] The vast majority of the crew were also black.[4]
Characters
Much of the success of the show came from the dynamics and relationships both within the Ambrose family and the other characters in the show who spent time in the shop.[3]
The Ambrose family
The Ambroses were the central family that the show was built around.
- Desmond Ambrose (Norman Beaton) was the main character and the owner of the barbershop named after him. His friends and family would occasionally make reference to his poor barbering skills. Desmond constantly talked about retiring and going back home to Guyana for good, although Shirley was reluctant to go with him. In the spin-off "Porkpie", it was revealed that Desmond had passed away (as Norman Beaton had died the previous year).
- Shirley Ambrose (Carmen Munroe) was Desmond's wife and mother of their three children, She was always sorting out the problems. Shirley was the only member of the Ambrose family not to appear in an episode of the spin-off "Porkpie" as it was revealed that she had gone back to live in Guyana for good, in the series.
- Michael Ambrose (Geff Francis) was Desmond and Shirley's eldest son, he was an assistant bank manager, that later became a bank manager at the branch where he worked. Unlike the rest of the Ambrose Family, he wasn't introduced until the second episode, when Shirley suggested that Desmond go to the bank and get a loan to do-up the shop.
- Gloria Ambrose (Kim Walker) was the only daughter to Desmond and Shirley. She had dreams of becoming a fashion writer.
- Sean Ambrose (Justin Pickett) was the youngest child, who frequently rapped and was experienced in computer use, he later went to University.
Other characters
- Augustus Neapolitan Cleveland 'Porkpie' Grant (Ram John Holder), was an old childhood friend of Desmond's who also came from Guyana. He got nicknamed 'Porkpie' because he always wore a pork pie hat even as a young man back in Guyana. His wife Gwendolyn had left him many years ago because she caught him in bed with her best friend Hyacinth Green, who appeared in the final series. His wife went to live in Canada taking their two young daughters with her. Although Porkpie had two daughters he often talked about his daughter Denise, who appeared in the fifth episode of the third series. There was no mention of his other daughter. Porkpie later had his own spin-off series, Porkpie
- Matthew (Gyearbuor Asante) was an eternal student from Gambia. He would often quote "old African sayings"
- Tony (Dominic Keating) was Desmond's first assistant barber and the third white character to appear in the series.
- Ricky (Dean Gatiss) was Tony's replacement in the final series. Desmond gave him the job as the new barbers assistant because he knew his father and promised him a favour.
- Lee 'The Peckham Prince' Stanley (Robbie Gee) was the local wide-boy wheeler-dealer, often trying to sell his wares to the regulars in the shop. He was like a son to Desmond and Shirley as they looked after him while he was in care and they knew his mother. Lee's mother revealed the identity of his father in the fourth episode of the fourth series. She visited the barber shop to find Lee on the day he went to Liverpool to find her. On Lee's return to Peckham, he was reunited with his mother after 28 years.
- Louise Dixon (Lisa Geoghan) was Gloria's best friend in the first four series and also the first white character to appear in the series.
- Amanda "Mandy" Mosgrove (Mathilda Thorpe) was Michael's PA. In episode twelve of the forth series, Michael proposed to her and she accepted. She was due to marry Michael towards the end of the series. There was no episode of them getting married as the series had finished during the planning stages of the wedding. In the spin-off series, Porkpie it was revealed that Mandy had married Michael because her surname became Ambrose.
- Beverley Mcintosh (Joan Ann Maynard) was a good friend of Shirley's and Michael's god mother. She was the local gossip, and often provided a prudish, old-fashioned viewpoint. She often spoke about her ailments and the medication she had to take as well as having to prepare her husbands Red mullet. She always wore a hat that resembled a Tea cosy
- Aunt "Susu" Doreen (Mona Hammond), Shirley's ignorant sister, Porkpie's dream girl and later fiancé. She preferred to be called "Susu", instead of her birth name, Doreen, but the family, in particularly Shirley would call her Doreen, whenever she was angry with her. In the forth series, Susu got deported back to Jamaica, however she was still engaged to Porkpie. In the final series of the spin-off show Porkpie, Susu had turned up out of the blue from Jamaica, after finding out about Porkpie's Lottery win in the West Indian Times newspaper. She claimed to have married an English man back in the Caribbean so that she could get a passport to go to England to marry Porkpie. Porkpie later found out that she had run away with all her current husbands savings, sold his electric wheelchair and stole his passport so that he couldn't go after her and that she only came to England to marry him and claim half of his fortune.
- Vince (Count Prince Miller) was another assistant in the shop in the final series. He was also the drummer in the Georgetown Dreamers.
- Burt (Sol Raye) was a member of The Georgetown Dreamers, a band that Desmond, Porkpie and Vince played in.
- Andrew "Spider" Webb (Robert McKewley) was Sean's best friend and had an open crush on Gloria. He was into ragga music and was an entrepreneur. Although he was Sean's best friend, Sean's family members seemed to disapprove of him and sometimes thought he was a bad influence.
- Bernie (Rhashan Stone) was the first friend that Sean made at university on his first day. He was openly gay.
- Ronni (Teohna Williams) was Gloria's best friend in series 5 and 6.
- Alex (Chris Tummings) was Gloria's boyfriend. He was a strict vegetarian and an artist. They Gloria and Alex moved in together towards the end of the series
- Neville "Nev" James (Treva Etienne) was a friend of the family who was a Police Constable that later became a Detective Constable CID. He also went to school with Lee and Michael as a child.
- Lewis (Lewis St. Juste) was very often in the background, using the pay-phone in the barber shop. He has had a line or two in a few episodes. He first spoke in the third episode of the second series, when Shirley asked him what his name was. He used the phone so often that Lee once referred to him as E.T.
Prejudice
Worrell was keen to show that prejudice existed not just between broad ethnic groups, but also within them.[1] While Matthew was the frequent butt of jokes from the West Indian characters, particularly Porkpie and Desmond, he was always keen to point out the strength of African history with his regular interjection "There's an old African saying".[3]
Legacy
The show had a unique method of team writing[1] that raised the profile of some writers, notably playwright Michael J Ellis, who went on to work on other shows, including the BBC's all-black sketch show The Real McCoy, and Worrell himself went on to work in films.
Desmond's came 70th in the 2004 BBC poll to find Britain's Best Sitcom. Reruns aired in the USA on BET in the early-1990s. The show continued to be popular, running on NYCTV as part of their Caribbean programming on Sunday nights in the late-1990s. As of January 2007, the network still airs reruns of Desmond's from time to time. From 1997 until late 2000, Paramount Comedy reran the show. Trouble TV, in the U.K., began showing re-runs of Desmond's in September 2007.
The full series is available to view on 4oD through Youtube. With 71 episodes produced, it remains Channel 4's longest running sitcom in terms of the number of episodes produced.
DVD releases
Region 2
Channel 4 DVD has released the first two series on DVD in the UK. Series One was released on October 1, 2007.[5] Series Two was released on April 14, 2008.[6]
The first five series are available to watch on Virgin Media's On Demand service, provided by Channel 4 On demand.
Region 1
Visual Entertainment has begun releasing Desmond's on DVD in Canada. To date they have released the first four series of the show on DVD. Series 1 and 2 were released on March 27, 2007.[7] Series 3 was released on November 3, 2009.[8] On March 2, 2010, VEI released Desmond's- The Collection: Series One to Four, a 7-disc set featuring all episodes from the first four seasons.[9]
Follow-up
Following the death of Norman Beaton in 1994, a spin-off series was made with Porkpie in the title role. This ran for two series in 1995 and 1996.
References
- ^ a b c d e Sarita Malik. "Desmond's". http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/D/htmlD/desmonds/desmonds.htm. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- ^ Ali Jaafar "Fosters, The (1976-77)", BFI screenonline
- ^ a b c Ali Jaafar. "Screenonline: Desmond's (1988-94)". http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/490845/index.html. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- ^ British Sitcom Guide: Desmond's
- ^ http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/3438639/Desmond-s-Series-1/Product.html
- ^ http://www.play.com/Channel4/DVD/DVD/RGNNR/3-/5160215/Desmond_s_Complete_Series_2/Product.html
- ^ [1]
- ^ http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Desmonds-Series-3/12541
- ^ http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Desmonds-The-Collection/13381
External links
- Desmond's at channel4.com
- Desmond's at the BFI's Screenonline
- Desmond's at the Internet Movie Database
- Desmond's at the British Comedy Guide
- Desmond's at TV.com
Categories:- 1989 British television programme debuts
- 1994 British television programme endings
- 1980s British television series
- 1990s British television series
- Black British sitcoms
- Channel 4 sitcoms
- Comedy in London
- Television shows set in London
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