.gif)
Dead Famous (novel)
Encyclopedia
Dead Famous is a comedy/whodunit
novel by Ben Elton
in which ratings for a reality TV show
, very similar to Big Brother
, rocket when a housemate is murdered. Unlike a typical whodunit, Elton does not reveal the identity of the victim until around halfway into the book.
officers to identify the killer by watching all the video recordings of the ten housemates while the remaining housemates continue the reality television show. The novel jumps back and forth in time to show the events in the live video recordings, leading up to the night of the murder, where the remaining eight housemates at the time had to remain in an Indian sweat box- an old-style sauna with a pitch-black interior, the intention being to prompt the housemates to have sex-; the victim left the box to go to the toilet and the killer apparently left the box wrapped in a sheet to conceal their identity and stabbed the victim twice in the neck and head.
Later, a note is found in an envelope that had been sealed weeks previously that says that the victim will be dead by the time the housemates read the note and that one of the three remaining housemates will be murdered. The police have to catch the killer before he or she strikes again.
The killer is revealed on the final night of the show to be the show's producer, who had set up the murder to attract increased ratings for the show, faking the video footage of the killer leaving the sweat-box with the aid of her deputy producer; Detective Coleridge, an amateur actor, provokes a confession by creating fake video evidence of the producer's rehearsal murders.
The television crew:
The police:
Hamlet
and Macbeth
.
David, the actor, has the first four lines of Hamlet's soliloquy "To be, or not to be
" tattoed around his ankle. This allows both Kelly and the police officers to identify him as a porn star who starred in a movie in which Kelly was an extra. This threatens his reputation, as he wishes to become a serious actor again.
Inspector Coleridge belongs to an amateur dramatics society that is starting rehearsals for a performance of Macbeth, one of Coleridge's favourite plays. He desperately wishes to play the lead
, but the director wants someone younger to play the lead part. Coleridge's success in solving the murder wins him the part. The idea of Banquo
's ghost is Coleridge's method of forcing a confession out of the murderer.
Whodunit
A whodunit or whodunnit is a complex, plot-driven variety of the detective story in which the puzzle is the main feature of interest. The reader or viewer is provided with clues from which the identity of the perpetrator of the crime may be deduced before the solution is revealed in the final...
novel by Ben Elton
Ben Elton
Benjamin Charles "Ben" Elton is an English comedian, author, playwright and director. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, as a writer on such cult series as The Young Ones and Blackadder, as well as also a successful stand-up comedian on stage and TV....
in which ratings for a reality TV show
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
, very similar to Big Brother
Big Brother (TV series)
Big Brother is a television show in which a group of people live together in a large house, isolated from the outside world but continuously watched by television cameras. Each series lasts for around three months, and there are usually fewer than 15 participants. The housemates try to win a cash...
, rocket when a housemate is murdered. Unlike a typical whodunit, Elton does not reveal the identity of the victim until around halfway into the book.
Plot
The novel is about a murder that occurs on a reality television programme called House Arrest, and the efforts of three policePolice
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
officers to identify the killer by watching all the video recordings of the ten housemates while the remaining housemates continue the reality television show. The novel jumps back and forth in time to show the events in the live video recordings, leading up to the night of the murder, where the remaining eight housemates at the time had to remain in an Indian sweat box- an old-style sauna with a pitch-black interior, the intention being to prompt the housemates to have sex-; the victim left the box to go to the toilet and the killer apparently left the box wrapped in a sheet to conceal their identity and stabbed the victim twice in the neck and head.
Later, a note is found in an envelope that had been sealed weeks previously that says that the victim will be dead by the time the housemates read the note and that one of the three remaining housemates will be murdered. The police have to catch the killer before he or she strikes again.
The killer is revealed on the final night of the show to be the show's producer, who had set up the murder to attract increased ratings for the show, faking the video footage of the killer leaving the sweat-box with the aid of her deputy producer; Detective Coleridge, an amateur actor, provokes a confession by creating fake video evidence of the producer's rehearsal murders.
Characters in "Dead Famous"
The housemates:- Jason "Jazz", a trainee chef and wannabe comedian
- Dervla Nolan, a quiet and mysterious Irish trauma therapist (Revealed to have joined the show in an attempt to gain the prize money to help her family after a recent disaster in her home village)
- Garry "Gazzer", a stereotypical lager lout
- Kelly Simpson, a beautiful but unintelligent shop assistant; the murder victim
- David Dalgleish, a vain actor and secret porn star
- Layla, a snobbish fashion designer/shop assistant with "New Age" beliefs
- Hamish, an uninteresting doctor; operated on the principal of staying unnoticed in the house to avoid nomination while informing the public that he wanted to have sex on television to discourage them voting him out
- Sally Copple, a bodybuilding lesbian bouncer with a dark past
- William "Woggle" Wooster, an antisocial and unhygienic anarchist
- Moon, an exhibitionistic circus performer and topless model
The television crew:
- Geraldine Hennessy, the producer of House Arrest
- Bob Fogarty, the senior series editor
- Pru (Prudence), his assistant editor
- Larry Carlisle, a cameraman
- Chloe, the presenter
The police:
- Chief Inspector Stanley Spencer Coleridge, an old-fashioned but dedicated police officer
- Sergeant Hooper (forename unknown), a young modern police officer
- Constable Patricia "Trish" (surname unknown), a closetedThe ClosetThe Closet may refer to:* The Closet , Chinese film* The Closet , French film* The closet, referring to undisclosed homosexuality- See also :* Closet* Closet * In the closet...
lesbian police officer
Allusions to other works
Elton makes references in this novel to both Shakespeare'sWilliam Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
and Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
.
David, the actor, has the first four lines of Hamlet's soliloquy "To be, or not to be
To be, or not to be
"To be, or not to be" is the opening phrase of a soliloquy from William Shakespeare's play Hamlet , Act III, Scene 1. It is the best-known quotation from the play and probably the most famous in world literature but there is disagreement on its meaning, as there is of the whole speech.- Text :This...
" tattoed around his ankle. This allows both Kelly and the police officers to identify him as a porn star who starred in a movie in which Kelly was an extra. This threatens his reputation, as he wishes to become a serious actor again.
Inspector Coleridge belongs to an amateur dramatics society that is starting rehearsals for a performance of Macbeth, one of Coleridge's favourite plays. He desperately wishes to play the lead
Macbeth (character)
Macbeth is the title character in William Shakespeare's Macbeth . The character is based on the historical king Macbeth of Scotland, and is derived largely from the account in Holinshed's Chronicles , a history of Britain. Macbeth is a Scottish noble and a valiant military man. He is portrayed...
, but the director wants someone younger to play the lead part. Coleridge's success in solving the murder wins him the part. The idea of Banquo
Banquo
Banquo is a character in William Shakespeare's 1606 play Macbeth. In the play, he is at first an ally to Macbeth and they are together when they meet the Three Witches. After prophesying that Macbeth will become king, the witches tell Banquo that he will not be king himself, but that his...
's ghost is Coleridge's method of forcing a confession out of the murderer.
Allusions to actual history, geography and current science
The novel is dedicated to the contestants of the first Big Brother series in the UK, the second Big Brother series in the UK and the first Big Brother series in Australia. The book parodies the cult of celebrity brought on by simply being on television and says in the credits that "without [the Big Brother contestants] this novel would not have been written".Publication history
- Great Britain, Bantam PressBantam PressBantam Press is an imprint of Transworld Publishers which is a British publishing division of Random House.It is based on Uxbridge Road in Ealing near Ealing Broadway station, the same address as Transworld....
(a division of Random HouseRandom HouseRandom House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
), ISBN 978-0593048047, Pub date 5 November 2001, Hardcover; ISBN 978-0552999458, Pub date 01 September 2002, Paperback.