Gimme Gimme Gimme | |
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Part of the Gimme Gimme Gimme title sequence.
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Genre | Sitcom |
Created by | Jonathan Harvey |
Developed by |
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Starring | |
Opening theme | "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" |
Ending theme | "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of series | 3 |
No. of episodes | 19 (+1 Comic Relief sketch) (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) |
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Producer(s) | |
Running time | 29 minutes |
Production company(s) | Tiger Aspect Productions |
Distributor | Endemol UK |
Release | |
Original network | |
Picture format | 16:9 |
Original release | 8 January 1999 | – 14 December 2001
External links | |
Website |
Gimme Gimme Gimme is a BBC television sitcom by Tiger Aspect Productions that was first aired in three series from 1999 to 2001. It was written by Jonathan Harvey, who developed the series with Kathy Burke.
The theme music is a cover of ABBA's "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)". The first two series were originally shown on BBC Two and were deemed successful enough for the third series to be shown on BBC One.
The series is repeated on Gold.
Gimme Gimme Gimme centres around loudmouthed Londoner Linda La Hughes (played by comedian and director Kathy Burke) and her gay flatmate, actor Tom Farrell (played by James Dreyfus). A modern twist on the traditional "odd couple" format, much of Gimme Gimme Gimme's humour springs from its lubricious innuendo subplot, which comes from the mouths of both Tom and Linda.
Linda is characterised by her red perm, white glasses, and plump, lycra-clad figure. Boorish, unattractive Linda is convinced she is a "stunner"; in series three she is finally diagnosed with reversed body dysmorphic disorder. It is suggested that Linda and Tom first met at a nightclub, bonded instantly (due to both being on ecstasy), and decided to live together. What follows is, as writer Jonathan Harvey describes, "one long comedown". Linda often tells humorous anecdotes about her family and childhood which suggest abuse or neglect (such as how she apparently slept on a doormat as a baby, lived in a kennel as a child, and was left in a car-boot for the two weeks her aunt went on holiday), but she always thinks of these as positive experiences. She also claims that her Daddy now lives in an iron lung, although the only proof she has is a photo of a sideboard. Linda also lived in a convent and a borstal as a teenager. She has crushes on Liam Gallagher (in whom she lost interest after series one as she "couldn't bring up another bird's child"), Robbie Williams, and both male members of Hear'Say. She also imagines having sex with Dale Winton in a toilet cubicle.