Green Wing
Encyclopedia
Green Wing is a British sitcom
set in the fictional East Hampton Hospital. It was created by the same team behind the sketch
show Smack the Pony
, led by Victoria Pile
, and stars Tamsin Greig
, Stephen Mangan
and Julian Rhind-Tutt
.
Although set in a hospital, there are no medical storylines; the action is produced by a series of soap opera
-style twists and turns in the personal lives of the characters. They proceed through a series of often absurd sketch-like scenes, or by sequences where the film is slowed down or sped up, often emphasising the body language
of the characters. The show has eight writers. Two series were made by the Talkback Thames production company for Channel 4
.
The series ran between 3 September 2004 and 19 May 2006. A special episode was filmed with the second series, which was shown as a 90 minute long special on 4 January 2007 in the UK, but was shown in Australia and Belgium on 29 December 2006.
Separate from the series, a special sketch was made for Comic Relief and screened on 11 March 2005. Another was performed live at The Secret Policeman's Ball
on 14 October 2006.
' s plot revolves around the lives of the staff of the East Hampton Hospital Trust, an NHS
hospital with staff ranging from the slightly unusual to the completely bizarre.
The series begins with a new arrival, surgical registrar
Caroline Todd (Tamsin Greig
). Caroline suffers from constant embarrassment and misfortune, stumbling from one crisis to the next due to a mixture of her own indecisiveness, clumsiness, and general bad luck. Caroline works alongside two other doctors: Guy Secretan
(Stephen Mangan
), a half-Swiss, womanising anaesthetist, and "Mac" Macartney
(Julian Rhind-Tutt
), a charming, effortlessly cool surgeon. It is not long before Caroline begins to develop feelings for both of them, though she is unsure as to which of the two she truly loves. Throughout the series, it becomes clear that Mac is her true love, but a range of disasters prevent their relationship from flourishing. Other people Caroline meets include Martin Dear
(Karl Theobald
), a well-meaning house officer
who is constantly failing his exams. He is unloved by his mother and is often bullied by Guy. Martin soon develops feelings for Caroline, and begins to fall in love with her. There is also Angela Hunter
(Sarah Alexander
), a seemingly-perfect, but irritating, senior registrar in paediatrics. Whilst Angela appears to mean well, Caroline cannot stand her and despite her best efforts to avoid Angela, she ends up as Caroline's lodger.
Caroline's main rival for Mac's affections is Sue White
(Michelle Gomez
), the Scottish staff liaison officer employed to listen and respond to the problems of East Hampton's staff. However, Sue is perhaps the least suited person for the job. She is the most eccentric member of staff in the hospital; abrasive, cruel, foul-mouthed, obsessive and completely self-absorbed. Her office is a place where the impossible tends to happen, and anyone who enters is normally treated with a mixture of verbal abuse and psychological torture. The only person she treats with any affection is Mac, whom she loves to the point of madness, but Mac, like everyone else in the hospital, sees her as beyond the edge of insanity. Anyone else who attempts to get involved with Mac is treated with contempt and hatred by Sue, in particular Caroline, whom Sue attempts several times to murder.
Another doctor with relationship problems and bordering insanity is Alan Statham
(Mark Heap
), a pompous, stuttering, kinky and extremely odd consultant
radiologist. He is desperately and hopelessly in love with Joanna Clore
(Pippa Haywood
), the 48-year-old head of human resources
with an increasingly bitter attitude. Their relationship is an open secret, with student doctor Boyce
(Oliver Chris
), often using it as a weapon against them, bullying Alan constantly. Joanna's human resources staff also use it against her, in particular Kim Alabaster (Sally Bretton
), who has a bad attitude towards most of the people she meets, and Naughty Rachel (Katie Lyons
), who earned her nickname due to her love of sex. The other HR staff include Harriet Schulenburg
(Olivia Colman
), an overworked mother of four trapped in an unhappy marriage, and Karen Ball (Lucinda Raikes
), who divides her time between doing much of the office's work, trying to attract Martin's affections, and being bullied by Kim and Rachel.
, who is also the casting director, one of the writers and the producer
(with Peter Fincham as executive producer
). Pile is involved in the editing, filming and post-production
. She describes Green Wing as "a sketch-meets-comedy-drama-meets-soap", and a continuation of her previous show, Smack the Pony
, where Green Wing' s crew also worked. The show has eight writers: Pile, Robert Harley
, Gary Howe
, Stuart Kenworthy
, Oriane Messina
, Richard Preddy
, Fay Rusling
and James Henry
. This is unusual for British sitcoms, which normally have only one or two writers.
The show is directed by Tristram Shapeero
and Dominic Brigstocke
. Along with Pile, they contribute to editing Green Wing. Sketches are sped up or slowed down to create comic effect, often using body language to create humour. Editing is also used due to the amount of corpsing
that occurs during the filming of the show. Tamsin Greig is said to corpse frequently. The music, which plays prominently in the show, is written by Jonathan Whitehead
(under the name "Trellis"). His work won him an RTS Craft & Design Award (See Awards).
' s title is said to have come from a small plastic green man with wings that was in executive producer
Peter Fincham's top pocket, and fell on Pile's desk. Fincham claimed it was not his, so Pile kept it. This plastic man appears at the end of the credits on every show.
Originally, the show had a half-hour pilot made a year before transmission that was never aired. Scenes from the pilot can easily be spotted in the first episode, "Caroline's First Day", due to the characters' appearance, most notably Mangan's and Rhind-Tutt's haircuts. The pilot allowed the writers to experiment, such as using different filming techniques. In the pilot, Doon Mackichan
played Joanna Clore and was meant to play her in the original series, but left because she had a baby.
Although each script is fully written, the actors are allowed to improvise their own jokes, frequently adding to what has already been written. Normally workshop
s are used to allow actors to improvise their own material. One example of improvised material was Stephen Mangan's idea of Guy falling in love with Caroline. Rusling, Howe, Messina and Harley all have had speaking parts in the show, most notably Harley playing Charles Robertson, the hospital's CEO. The show's crew also make appearances in the show as extras. For example, Pile's former assistant Phil Secretan (whom Guy is named after) appears at the end of a scene in the first episode. Henry appears in the background during Martin's exam in the episode, "Tests".
The filming was done at two hospitals, the Northwick Park Hospital
in Middlesex
and the North Hampshire Hospital
in Basingstoke
. This presented a problem because the show had to work around the real-life hospital, with its actual doctors, patients and emergency situations. In one scene in the final episode in series one, Guy (Mangan) was hitting squash balls
behind him, and nearly hit a patient. However, some scenes, such as those in Sue's and Alan's offices, were filmed in a studio.
Two endings were created for the special. The alternative ending
is included on the DVD release of Green Wing, along with deleted scenes from the episode. The alternative ending was planned to be used if a third series was going to be commissioned, as this ending was much more ambiguous. It is known that the actors wanted the alternative ending, but after some debate, it was not shown.
(Paterson Joseph
), the hospital's head of I.T.
, with Alan becoming jealous of Lyndon.
Sue becomes jealous of Caroline as she starts to fall for Mac, and does her best to try to stop her, even to the point of attempted murder. However, Caroline is having problems in the form of Mac's current girlfriend, Emily. Martin is having problems with his exams, as well as avoiding letting anyone know that Joanna is his mother. Boyce is busy mocking Alan and having a relationship with Kim. With Alan and Joanna's relationship falling apart, Alan becomes a Christian, but this is mainly due to the attractive chaplain. Lyndon soon tells Joanna that he finds her disturbing, and Joanna then puts an end to Alan's new-found Christian beliefs.
Mac decides to move to Sheffield to get a better job, taking Emily with him. Before he leaves, Mac bets Guy that he cannot sleep with Joanna. Guy accepts the bet and takes her home. However, Martin has discovered some shocking news and tries his best to stop them having sex, but is distracted by Karen's affections. Caroline does her best to break up the relationship between Mac and Emily, but it is Emily who breaks up with Mac. Caroline accused Emily of being a fake but was proved wrong. Mac found this amusing and so Emily dumps him. Mac then tells Caroline that he felt three things when she had accused his then girlfriend: he was impressed, amused and on the third thing, he kisses her.
After Guy and Joanna have sex, Martin arrives to tell them that Joanna is Guy's mother. She met Guy's father whilst she was an exchange student in Switzerland. Guy then stabs a syringe full of Botox into Martin's legs as an act of revenge. Martin is taken into an ambulance, and Caroline helps Joanna, but Guy punches Mac in a drunken rage and steals the ambulance. Mac tries to stop him and gets on the ambulance, which drives away. Guy drives the ambulance to Wales, with Mac and the paralysed Martin with him. Whilst Mac tries to phone the police, Guy drives into a field and almost goes over a cliff. The first series ends with Guy, Mac and Martin teetering on the edge – a literal cliffhanger
– while ending up in a discussion about which of The Three Musketeers
they are most like.
Eight weeks after the incident with the ambulance, Mac is in a coma and Guy has been suspended from his job. Caroline is spending too much time with Mac, in Sue's opinion, and tries to stop her from seeing him. During his coma, Sue steals some of Mac's semen to make herself pregnant. Mac then comes out of his coma, but is suffering from memory loss and cannot remember his new-found love for Caroline. Angela soon leaves the hospital in order to take a career in television. With Angela gone, Guy becomes Caroline's new lodger.
Alan and Joanna are still having problems, though Martin and Karen seem to be getting along well. Martin then decides to leave Karen, and Joanna then tries to pull Lyndon again. However, Lyndon avoids this by saying he is dating Harriet. After a date, Harriet feels uncomfortable with the relationship and leaves him, but soon her husband Ian dumps her for having the affair.
Just when Caroline thinks she has managed to win Mac back, his former girlfriend Holly (Sally Phillips
) returns to the hospital, to replace Angela. Things become even worse when it is discovered that she never had the abortion that was the cause of Mac and Holly's breakup years ago, and that Mac has a son. Caroline distances herself from Mac, and Guy starts to fall in love with her. Caroline however seems to have feelings for Jake Leaf (Darren Boyd
), a complementary therapist
. Guy takes actions into his own hands and throws a Swiss army knife into Jake's head. Sue then discovers that Holly is lying, that Mac is not her son's father after all. Holly leaves the hospital. Caroline dumps Jake and then tries to impress Mac again.
When Alan becomes unusually happy after winning an internet caption competition, Joanna plans to make him upset again. Using her dwarf cousin (Big Mick
), she plans to scare him. The plan backfires when Alan is so scared, he beats Joanna's cousin to death with a stuffed heron. Alan and Joanna throw the body into the incinerator, but become paranoid that they will be discovered. Alan however learns from Boyce that the death is being viewed as a suicide, so Alan and Joanna go on a rampage, thinking themselves above the law.
After the death of a patient known as "Yo-yo Man" who offers them wise advice, Guy, Mac and Martin all decide to propose to Caroline. She rejects Martin, considers the offer from Guy, and Mac appears to be unable to form a proposal. Caroline then learns that Mac wants to meet her at the train station, but when she arrives, it is Guy who turns up. Mac is still at the hospital, where he learns that he is going to die. Caroline then accepts Guy's proposal of marriage. Meanwhile in the HR department, Karen is sitting on a windowsill, due to her fear of Clangers
. Whilst sitting there, Rachel opens the window behind her, and causes Karen to fall out. However, no one seems to notice.
The police arrive at the hospital. Alan and Joanna believe that they will be arrested, and with Boyce's help escape from the hospital. Alan and Joanna then escape in a camper van, with Alan becoming increasingly unstable. When it is discovered that Martin is riding in the back, Alan then drives into a field, and nearly drives the camper van over the same cliff that Martin was teetering over at the end of the first series.
Secret Policeman's Ball
, with performances from Tamsin Greig, Stephen Mangan, Julian Rhind-Tutt and Michelle Gomez. Mangan and Rhind-Tutt appeared in two sketches.
When the announcer at the ball asks if there is a doctor in the house, Mac puts his hand up, to Caroline's embarrassment. Things get more embarrassing when Guy also volunteers, and asks why Caroline is sitting next to Mac when she is Guy's fiancée. Things become even more bizarre when Sue appears in a tutu and a pair of long arms, trying to protect Mac from stalkers.
Meanwhile Alan and Joanna are still on the run, rescued by Martin who calls the AA
. Whilst on their journey, they accidentally kill three more people, a mechanic, a shop assistant and a policeman. Soon, they decide that, with no transport, money or employment, the only option is suicide. They are last seen, naked, walking hand-in-hand towards the sea. Meanwhile, Karen returns to work after her fall, but has changed drastically. She has become more confident, has developed better dress sense, but has lost her right hand and her nose whistles whenever she has an orgasm. Boyce ends up missing Alan, after his replacement turns out to be even more horrible. With Joanna gone, the office girls start to run riot, as in The Lord of the Flies. They form their own tribe and become hostile to anyone who enters the department.
Mac and Caroline finally marry, despite Mac's terminal illness (the exact nature of which is never disclosed, although Mac does tell Guy that its name has an "a" and an "e" in it). Sue gets over her obsession with Mac and finds love with a new man, who reciprocates her feelings. The episode concludes with Caroline being carried into the air by a mass of helium filled balloons at the wedding reception, although on the DVD boxset extras it shows an alternate ending where Guy and Mac grab onto Caroline's ankles and are taken to the sky with her; this alternative ending ends with Mac saying, "Caroline, there's something I've been meaning to tell you."
, a sport invented by Guy when he was at public school, with somewhat confusing rules. The basic object of the game is to throw a ball into a "Topmiler", a basket attached to a helmet. This game was even played at the Wingin' It Green Wing Convention.
Also, Guy is constantly saying things that are inappropriate, often sexually inappropriate, and once he sees the reaction from whom he is speaking with, he then follows his heinous comment with"... let me finish" and clarification. After trying to teach Martin this method in the very first episode, Guy also regularly attempts to pick up women throughout the two series by talking on his phone and saying "I'll see you in Zurich", in an attempt to sound "jet-setty".
Another Green Wing series of running jokes is about hair. One of the more notable was various cracks about Mac's untidy hair, with Sue lending him a hair tie and hair clips before he goes in for an interview. Another was the character Karen getting her hair trapped in a printer in the first episode. Mac was often referred to as a Ginger by the other characters, although he is more blond. Guy's hair becomes gradually curlier as the series goes on and Rachel dyes her hair from blonde to brunette after the first series. Other recurring jokes include Boyce's practical jokes, the bizarre games played by the human resources staff (e.g. pretending to be a plane by wrapping round a ruler in the back of their G-strings so it spins like a propeller and waving their arms), and the operation scenes (with Caroline, Guy and Mac) in which they mess around whilst doing the operations.
said that it was "a comedy as physically adroit as it was verbally sharp", and The Guardian
said that "Channel 4’s hospital sitcom is the most innovative comedy since, well, The Office
." In a review of television in 2006, Kathryn Flett in The Observer
voted it one of the top ten TV programmes of the year. In Broadcast magazine, the second series was voted joint-second best comedy series in 2006. In South Africa, where Green Wing is broadcast on BBC Prime
, The Sunday Times of South Africa
voted the show the best DStv
programme of 2007. Composer Daniel Pemberton
wrote that the soundtrack to Green Wing was, "One of the most innovative TV soundtracks in recent years." Famous fans of Green Wing include novelist Ian Rankin
and comedian Catherine Tate
.
Criticisms of Green Wing include the lazzi
methods of filming and the overall length of the episodes, claiming that hour-long episodes are too long. The show won the 2005 and 2006 Comedy Tumbleweed Awards for "Worst Camerawork". Some were also critical of what was seen as a decline in quality when the second series began. Cathy Pryor in The Independent on Sunday said that, "Sadly, though, since I'm something of a fan, I have to report that the first episode of the second series is, disappointingly, rather flat. To be fair, there were a couple of laugh-out-loud moments - Dr Statham banging his head and falling down being one of them - but the whole [thing] didn't quite gel. Or should that be coagulate? I'll stop making bad jokes now since I'm still not as funny as anyone in the show. But I sincerely hope that the opener is a one- off and not a sign that Green Wing is going down the pan."
Similar comments were made by A. A. Gill
. When the first series was broadcast, he praised the cast and characters, but commented negatively on the filming style and dramatic qualities. He also said:
Subsequently, Gill attacked the first episode of series two, in particular the use of a dream sequence at the beginning of the episode. He wrote,
The rest of the series received some praise and, in a 2009 article, Gill - writing about the current comedy output at the time - said: "Show me a funny indigenous comedy series; show me one that has been made in the past five years, other than Green Wing."
on 22 October 2006 (ISBN 1-84576-421-8), by Titan Books
. The book contains bonus material made exclusively for the book and previously unseen photos.
, entitled Green Wing: Original Television Soundtrack
by Trellis was released by Silva Screen on 8 October 2007. It contains 23 tracks of the best of Jonathan Whitehead
's Original Music created for the show.
. It is also available (both complete series) on Channel 4 on Demand
. Both series are now available on Hulu and Hulu Plus.
Pioneer Audience Award in 2005. This is the only BAFTA award that is voted on by the general public. Pippa Haywood won the 2005 Rose d'Or
for "Best Female Comedy Performance". Tamsin Greig won an award at the RTS Awards
in 2005 for "Best Comedy Performance". Jonathan Whitehead won "Best Original Score" at the RTS Craft & Design Awards 2005.
Green Wing has also won a number of times in The Comedy.co.uk Awards, including the "Comedy Of The Year" award in 2006.
that she may do a spin-off
, saying, "I'm hoping to do another Channel 4 comedy imminently, possibly starring some of the same cast. Hopefully, it will be some kind of spin-off from Green Wing." During the special appearance at the British Film Institute (BFI)
, "When asked about a rumoured spinoff at the BFI event Victoria Pile seemed to glance in the direction of JRT, TIG and SM before dodging the question." However, Pile and other writers have successfully written a new half-hour sitcom pilot for ABC
, set in a police precinct in America. This is something of an unusual move as this show is marketed for the Americans first rather than the British.
In 2009, Pile and most of the writing team behind Green Wing created a sitcom pilot
set in a university
entitled Campus
, which features similar concepts to Green Wing, including improvisation. The motto of the university is "with wings", a reference to the show. The pilot was broadcast as part of Channel 4's Comedy Showcase
. A full series began in 2011.
called the Green Wing was served at the 2005 BAFTAs. It is made using vodka, cloudy apple juice, elderflower cordial and sparkling mineral water.
A Green Wing convention
called "Wingin' It" was organised to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital
, and took place on 13 January 2007 at the Brook Green Hotel, Hammersmith
. A DVD of the convention is to be released.
There was a special appearance by Green Wing cast at the British Film Institute
, on 17 January 2007. Pile, Greig, Mangan and Rhind-Tutt appeared. Some of the other writers, as well as Theobald and Heap, were in the audience. The event was hosted by John Lloyd
. Green Wing appeared in an episode of the BBC
documentary series Imagine
, entitled A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Studio. Some of the funeral scenes from the special were shown, and the presenter of the show, Alan Yentob
, appeared as one of the mourners.
British sitcom
A British sitcom tends, as it does in most other countries, to be based on a family, workplace or other institution, where the same group of contrasting characters is brought together in each episode. Unlike American sitcoms, where twenty or more episodes in a season is the norm, British sitcoms...
set in the fictional East Hampton Hospital. It was created by the same team behind the sketch
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
show Smack the Pony
Smack the Pony
Smack the Pony is a British sketch comedy show that ran from 1999 until 2003 on Channel 4. Its title was intended to sound like a euphemism for female masturbation; the working title was Spot the Pony. The main performers and writers on the show were Fiona Allen, Doon Mackichan and Sally Phillips...
, led by Victoria Pile
Victoria Pile
Victoria Pile, also known as Vicky Pile, is a British comedy writer, director and producer, most noted as the creator of two Channel 4 comedy programmes, the sketch show Smack the Pony and the sitcom Green Wing.- Writer :...
, and stars Tamsin Greig
Tamsin Greig
Tamsin Greig is an English actress principally known for two Channel 4 television comedy parts: Fran Katzenjammer in Black Books and Dr. Caroline Todd in Green Wing...
, Stephen Mangan
Stephen Mangan
Stephen Mangan is an English actor, best known for his roles as Guy Secretan in the television series Green Wing, Dan Moody in I'm Alan Partridge and as Holistic Detective Dirk Gently in the 2010 BBC adaptation of Douglas Adams' book Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, as well as Sean Lincoln...
and Julian Rhind-Tutt
Julian Rhind-Tutt
Julian Alistair Rhind-Tutt is an English actor. He is best known for his starring role as "Mac" McCartney in the comedy television series Green Wing, the second series of which finished on Channel 4 in May 2006...
.
Although set in a hospital, there are no medical storylines; the action is produced by a series of soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
-style twists and turns in the personal lives of the characters. They proceed through a series of often absurd sketch-like scenes, or by sequences where the film is slowed down or sped up, often emphasising the body language
Body language
Body language is a form of non-verbal communication, which consists of body posture, gestures, facial expressions, and eye movements. Humans send and interpret such signals almost entirely subconsciously....
of the characters. The show has eight writers. Two series were made by the Talkback Thames production company for Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
.
The series ran between 3 September 2004 and 19 May 2006. A special episode was filmed with the second series, which was shown as a 90 minute long special on 4 January 2007 in the UK, but was shown in Australia and Belgium on 29 December 2006.
Separate from the series, a special sketch was made for Comic Relief and screened on 11 March 2005. Another was performed live at The Secret Policeman's Ball
The Secret Policeman's Ball (2006)
The Secret Policeman's Ball 2006 was the title of the show staged as a benefit for human rights organization Amnesty International at London's Royal Albert Hall in October 2006....
on 14 October 2006.
Synopsis
Green WingNational Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
hospital with staff ranging from the slightly unusual to the completely bizarre.
The series begins with a new arrival, surgical registrar
Specialist registrar
A Specialist Registrar or SpR is a doctor in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland who is receiving advanced training in a specialist field of medicine in order eventually to become a consultant...
Caroline Todd (Tamsin Greig
Tamsin Greig
Tamsin Greig is an English actress principally known for two Channel 4 television comedy parts: Fran Katzenjammer in Black Books and Dr. Caroline Todd in Green Wing...
). Caroline suffers from constant embarrassment and misfortune, stumbling from one crisis to the next due to a mixture of her own indecisiveness, clumsiness, and general bad luck. Caroline works alongside two other doctors: Guy Secretan
Guy Secretan
Guy Secretan is a character in the British sitcom Green Wing, played by Stephen Mangan. In Channel 4's The World's Greatest Comedy Characters, Guy was voted 34th.- History :...
(Stephen Mangan
Stephen Mangan
Stephen Mangan is an English actor, best known for his roles as Guy Secretan in the television series Green Wing, Dan Moody in I'm Alan Partridge and as Holistic Detective Dirk Gently in the 2010 BBC adaptation of Douglas Adams' book Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, as well as Sean Lincoln...
), a half-Swiss, womanising anaesthetist, and "Mac" Macartney
Mac (Green Wing)
Dr Macartney or Dr Mac is a character in the British sitcom Green Wing, played by Julian Rhind-Tutt.- History :Often simply referred to as "Mac", Dr Macartney is a surgeon working in the fictional East Hampton Hospital...
(Julian Rhind-Tutt
Julian Rhind-Tutt
Julian Alistair Rhind-Tutt is an English actor. He is best known for his starring role as "Mac" McCartney in the comedy television series Green Wing, the second series of which finished on Channel 4 in May 2006...
), a charming, effortlessly cool surgeon. It is not long before Caroline begins to develop feelings for both of them, though she is unsure as to which of the two she truly loves. Throughout the series, it becomes clear that Mac is her true love, but a range of disasters prevent their relationship from flourishing. Other people Caroline meets include Martin Dear
Martin Dear
Martin Dear is a character in the British sitcom Green Wing, played by Karl Theobald.- History :Martin is a house officer at East Hampton Hospital. His mother is human resources director Joanna Clore and his half-brother is Dr. Guy Secretan....
(Karl Theobald
Karl Theobald
Karl Theobald is an English comedian and actor, best known as Dr. Martin Dear in Channel 4 sitcom Green Wing, and for his physical comedy style....
), a well-meaning house officer
Senior house officer
A senior house officer is a junior doctor undergoing training within a certain speciality in the British National Health Service or in the Republic of Ireland. SHOs are supervised by consultants and registrars, who oversee their training and are their designated clinical supervisors...
who is constantly failing his exams. He is unloved by his mother and is often bullied by Guy. Martin soon develops feelings for Caroline, and begins to fall in love with her. There is also Angela Hunter
Angela Hunter
Angela Hunter is a character in the British sitcom Green Wing played by Sarah Alexander.- History :Angela was the senior registrar in paediatrics at East Hampton Hospital Trust....
(Sarah Alexander
Sarah Alexander
Sarah Alexander is an English actress, known for her roles in various British comedy series such as Armstrong and Miller, Smack the Pony, Coupling, The Worst Week of My Life and Green Wing....
), a seemingly-perfect, but irritating, senior registrar in paediatrics. Whilst Angela appears to mean well, Caroline cannot stand her and despite her best efforts to avoid Angela, she ends up as Caroline's lodger.
Sue White
Susan 'Sue' White is a character in the British sitcom Green Wing, played by Michelle Gomez.-Overview:Sue White is the hospital's staff liaison officer, who describes her role as being "to soothe, to bathe, to listen to the worker's woes"...
(Michelle Gomez
Michelle Gomez
Michelle Gomez is a Scottish actress best known for her comedy roles in Green Wing and The Book Group.-Early life:Her father, originally from Montserrat, was a photographer, while her mother ran a modeling agency...
), the Scottish staff liaison officer employed to listen and respond to the problems of East Hampton's staff. However, Sue is perhaps the least suited person for the job. She is the most eccentric member of staff in the hospital; abrasive, cruel, foul-mouthed, obsessive and completely self-absorbed. Her office is a place where the impossible tends to happen, and anyone who enters is normally treated with a mixture of verbal abuse and psychological torture. The only person she treats with any affection is Mac, whom she loves to the point of madness, but Mac, like everyone else in the hospital, sees her as beyond the edge of insanity. Anyone else who attempts to get involved with Mac is treated with contempt and hatred by Sue, in particular Caroline, whom Sue attempts several times to murder.
Another doctor with relationship problems and bordering insanity is Alan Statham
Alan Statham
Alan Statham is a fictional character in the British sitcom Green Wing, played by Mark Heap.- History :Alan is the consultant radiologist at East Hampton Hospital....
(Mark Heap
Mark Heap
Mark Heap is an English actor. He began his acting career in the 1980s as a member of the Medieval Players, a touring company performing medieval and early modern theatre, and featuring stilt-walking, juggling and puppetry...
), a pompous, stuttering, kinky and extremely odd consultant
Consultant (medicine)
In the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, and parts of the Commonwealth, consultant is the title of a senior doctor who has completed all of his or her specialist training and been placed on the specialist register in their chosen specialty...
radiologist. He is desperately and hopelessly in love with Joanna Clore
Joanna Clore
Joanna Clore is a character in the British sitcom Green Wing, played by Pippa Haywood.- History :Joanna Clore is the director of human resources at East Hampton Hospital. She is 48 years old, has had two unsuccessful marriages, has two sons who both work at the hospital Dr. Guy Secretan and Dr....
(Pippa Haywood
Pippa Haywood
Philippa Haywood is an English actress who trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.Famous for playing the much-put-upon Helen Brittas in the BBC One comedy series The Brittas Empire, Haywood has an extensive television career which includes Julie Chadwick in the BBC Two comedy Fear, Stress &...
), the 48-year-old head of human resources
Human resources
Human resources is a term used to describe the individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, although it is also applied in labor economics to, for example, business sectors or even whole nations...
with an increasingly bitter attitude. Their relationship is an open secret, with student doctor Boyce
Boyce (Green Wing)
Boyce is a character in the British sitcom Green Wing, played by Oliver Chris.- History :Boyce is a medical student at East Hampton Hospital. He is currently being trained as a doctor by the more senior members, including Dr...
(Oliver Chris
Oliver Chris
Oliver Chris is an English actor from Tunbridge Wells.-Early life:He passed his Eleven plus exam and attended Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys before moving to the Michael Hall Steiner School in his fourth year. He later attended the Central School of Speech and Drama...
), often using it as a weapon against them, bullying Alan constantly. Joanna's human resources staff also use it against her, in particular Kim Alabaster (Sally Bretton
Sally Bretton
Sally Bretton is an English actress best known for appearing in television sitcoms including the BBC's Absolute Power, Channel 4's Green Wing, the BBC's The Office, and, most recently, the BBC's Not Going Out....
), who has a bad attitude towards most of the people she meets, and Naughty Rachel (Katie Lyons
Katie Lyons
Katie Lyons is a British actress, most noted for her performance as Naughty Rachel in the Channel 4 sitcom Green Wing...
), who earned her nickname due to her love of sex. The other HR staff include Harriet Schulenburg
Harriet Schulenburg
Harriet Schulenburg is a fictional character in the British sitcom Green Wing, played by Olivia Colman.- History :Harriet works in the human resources department of East Hampton Hospital. She is married to Ian , and has four children, Oscar, Jamie , Robbie and Stuart...
(Olivia Colman
Olivia Colman
Olivia Colman is an English actress, best known for her supporting roles in various comedy shows, such as Sophie Chapman in Peep Show and Harriet Schulenburg in Green Wing. She trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and has appeared in radio, television and theatre.-Personal life:Colman...
), an overworked mother of four trapped in an unhappy marriage, and Karen Ball (Lucinda Raikes
Lucinda Raikes
Lucinda Raikes is a British actress, most noted for playing Karen Ball in the sitcom Green Wing and Angela Heaney in The Thick of It and its spin off film In the Loop. She has also appeared in Sensitive Skin, Extras, Casanova and 15 Storeys High. She regularly appears in theatrical...
), who divides her time between doing much of the office's work, trying to attract Martin's affections, and being bullied by Kim and Rachel.
Writers and crew
Green Wing was created and devised by Victoria PileVictoria Pile
Victoria Pile, also known as Vicky Pile, is a British comedy writer, director and producer, most noted as the creator of two Channel 4 comedy programmes, the sketch show Smack the Pony and the sitcom Green Wing.- Writer :...
, who is also the casting director, one of the writers and the producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
(with Peter Fincham as executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
). Pile is involved in the editing, filming and post-production
Post-production
Post-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
. She describes Green Wing as "a sketch-meets-comedy-drama-meets-soap", and a continuation of her previous show, Smack the Pony
Smack the Pony
Smack the Pony is a British sketch comedy show that ran from 1999 until 2003 on Channel 4. Its title was intended to sound like a euphemism for female masturbation; the working title was Spot the Pony. The main performers and writers on the show were Fiona Allen, Doon Mackichan and Sally Phillips...
, where Green Wing
Robert Harley (writer)
Robert Harley is a British comedy writer and performer, most noted for his work in the sketch show Smack the Pony and the sitcom Green Wing, where he also plays Charles, the CEO of East Hampton Hospital Trust. He is the co-founder of independent production company Monicker Pictures.- Performer :...
, Gary Howe
Gary Howe
Gary Howe is a British comedy writer and performer, most noted for working in the sketch show Smack the Pony and the sitcom Green Wing...
, Stuart Kenworthy
Stuart Kenworthy
Stuart Kenworthy is a British comedy writer, most noted for his work in the sketch show Smack the Pony and the sitcom Green Wing. A scene originated by Stuart, for Green Wing, was nominated for Most Memorable Comedy Moment of 2005 ....
, Oriane Messina
Oriane Messina
Oriane Messina is a British comedy writer and performer, most known for her work in the sketch show Smack the Pony and the sitcom Green Wing. She has had a working partnership with fellow writer Fay Rusling since 1999. In 2007, she appeared briefly as a nurse in sitcom Not Going Out.- Performer :-...
, Richard Preddy
Richard Preddy
Richard Preddy is a British comedy writer and performer, most noted for working in the sketch show Smack the Pony and the sitcom Green Wing...
, Fay Rusling
Fay Rusling
Fay Rusling is a British comedy writer and performer, most known for her work in the sketch show Smack the Pony and the sitcom Green Wing. She has had a working partnership with fellow writer Oriane Messina since 1999.- Performer :- Writer :...
and James Henry
James Henry (writer)
James Henry is a British comedy writer, best known for his work in the sketch show Smack the Pony and the sitcom Green Wing. He began his career writing for children's television program Bob the Builder, and is currently developing two projects. Hero Trip is a huge-budget superhero/road trip...
. This is unusual for British sitcoms, which normally have only one or two writers.
The show is directed by Tristram Shapeero
Tristram Shapeero
Tristram Shapeero is a British director of television comedies, including Brass Eye, Smack the Pony, Green Wing, Community and Absolutely Fabulous.- Director :...
and Dominic Brigstocke
Dominic Brigstocke
Dominic Brigstocke is a British television director, educated at Downside School. Mostly working in comedies, he's directed I'm Alan Partridge, Smack the Pony, Green Wing and The Armstrong and Miller Show amongst others.- Director :...
. Along with Pile, they contribute to editing Green Wing. Sketches are sped up or slowed down to create comic effect, often using body language to create humour. Editing is also used due to the amount of corpsing
Corpsing
Corpsing is a British theatrical slang term used to describe when an actor unintentionally breaks character during a scene by laughing or by causing another cast member to laugh...
that occurs during the filming of the show. Tamsin Greig is said to corpse frequently. The music, which plays prominently in the show, is written by Jonathan Whitehead
Jonathan Whitehead
Jonathan Whitehead is an award winning music composer, born in 1960 in Denton, Lancashire, who is most noted for writing music for television comedies such as The Day Today, Brass Eye, Black Books, Green Wing, Campus and Nathan Barley. He studied music at the University of Bristol and now lives in...
(under the name "Trellis"). His work won him an RTS Craft & Design Award (See Awards).
Production
Green WingExecutive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
Peter Fincham's top pocket, and fell on Pile's desk. Fincham claimed it was not his, so Pile kept it. This plastic man appears at the end of the credits on every show.
Originally, the show had a half-hour pilot made a year before transmission that was never aired. Scenes from the pilot can easily be spotted in the first episode, "Caroline's First Day", due to the characters' appearance, most notably Mangan's and Rhind-Tutt's haircuts. The pilot allowed the writers to experiment, such as using different filming techniques. In the pilot, Doon Mackichan
Doon Mackichan
Doon Mackichan is an English comedienne and actress.-Biography:Born in London, Mackichan was brought up in Surrey until the age of 9 when she moved with her family to Upper Largo, Fife. She is a graduate of Manchester University...
played Joanna Clore and was meant to play her in the original series, but left because she had a baby.
Although each script is fully written, the actors are allowed to improvise their own jokes, frequently adding to what has already been written. Normally workshop
Workshop
A workshop is a room or building which provides both the area and tools that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods...
s are used to allow actors to improvise their own material. One example of improvised material was Stephen Mangan's idea of Guy falling in love with Caroline. Rusling, Howe, Messina and Harley all have had speaking parts in the show, most notably Harley playing Charles Robertson, the hospital's CEO. The show's crew also make appearances in the show as extras. For example, Pile's former assistant Phil Secretan (whom Guy is named after) appears at the end of a scene in the first episode. Henry appears in the background during Martin's exam in the episode, "Tests".
The filming was done at two hospitals, the Northwick Park Hospital
Northwick Park Hospital
Northwick Park Hospital is a large hospital in the northwest corner of the London Borough of Brent in Greater London, England.-Hospital role:...
in Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
and the North Hampshire Hospital
North Hampshire Hospital
Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital was granted Foundation Trust status in December 2006. Now called Basingstoke and North Hampshire NHS Foundation Trust , it has previously been known as The North Hampshire Hospital, and Basingstoke District Hospital.BNHFT is a 450 bed National Health Service...
in Basingstoke
Basingstoke
Basingstoke is a town in northeast Hampshire, in south central England. It lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon. It is southwest of London, northeast of Southampton, southwest of Reading and northeast of the county town, Winchester. In 2008 it had an estimated population of...
. This presented a problem because the show had to work around the real-life hospital, with its actual doctors, patients and emergency situations. In one scene in the final episode in series one, Guy (Mangan) was hitting squash balls
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
behind him, and nearly hit a patient. However, some scenes, such as those in Sue's and Alan's offices, were filmed in a studio.
Unused storylines
Green Wing had some plotlines that were never used. Unused storylines included Alan having an eighty-year-old wife and step-grandchildren as old as him, and Guy suffering from impotence. Pile originally wanted the show to cover the entire hospital, not just doctors, but also porters, car park attendants and kitchen staff as well. However, she eventually decided that they had enough material with the eight main doctors and human resources workers.Two endings were created for the special. The alternative ending
Alternate ending
Alternate ending is a term used to describe the ending of a story that was planned or debated but ultimately unused in favor of the actual ending. Generally, alternate endings are considered to have no bearing on the canonical narrative...
is included on the DVD release of Green Wing, along with deleted scenes from the episode. The alternative ending was planned to be used if a third series was going to be commissioned, as this ending was much more ambiguous. It is known that the actors wanted the alternative ending, but after some debate, it was not shown.
Series 1
Caroline arrives at East Hampton for her first day of work, where she begins work with Guy and Mac. She soon develops feelings for both of them, first believing that she loves Guy, but then – after a day out with him – realising that it is Mac she truly loves. At the same time, Martin begins to fall in love with her, and Angela becomes Caroline's lodger. Elsewhere in the hospital, Alan and Joanna try to hide their relationship from the rest of the staff, unsuccessfully. Then Joanna becomes attracted to Lyndon JonesRecurring guest characters in Green Wing
There are many characters in Green Wing that make numerous appearances, or are referred to but never appear. These are not considered to be main characters, but still play a part in the main plot. This article also features other minor guest characters and actors.- Lyndon Jones :Lyndon Jones is...
(Paterson Joseph
Paterson Joseph
-Career:Born in London. Attended Cardinal Hinsley R.C High School in North West London. Joseph first trained at the Studio '68 of Theatre Arts, London – 1983–85 with Robert Henderson, then at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art . In recent years he has had a high number of roles in...
), the hospital's head of I.T.
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
, with Alan becoming jealous of Lyndon.
Sue becomes jealous of Caroline as she starts to fall for Mac, and does her best to try to stop her, even to the point of attempted murder. However, Caroline is having problems in the form of Mac's current girlfriend, Emily. Martin is having problems with his exams, as well as avoiding letting anyone know that Joanna is his mother. Boyce is busy mocking Alan and having a relationship with Kim. With Alan and Joanna's relationship falling apart, Alan becomes a Christian, but this is mainly due to the attractive chaplain. Lyndon soon tells Joanna that he finds her disturbing, and Joanna then puts an end to Alan's new-found Christian beliefs.
Mac decides to move to Sheffield to get a better job, taking Emily with him. Before he leaves, Mac bets Guy that he cannot sleep with Joanna. Guy accepts the bet and takes her home. However, Martin has discovered some shocking news and tries his best to stop them having sex, but is distracted by Karen's affections. Caroline does her best to break up the relationship between Mac and Emily, but it is Emily who breaks up with Mac. Caroline accused Emily of being a fake but was proved wrong. Mac found this amusing and so Emily dumps him. Mac then tells Caroline that he felt three things when she had accused his then girlfriend: he was impressed, amused and on the third thing, he kisses her.
After Guy and Joanna have sex, Martin arrives to tell them that Joanna is Guy's mother. She met Guy's father whilst she was an exchange student in Switzerland. Guy then stabs a syringe full of Botox into Martin's legs as an act of revenge. Martin is taken into an ambulance, and Caroline helps Joanna, but Guy punches Mac in a drunken rage and steals the ambulance. Mac tries to stop him and gets on the ambulance, which drives away. Guy drives the ambulance to Wales, with Mac and the paralysed Martin with him. Whilst Mac tries to phone the police, Guy drives into a field and almost goes over a cliff. The first series ends with Guy, Mac and Martin teetering on the edge – a literal cliffhanger
Cliffhanger
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction...
– while ending up in a discussion about which of The Three Musketeers
The Three Musketeers
The Three Musketeers is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, first serialized in March–July 1844. Set in the 17th century, it recounts the adventures of a young man named d'Artagnan after he leaves home to travel to Paris, to join the Musketeers of the Guard...
they are most like.
Comic Relief sketch (2005)
Mac fends off Sue's advances by saying he will only allow her to touch his arse if she can raise £10,000 for Comic Relief. Sue then proceeds to try to ask Martin, Joanna, Guy and Alan for the money, which she eventually manages to raise, though Mac runs off before she can get hold of him.Series 2
Alan and Joanna are still having problems, though Martin and Karen seem to be getting along well. Martin then decides to leave Karen, and Joanna then tries to pull Lyndon again. However, Lyndon avoids this by saying he is dating Harriet. After a date, Harriet feels uncomfortable with the relationship and leaves him, but soon her husband Ian dumps her for having the affair.
Just when Caroline thinks she has managed to win Mac back, his former girlfriend Holly (Sally Phillips
Sally Phillips
-Career:Sally Phillips was the only woman in the 1990 Oxford Revue THRASH which also starred Ed Smith. She did nine consecutive Edinburgh Festivals, appearing in shows such as Ra-Ra-Rasputin, Arthur Smith's version of Hamlet and Cluub Zarathustra with Simon Munnery, Stewart Lee, Richard Thomas,...
) returns to the hospital, to replace Angela. Things become even worse when it is discovered that she never had the abortion that was the cause of Mac and Holly's breakup years ago, and that Mac has a son. Caroline distances herself from Mac, and Guy starts to fall in love with her. Caroline however seems to have feelings for Jake Leaf (Darren Boyd
Darren Boyd
Darren Boyd is an English actor well known for his roles in Smack the Pony, Green Wing, Whites and most recently for playing the role of John Cleese in Holy Flying Circus. He is a classically trained singer, and played a jazz musician in NBC’s Watching Ellie...
), a complementary therapist
Alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any healing practice, "that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine." It is based on historical or cultural traditions, rather than on scientific evidence....
. Guy takes actions into his own hands and throws a Swiss army knife into Jake's head. Sue then discovers that Holly is lying, that Mac is not her son's father after all. Holly leaves the hospital. Caroline dumps Jake and then tries to impress Mac again.
When Alan becomes unusually happy after winning an internet caption competition, Joanna plans to make him upset again. Using her dwarf cousin (Big Mick
Big Mick (actor)
Mick Walter , often referred to by the stage name Big Mick, is a British actor, noted for his dwarfism. He is known for appearing on television comedies, first appearing as Jack Large in Blackadder...
), she plans to scare him. The plan backfires when Alan is so scared, he beats Joanna's cousin to death with a stuffed heron. Alan and Joanna throw the body into the incinerator, but become paranoid that they will be discovered. Alan however learns from Boyce that the death is being viewed as a suicide, so Alan and Joanna go on a rampage, thinking themselves above the law.
After the death of a patient known as "Yo-yo Man" who offers them wise advice, Guy, Mac and Martin all decide to propose to Caroline. She rejects Martin, considers the offer from Guy, and Mac appears to be unable to form a proposal. Caroline then learns that Mac wants to meet her at the train station, but when she arrives, it is Guy who turns up. Mac is still at the hospital, where he learns that he is going to die. Caroline then accepts Guy's proposal of marriage. Meanwhile in the HR department, Karen is sitting on a windowsill, due to her fear of Clangers
Clangers
Clangers is a popular British stop-motion animated children's television series of short stories about a family of mouse-like creatures who live on, and in, a small blue planet . They speak in whistles, and eat green soup supplied by the Soup Dragon...
. Whilst sitting there, Rachel opens the window behind her, and causes Karen to fall out. However, no one seems to notice.
The police arrive at the hospital. Alan and Joanna believe that they will be arrested, and with Boyce's help escape from the hospital. Alan and Joanna then escape in a camper van, with Alan becoming increasingly unstable. When it is discovered that Martin is riding in the back, Alan then drives into a field, and nearly drives the camper van over the same cliff that Martin was teetering over at the end of the first series.
Secret Policeman's Ball sketch (2006)
A sketch was performed for Amnesty International'sAmnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
Secret Policeman's Ball
The Secret Policeman's Ball (2006)
The Secret Policeman's Ball 2006 was the title of the show staged as a benefit for human rights organization Amnesty International at London's Royal Albert Hall in October 2006....
, with performances from Tamsin Greig, Stephen Mangan, Julian Rhind-Tutt and Michelle Gomez. Mangan and Rhind-Tutt appeared in two sketches.
When the announcer at the ball asks if there is a doctor in the house, Mac puts his hand up, to Caroline's embarrassment. Things get more embarrassing when Guy also volunteers, and asks why Caroline is sitting next to Mac when she is Guy's fiancée. Things become even more bizarre when Sue appears in a tutu and a pair of long arms, trying to protect Mac from stalkers.
Special
The episode begins with the funeral of Angela, who departed the show during the second series, after being killed by a moose, according to Guy. Mac, after a month's leave, discovers what has happened between Caroline and Guy, and although hurt, makes no attempt to interfere. Guy, on learning of Mac's terminal illness, tells Caroline to marry Mac instead of him.Meanwhile Alan and Joanna are still on the run, rescued by Martin who calls the AA
The Automobile Association
The Automobile Association , a British motoring association founded in 1905 was demutualised in 1999 to become a private limited company which currently provides car insurance, driving lessons, breakdown cover, loans and motoring advice, and other services...
. Whilst on their journey, they accidentally kill three more people, a mechanic, a shop assistant and a policeman. Soon, they decide that, with no transport, money or employment, the only option is suicide. They are last seen, naked, walking hand-in-hand towards the sea. Meanwhile, Karen returns to work after her fall, but has changed drastically. She has become more confident, has developed better dress sense, but has lost her right hand and her nose whistles whenever she has an orgasm. Boyce ends up missing Alan, after his replacement turns out to be even more horrible. With Joanna gone, the office girls start to run riot, as in The Lord of the Flies. They form their own tribe and become hostile to anyone who enters the department.
Mac and Caroline finally marry, despite Mac's terminal illness (the exact nature of which is never disclosed, although Mac does tell Guy that its name has an "a" and an "e" in it). Sue gets over her obsession with Mac and finds love with a new man, who reciprocates her feelings. The episode concludes with Caroline being carried into the air by a mass of helium filled balloons at the wedding reception, although on the DVD boxset extras it shows an alternate ending where Guy and Mac grab onto Caroline's ankles and are taken to the sky with her; this alternative ending ends with Mac saying, "Caroline, there's something I've been meaning to tell you."
Signature jokes
Green Wing contains running jokes; the most notable is GuyballGuyball
Guyball is a fictional game featured in the British sitcom Green Wing. The rules of Guyball are never fully explained, and are designed to be as confusing and as difficult to understand as possible. However, Green Wing fans have attempted to create their own rules and Guyball societies...
, a sport invented by Guy when he was at public school, with somewhat confusing rules. The basic object of the game is to throw a ball into a "Topmiler", a basket attached to a helmet. This game was even played at the Wingin' It Green Wing Convention.
Also, Guy is constantly saying things that are inappropriate, often sexually inappropriate, and once he sees the reaction from whom he is speaking with, he then follows his heinous comment with
Another Green Wing series of running jokes is about hair. One of the more notable was various cracks about Mac's untidy hair, with Sue lending him a hair tie and hair clips before he goes in for an interview. Another was the character Karen getting her hair trapped in a printer in the first episode. Mac was often referred to as a Ginger by the other characters, although he is more blond. Guy's hair becomes gradually curlier as the series goes on and Rachel dyes her hair from blonde to brunette after the first series. Other recurring jokes include Boyce's practical jokes, the bizarre games played by the human resources staff (e.g. pretending to be a plane by wrapping round a ruler in the back of their G-strings so it spins like a propeller and waving their arms), and the operation scenes (with Caroline, Guy and Mac) in which they mess around whilst doing the operations.
Critical reaction
The show has received generally very positive reviews. The Evening StandardEvening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
said that it was "a comedy as physically adroit as it was verbally sharp", and The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
said that "Channel 4’s hospital sitcom is the most innovative comedy since, well, The Office
The Office (UK TV series)
The Office is a British sitcom television series that was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 9 July 2001. Created, written, and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the programme is about the day-to-day lives of office employees in the Slough branch of the fictitious...
." In a review of television in 2006, Kathryn Flett in The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
voted it one of the top ten TV programmes of the year. In Broadcast magazine, the second series was voted joint-second best comedy series in 2006. In South Africa, where Green Wing is broadcast on BBC Prime
BBC Prime
BBC Prime was the BBC's general entertainment TV channel in Europe and the Middle East from 30 January 1995 until 11 November 2009, when it was replaced by BBC Entertainment.-Launch:...
, The Sunday Times of South Africa
The Sunday Times (South Africa)
The Sunday Times is a popular South African Sunday newspaper. It has an audited circulation of 504,000 and a weekly readership of 3.2 million, making it the largest weekly newspaper in South Africa. Recently it was involved in exposing a corruption scandal involving the South African government's...
voted the show the best DStv
DStv
DStv is MultiChoice's multi-channel digital satellite TV service in Africa, launched in 1995. It operates from two satellites over Africa, broadcasting on Ku band via Eutelsat W7 and Intelsat 7 , which only requires a small satellite dish...
programme of 2007. Composer Daniel Pemberton
Daniel Pemberton
Daniel Pemberton is an Ivor Novello winning and multi BAFTA-nominated English composer.He has composed title tunes and incidental music for countless award winning television series including Peep Show, Desperate Romantics, Occupation, Suburban Shootout, Hell's Kitchen, Great British Menu,...
wrote that the soundtrack to Green Wing was, "One of the most innovative TV soundtracks in recent years." Famous fans of Green Wing include novelist Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin, OBE, DL , is a Scottish crime writer. His best known books are the Inspector Rebus novels. He has also written several pieces of literary criticism.-Background:He attended Beath High School, Cowdenbeath...
and comedian Catherine Tate
Catherine Tate
Catherine Tate is an English actress, writer, and comedian. She has won numerous awards for her work on the sketch comedy series The Catherine Tate Show as well as being nominated for an International Emmy Award and four BAFTA Awards...
.
Criticisms of Green Wing include the lazzi
Lazzi
Lazzi is an improvised comic dialogue or action commonly used in the Commedia dell'arte. Most English-speaking troupes use the Italian plural "lazzi" as the singular and "lazzis" for the plural....
methods of filming and the overall length of the episodes, claiming that hour-long episodes are too long. The show won the 2005 and 2006 Comedy Tumbleweed Awards for "Worst Camerawork". Some were also critical of what was seen as a decline in quality when the second series began. Cathy Pryor in The Independent on Sunday said that, "Sadly, though, since I'm something of a fan, I have to report that the first episode of the second series is, disappointingly, rather flat. To be fair, there were a couple of laugh-out-loud moments - Dr Statham banging his head and falling down being one of them - but the whole [thing] didn't quite gel. Or should that be coagulate? I'll stop making bad jokes now since I'm still not as funny as anyone in the show. But I sincerely hope that the opener is a one- off and not a sign that Green Wing is going down the pan."
Similar comments were made by A. A. Gill
A. A. Gill
Adrian Anthony Gill is a British writer who uses the byline A. A. Gill. He is currently employed by The Sunday Times as their restaurant reviewer and television critic and Vanity Fair magazine as a restaurant reviewer...
. When the first series was broadcast, he praised the cast and characters, but commented negatively on the filming style and dramatic qualities. He also said:
"...it was one of the most freshly funny and crisply innovative comedies for years. The humour was all based in the character, not the situation. The story lines were negligible; there were no catch phrases; it was surreal in a way we hadn’t seen since Monty PythonMonty PythonMonty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
; and the cast were actors being funny from inside a characterisation, not stand-up comics bolting a cartoon persona onto the back of gags."
Subsequently, Gill attacked the first episode of series two, in particular the use of a dream sequence at the beginning of the episode. He wrote,
"Now, every 11-year-old knows dream sequences are the lowest form of plotting solution, lower than unexplained superpowers such as the ability to stop time or become invisible; even lower than a magic get-better potion. Within two minutes, Green Wing had destroyed itself, lost its assured grip on the cliff of comedy and tumbled into the abyss of embarrassing overacting, formless gurning and pointless repetition. What had once looked Dada-ishly brilliant now looked like stoned improv from a show-off's drama school. The lack of plot and coherent narrative that previously had been a blessed freedom was revealed to be a formless free-for-all, brilliant performances as silly mannerisms. Nothing I've seen this year has disappointed me as sharply as the second series of Green Wing. As Tom PaineThomas PaineThomas "Tom" Paine was an English author, pamphleteer, radical, inventor, intellectual, revolutionary, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States...
so poignantly pointed out, only a step separates the sublime from the ridiculous."
The rest of the series received some praise and, in a 2009 article, Gill - writing about the current comedy output at the time - said: "Show me a funny indigenous comedy series; show me one that has been made in the past five years, other than Green Wing."
DVDs
| DVD Name | Release dates | Contents | Extras | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 2 | Region 4 | |||
| Green Wing: The Complete First Series Green Wing (series 1) The following is a list of episodes from the first series of Green Wing. Green Wing is a surreal medical sitcom starring Tamsin Greig, Stephen Mangan and Julian Rhind-Tutt. All the episodes were written by a team of eight writers working on every episode together... |
3 April 2006 | 2 January 2008 | All 9 episodes in a 3 disc set in a bespoke digipak Digipak Digipak is a patented style of CD, DVD or BD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI World Ltd., an Atlas Holdings company.-Features:... with translucent slipcase. |
Deleted scenes, Audio Commentaries with Cast & Crew (Episodes 1, 2, 5 & 9 only), "Behind The Scenes" Featurette, Cast & Crew Biographies |
| Green Wing: The Complete Second Series Green Wing (series 2) The following is a list of episodes from the second series of Green Wing. Green Wing is a surreal sitcom set in the fictional East Hampton Hospital, starring Tamsin Greig, Stephen Mangan and Julian Rhind-Tutt... |
2 October 2006 | 7 January 2010 | All 8 episodes in a 3 disc set in a bespoke digipak with translucent slipcase. | Deleted scenes, Audio Commentaries with Cast & Crew (Episodes 4 (two versions), 6 & 8 only), "Behind The Scenes" Featurette, Cast & Crew Biographies |
| Green Wing: The Complete First & Second Series | 2 October 2006 | — | A box set containing both the series 1 and series 2 DVDs. | The same as series 1 and 2. |
| Green Wing: Special Green Wing Special The Green Wing Special is the final episode of the British sitcom Green Wing. It was first broadcast in Australia and Belgium on 29 December 2006. It was aired on 4 January 2007 in the United Kingdom. The episode is sometimes billed as a Christmas special, although the episode contains nothing... |
8 January 2007 | — | The full 90 minute episode | Deleted scenes, Audio Commentaries with Cast & Crew, "Behind The Scenes" Featurette, Alternative ending, Cast & Crew Biographies |
| Green Wing: The Definitive Edition | 15 October 2007 | — | All 18 episodes on 7 discs, plus a special bonus disc. | Same as Series 1, 2 and special, plus phenomena documentary, music tracks, extra deleted scenes and a 12-page booklet. |
Books
The first series scripts were released as Green Wing: The Complete First Series Scripts in paperbackPaperback
Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
on 22 October 2006 (ISBN 1-84576-421-8), by Titan Books
Titan Books
Titan Publishing Group is an independently owned publishing company, established in 1981. It is based at offices in London, England's Bankside area. The Books Division has two main areas of publishing: film & TV tie-ins/cinema reference books; and graphic novels and comics reference/art titles. The...
. The book contains bonus material made exclusively for the book and previously unseen photos.
Soundtrack
The soundtrackSoundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
, entitled Green Wing: Original Television Soundtrack
Green Wing: Original Television Soundtrack
Green Wing: Original Television Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the British sitcom Green Wing by Jonathan Whitehead, under the name "Trellis". The album contains 23 tracks originally recorded for the series, but no soundtracks recorded by other artists...
by Trellis was released by Silva Screen on 8 October 2007. It contains 23 tracks of the best of Jonathan Whitehead
Jonathan Whitehead
Jonathan Whitehead is an award winning music composer, born in 1960 in Denton, Lancashire, who is most noted for writing music for television comedies such as The Day Today, Brass Eye, Black Books, Green Wing, Campus and Nathan Barley. He studied music at the University of Bristol and now lives in...
's Original Music created for the show.
Online Viewing
On May 7, 2009, the first series became available on HuluHulu
Hulu is a website and over-the-top subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon and CBS and many other...
. It is also available (both complete series) on Channel 4 on Demand
4oD
4oD is a video on demand service from Channel 4. Launched in November 2006, 4oD stands for "4 on Demand". The service offers a variety of programmes recently shown on Channel 4, E4, More4 or from their archives...
. Both series are now available on Hulu and Hulu Plus.
Awards
Green Wing won the first BAFTABritish Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
Pioneer Audience Award in 2005. This is the only BAFTA award that is voted on by the general public. Pippa Haywood won the 2005 Rose d'Or
Rose d'Or
The Rose d’Or is one of the most important international festivals in entertainment television. It was founded in Montreux in 1961 and has taken place in Lucerne since 2004. Producers, executives from independent and public service broadcasters and heads of production companies from over 40...
for "Best Female Comedy Performance". Tamsin Greig won an award at the RTS Awards
Royal Television Society
The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
in 2005 for "Best Comedy Performance". Jonathan Whitehead won "Best Original Score" at the RTS Craft & Design Awards 2005.
Green Wing has also won a number of times in The Comedy.co.uk Awards, including the "Comedy Of The Year" award in 2006.
Possible spin-off
The cast, crew and writers of Green Wing have shown no interest in creating a third series because of scheduling difficulties due to new projects being undertaken by the creators and talkbackTHAMES not having a big enough budget. However, creator Victoria Pile mentioned in an interview in the Radio TimesRadio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...
that she may do a spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
, saying, "I'm hoping to do another Channel 4 comedy imminently, possibly starring some of the same cast. Hopefully, it will be some kind of spin-off from Green Wing." During the special appearance at the British Film Institute (BFI)
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
, "When asked about a rumoured spinoff at the BFI event Victoria Pile seemed to glance in the direction of JRT, TIG and SM before dodging the question." However, Pile and other writers have successfully written a new half-hour sitcom pilot for ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, set in a police precinct in America. This is something of an unusual move as this show is marketed for the Americans first rather than the British.
In 2009, Pile and most of the writing team behind Green Wing created a sitcom pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
set in a university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
entitled Campus
Campus (TV series)
Campus is a semi-improvised British sitcom created by the team behind the comedy sketch show Smack the Pony and hospital-based sitcom Green Wing, led by Victoria Pile who acts as co-writer, producer and director...
, which features similar concepts to Green Wing, including improvisation. The motto of the university is "with wings", a reference to the show. The pilot was broadcast as part of Channel 4's Comedy Showcase
Comedy Showcase
Comedy Showcase is a series of one-off comedy specials featuring some of Britain's fledgling comedy talent. Its format is reminiscent of the much earlier Comedy Playhouse....
. A full series began in 2011.
Impact
A cocktailCocktail
A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink that contains two or more ingredients—at least one of the ingredients must be a spirit.Cocktails were originally a mixture of spirits, sugar, water, and bitters. The word has come to mean almost any mixed drink that contains alcohol...
called the Green Wing was served at the 2005 BAFTAs. It is made using vodka, cloudy apple juice, elderflower cordial and sparkling mineral water.
A Green Wing convention
Fan convention
A fan convention, or con , is an event in which fans of a particular film, television series, comic book, actor, or an entire genre of entertainment such as science fiction or anime and manga, gather to participate and hold programs and other events, and to meet experts, famous personalities, and...
called "Wingin' It" was organised to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital
Great Ormond Street Hospital
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children is a children's hospital located in London, United Kingdom...
, and took place on 13 January 2007 at the Brook Green Hotel, Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
. A DVD of the convention is to be released.
There was a special appearance by Green Wing cast at the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
, on 17 January 2007. Pile, Greig, Mangan and Rhind-Tutt appeared. Some of the other writers, as well as Theobald and Heap, were in the audience. The event was hosted by John Lloyd
John Lloyd (writer)
John Hardress Wilfred Lloyd CBE is a British comedy writer and television producer. He is the great nephew of John Hardress Lloyd.-Early life and career:...
. Green Wing appeared in an episode of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
documentary series Imagine
Imagine (TV series)
Imagine is a wide ranging arts series first broadcast on BBC One in 2003, hosted and executive produced by Alan Yentob. Each series usually consists of 4 to 7 episodes, each on a different topic...
, entitled A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Studio. Some of the funeral scenes from the special were shown, and the presenter of the show, Alan Yentob
Alan Yentob
Alan Yentob is a British television executive and presenter who has worked throughout his career at the BBC.-Early life:...
, appeared as one of the mourners.
External links
- Green Wing at the British Film InstituteBritish Film InstituteThe British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...