Beautiful People (UK TV series)
| Beautiful People | |
|---|---|
Beautiful People intertitle for series 2
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| Genre | Comedy drama |
| Written by |
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| Directed by |
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| Starring | |
| Narrated by | Samuel Barnett |
| Theme music composer |
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| Opening theme | "Beautiful People Theme" |
| Composer(s) | Ian Masterson |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 12 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Jon Plowman |
| Producer(s) | Justin Davies Jonathan Harvey (assistant) |
| Cinematography | Rob Kitzmann (DoP) |
| Editor(s) | Mark Lawrence |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | BBC Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | |
| Picture format | |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | 2 October 2008 – 18 December 2009 |
Beautiful People was a British comedy drama television series based on the memoirs of Barneys creative director Simon Doonan. The series takes place in Reading, Berkshire, in 1997, where thirteen-year-old Simon Doonan and his best friend Kylie dream of escaping their dreary suburban surroundings and moving to cosmopolitan London "to live amongst the beautiful people". The first episode aired on BBC Two on 2 October 2008 and recorded overnight ratings of 1.5 million viewers and positive critical reaction. Episodes are self-contained, but do follow a loose story arc throughout the course of each series. The second and final series finished airing on 18 December 2009.
Series 1
In 2008 New York City, Simon Doonan, a window-dresser at Barneys, tells his boyfriend Sacha various tales from his childhood in Reading. Most of Simon's stories center around how he came to own some of his most treasured possessions, which he finds a place for in his eccentric window displays. Over the course of the series, young Simon struggles to express his love of music, theatre, and fashion in a working class community, with local hooligans hounding him at school and a supportive but quirky family squashing his efforts at home. While it is implied, sexuality is not relevant.
Series 2
The second series of Beautiful People was broadcast in 2009, when Simon returns to Reading to mend his heart after breaking up with his boyfriend Sacha. As in the first series, Simon recounts stories from his childhood in Reading, but speaks directly to the viewer instead of to Sacha. Simon and Kylie's sexuality becomes more overt in the second series as the two lads become more comfortable with themselves. In the series finale, Simon finds himself attracted to a new boy at school, prompting him to come out to his mother after being dissuaded from running away from home.
The comedy was greenlit in May 2008 by Controller of BBC Two Lucy Lumsden and Controller of Comedy Commissioning Roly Keating. The six episodes were written by Jonathan Harvey (Gimme Gimme Gimme) and directed by Gareth Carrivick. Studio filming was done at Shepperton Studios and exterior locations at South Oxhey and Bushey, Hertfordshire,Harrow, London, Grahame Park concourse and New York City. Exterior scenes of the cul de sac where Simon lives are filmed on Crabtree Close in Bushey. Doonan grew up in Reading in the 1960s but Harvey moved the setting forward to the 1990s. Executive producer Jon Plowman hoped audiences would relate to Simon's childhood; "Every teenager thinks they're different [...] I hope the audience will think: 'That's me as a teenager being laughed at. Everyone else was in a gang together, and I was in a gang of one.' But the truth is, everyone is in a gang of one."
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