Steve Coogan Back on BBC America

Steve Coogan (I’m Alan Partridge, Tristam Shandy, Happy Endings -- he's seen in the new show, right and how you might recognize him, left) returns with a brand-new comedy introducing Tommy Saxondale, an ex-roadie with anger management issues and his own pest-control business. Saxondale premieres in The Underground, Friday, October 13, 2006 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT.



Tommy’s been through the rock and roll mill and lived to tell the tale. He plays fast and loose, shoots from the hip and tells no lies. Disillusioned with the music business, Tommy’s given up life as a roadie because DJs started to replace real musicians and new Health and Safety rules meant he had to wear a hairnet.


Now Tommy’s a pest control operative in the London commuter town of Stevenage. Following a violent, protracted divorce he sold the family car, bought a banana-yellow Ford Mustang, and fell in love with Magz (Ruth Jones, Nighty Night, Little Britain), proprietress of subversive t-shirt store Smash The System. Although new age Magz insists on cooking lamb every solstice, she’s never tried to change Tommy. She’s a big girl and he “likes ‘em that way.” They’re very much in love with each other…no ifs, no buts.



Through his company, Stealth Pest Control – whose slogan is Simply The Pest - Tommy fights a one-man war against pests and the system. His young assistant, Raymond (Rasmus Hardiker), is Tonto to Tommy’s Lone Ranger, but with his wise words and life philosophy, Tommy is closer to being a kind of shaman. Essentially, it’s a double act – two stupid guys, but one of them (Tommy) thinks he’s less stupid than he is.



Over the course of seven episodes the former roadie does battle with ants, mice and occasionally moths, but also snowboarding idiots, pigeon-loving activists, people who talk about property prices and, especially, chatty Stealth Pest Control receptionist, Vicky (Morwenna Banks, The Thick of It). Along the way Tommy has his eyesight improved by a prostitute, almost befriends a celebrity, has a heart murmur in an an automotive supply store, takes down an annoying hippy and experiments with women’s makeup.

One of Steve Coogan’s most celebrated comic characters, Alan Partridge, can be enjoyed on DVD when I'm Alan Partridge: Series One is released by BBC Video on October 10th, 2006.

www.bbcamerica.com

CAST AND PRODUCTION CREDITS



Tommy Saxondale Steve Coogan

Magz Ruth Jones

Vicki Morwenna Banks

Raymond Rasmus Hardiker



Guest Stars Mark Williams (Tristam Shandy, Harry Potter)

Ben Miller (The Worst Week of My Life, Johnny English)

Alexander Armstrong

James Lance (Teachers)

Liza Tarbuck (French & Saunders)

Writers Steve Coogan & Neil MacLennan

Producer Ted Dowd (Nighty Night)

Director (Eps 2-6) Matt Lipsey (Little Britain)

Director (Ep 1) Ben Miller

Executive Producers Steve Coogan & Henry Normal


WHAT THE BRITISH PRESS SAID



“Wonderful news! Steve Coogan’s latest comic creation is enormous fun. Like so many of Coogan’s creations, he is a complex, vulnerable and deeply flawed character who also manages to be perversely likeable.” The Times



“The first thing that needs to be said about Steve Coogan’s new sitcom, Saxondale, is that it is very, very funny. And the second is that like all the very best of recent comedy (The Office, Peep Show, Curb Your Enthusiasm) it reveals a near-forensic knowledge of its subject. He is perhaps the first character Coogan has created that we are supposed to laugh wholeheartedly with as opposed to at.” The Guardian



“For anyone with even the most cursory knowledge of the music business, Saxondale is as brilliantly observed as other Coogan creations (and musical contemporaries), Tony Ferrino and Sir Alan of Partridgeshire. …” The Mirror



“It took less than five minutes of Saxondale to remind me that (Coogan) is a bona fide genius. He inhabits this new persona as wholly and convincingly as he did Partridge, but whereas Partridge was in essence a caricature, albeit exquisitely drawn, Tommy is all too believable. As is the relationship with his girlfriend, Magz (Ruth Jones).” The Independent



“You’ll laugh or cry or do both as you meet long-suffering girlfriend Magz and his beloved yellow Ford Mustang. A treat for Coogan fans.” The Sun

EPISODE SYNOPSES



Episode one

Former roadie Tommy Saxondale hires a young, impressionable new assistant, Raymond, to work alongside him at Stealth Pest Control. Tommy sets about indoctrinating him on all matters professional and cultural and quickly issues a dark warning about playing dance music in the company van. More than just a boss/worker relationship, Tommy also provides Raymond with accommodation, meals and porn magazines from the ’70s.


When the two embark on their first job together (shooting pigeons with air-pellets) they run into animal rights protestors. Tommy enlightens Raymond on the importance of tolerating diverse opinions and being calm in the face of hostility - all totally theoretical, as, when faced with the reality of some “soap-dodger” with dreadlocks, Tommy decides it’s easier to just shoot him in the knee.

Premieres Friday, October 13, 11:00 p.m. ET/8:00 p.m. PT.

Episode two

When Magz’s store, Smash The System, is censored for displaying obscene material, Tommy fights to uphold civil liberties - and to sell a poster of Prince Charles lighting his farts.

Tommy and Raymond are called to exterminate mice in the home of celebrity motoring journalist Jerome Nelson. Tommy briefs Raymond about how celebrities shouldn’t be harassed, except Tommy believes himself and Jerome could be best buddies. They bond briefly until Tommy’s anger management issues surface and he goes into an uncontrollable rage.

Tommy defends Smash The System at a formal hearing. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Martin Luther King, Tommy makes an impassioned speech which has Magz shedding tears of admiration but confuses everybody else.

Tommy, Magz and Raymond go to an American muscle car meet, where Jerome, feeling guilty about their earlier meeting, shows up. Tommy’s delighted to see him but forgets that he’s had t-shirts printed which describe Jerome in one four-letter word - and it’s not “mate”…

Premieres Friday, October 20, 11:00 p.m. ET/8:00 p.m. PT.


Episode three

Deggsy, a buddy from Tommy’s life as a roadie, comes to visit for a few days. While Tommy has long embraced the calm, suburban life, Deggsy’s still got a taste for whisky and an eye for the ladies – although these days the awkward question of the ladies’ hourly rate has to be addressed.



Tommy’s trying to have a quiet night in when Deggsy calls, looking for a party. Tommy can’t admit to Deggsy that he’s a couch potato these days, so he reluctantly heads out to the old haunts. Ever the party animal, Deggsy has an ace up his sleeve in the form of two prostitutes and a bottle of economy vodka, normally used by barbers for cleaning combs...
Premieres Friday, October 27, 11:00 p.m. ET/8:00 p.m. PT.

Episode four

Tommy’s daughter Stevie comes to visit with her new boyfriend, Matt. Tommy doesn’t want Matt to treat him like a traditional prospective father-in-law. So Matt doesn’t and Tommy is not happy about this.



He and Raymond take on a cockroach extermination job in a run-down neighborhood where the tenant is a louche type whose pants are several sizes too small.



Back home Tommy’s daughter tries to invite him to a work party but Tommy is reluctant to share his leisure time with Matt. He comes to realize his assumptions about Matt were wrong and, wracked with guilt, gives him an ornamental leopard on a log by way of recompense. Tommy is distraught when he discovers that the work party he turned down is an old prog-rock get-together, but girlfriend Magz saves the day and Tommy’s dignity.

Premieres Friday, November 3, 11:00 p.m. ET/8:00 p.m. PT.


Episode five

Tommy’s physical ineptitude is exposed when he and Raymond attempt the humane removal of a squirrel from a woman’s loft. Concerned about his lack of fitness, the ex-roadie decides to join a gym. However, his reluctance to start training at beginner level results in a twisted neck muscle and he has to resort to amateur physiotherapy in the form of Magz backside-slamming his chest.

Meanwhile, Raymond’s romantic life takes a turn for the better when he meets newly divorced
Tina who is keen to dispense with standard courting rituals.


Tommy discovers that fears for his health are largely imaginary and his love life returns to its usual inventive ways. The sound of tearing paper is heard as Raymond is exposed to more than a sensitive young man should be.

Premieres Friday, November 10, 11:00 p.m. ET/8:00 p.m. PT.



Episode six

After Tommy’s Renault Kangoo work van is clamped the ex-roadie gets embroiled in an escalating series of events that culminate in him taking on the might of the modern corporation as personified by Bernard Langley.



Convinced he’s uncovered a flea-related scam by Langley, Tommy goes for high-profile exposure. But what promises to be a triumph for the forces of integrity turns into what looks like Tommy picking on a fat guy. Meanwhile, Raymond unwittingly stumbles on the secret of nylon pantyhose and reveals the scam. Triumphant, Tommy exposes Langley, restores the moral order and makes disparaging remarks about pop singer Dido.

Premieres Friday, November 17, 11:00 p.m. ET/8:00 p.m. PT.



Episode seven

Tommy and Raymond respond to a mouse problem where the client, Janet, takes an obvious shine to the ex-roadie. For his part, Tommy is enchanted by Janet’s knowledge of cars as well as her fulsome figure.

With Magz away, Tommy obeys his loins and agrees to meet Janet for a romantic liaison. On the verge of giving in to temptation, he manages to pull back from the brink. Later, he mends his relationship with Magz and resolves to temper his own intolerance.

Elsewhere, Tommy and Raymond are called to clear out the home of a dead man and, as they piece together his life, a tin of potatoes gets Tommy considering his own mortality.
Premieres Friday, November 24, 11:00 p.m. ET/8:00 p.m. PT.





STEVE COOGAN

Steve Coogan is one of the UK’s most successful comedians and has created infamous characters and catchphrases that are repeated throughout Britain. He has produced and written a host of BAFTA award-winning comedies including Knowing Me, Knowing You, I’m Alan Partridge and Marion and Geoff.

Born and raised in Manchester, where he trained as an actor at the Manchester Polytechnic School of Theatre, Steve discovered that performing stand-up was a way of obtaining an Equity card. He soon became a regular voice on the politcal satire show Spitting Image.

He won the Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival in 1992 for his character Paul Calf which went on to form a BAFTA-winning comedy series, Three Fights, Two Weddings And A Funeral. In 1994 he won Top Male Comedy Performer, Top Comedy Personality for The Day Today and Best New Television Comedy for Knowing Me, Knowing You at the British Comedy Awards.

His Alan Partridge character was first created for radio and then transferred to television in the multi award-winning and critically acclaimed series Knowing Me, Knowing You followed by I’m Alan Partridge. In 1998 I’m Alan Partridge won two BAFTAs for Best Comedy Series and Best Comedy Performance as well as three British Comedy Awards. The second series went on to win another British Comedy Award for Steve in 2003.

In 1999 Steve set up Baby Cow Productions with Henry Normal. The company has gained a reputation for nurturing new British comedy and produced a number of award winning shows such as Nighty Night, Marion and Geoff and I Am Not An Animal.

Steve has also carved a career in movies. He starred in The Parole Officer and shared a Carl Foreman Award for its screenplay with Henry Normal. He was also nominated for an Empire Award and an Online Film Critics Society Award for 24 Hour Party People. Steve played Phileas Fogg in the 2004 remake of Around the World in 80 Days and starred as Tristram and Walter Shandy in the acclaimed A Cock and Bull Story. His most recent films are The Alibi and Marie-Antoinette, and he will be co-starring with Ben Stiller in a remake of The Persuaders.