Happiness_(British_TV_series) Knowpia

*Happiness*
Happiness
Genre	Comedy drama
Starring	Paul Whitehouse; Fiona Allen; Mark Heap; Clive Russell; Pearce Quigley
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	12 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	BBC Two
Release	20 March 2001 –; 18 February 2003

Happiness is a British television drama written by Paul Whitehouse and David Cummings, with Whitehouse starring in the lead role.

Two series were broadcast on BBC Two in 2001 and 2003. Whitehouse stated that there would not be a third.^[1]

Synopsis edit

Whitehouse plays Danny Spencer, a successful voice artist for a popular cartoon bear called Dexter. Spencer is trying to come to terms with the death of his wife, though much of his concern is that he finds he isn't feeling the loss as deeply as he should.

Approaching his 40th birthday he is independent and single and the programme's themes are largely bound up with the opportunities and problems that this situation creates. His friends are a disparate group, ranging from the strait-laced Terry and Rachel (Mark Heap, Fiona Allen), through the down and outs - Charlie and Sid (Johnny Vegas and Pearce Quigley), to the archetypal man in a mid-life crisis, Angus (Clive Russell). To varying degrees these friends offer Spencer inspiration and cautionary tales as to how Spencer can fill his life.

Episodes edit

Series 1 edit

#	Title	Original air date
1	"Personality Crisis"	20 March 2001
2	"I'm Doing It for Me"	27 March 2001
3	"Chained to an Idiot"	3 April 2001
4	"Desperate Dan"	10 April 2001
5	"Celebration"	17 April 2001
6	"Forty'	24 April 2001

Series 2 edit

#	Title	Original air date
1	"A Little Bit of Love"	14 January 2003
2	"A Nice Person"	21 January 2003
3	"Real Dancing"	28 January 2003
4	"Perspective"	4 February 2003
5	"Old Bloke at the Door"	11 February 2003
6	"People Move On"	18 February 2003

Awards edit

British Comedy Awards, 2001
- Won
  - Johnny Vegas, best newcomer for his role as Charlie.
- Nominations
  - Best TV Comedy drama.
British Academy Television Awards, 2002
- Nominations
  - Situation comedy award.

Critical reception edit

Simon Hoggart described the series as "part of that newish genre, the situation tragedy",^[2] and Andrew Billen criticised it for the "emptiness at its heart and not enough going on peripherally to make up for it".^[3] Nicholas Barber described it as "an impressive leap from catchphrase-heavy sketch comedy" with "topnotch supporting actors".^[4] Many reviews identified Johnny Vegas's performance as being the strongest among the cast.^[5]^[6]

References edit

^ "News sept01 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". Chortle. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
^ Hoggart, Simon (2001). "Upfront misery | Spectator, The | Find Articles at BNET". Findarticles.com. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
^ "New Statesman: Upstaged by a prop. - Brief Article - television program review". Archived from the original on 20 November 2004. Retrieved 30 August 2005.
^ [1]^{[dead link]}
^ [2]^{[dead link]}
^ "Ian Hyland's TV week: Happiness | Sunday Mirror | Find Articles at BNET". Findarticles.com. 19 January 2003. Retrieved 26 July 2009.