Pets (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Pets is an adult
British
puppet
sitcom, produced by Fit2Fill Productions Limited. It was originally aired on Channel 4
and ran for two series, the first being broadcast in 2001, and the second in 2002. It was also sold to Fox
in Australia
, MTV
in Italy
, and the Middle East
.
The series was created and written by Andrew Barclay and Brian West
(pen name Brian Luff), who had previously worked together at the Edinburgh Festival
, winning an award for an advert for The Jerry Springer Show
, and on the sketch show We Know Where You Live.
A total of 26 episodes of Pets were aired, all approximately 11 minutes long. They were shown in the early hours of the morning, and as a result, the series was fairly unknown, although it did gain a significant cult following
. There was a demand on the official website for Pets to be released on DVD
. Eventually a limited edition DVD was made available to purchase via the official website. As well as the two series, the DVD included two unbroadcast episodes, a clip show
named "The Trials Of Hamish", and a behind-the-scenes special named "The Making Of Pets".
Several episodes of Pets are currently available as a free podcast
downloadable via iTunes
. In 2010 a similar show named Mongrels aired on BBC3 sparking controversy between the two. The characters in those two shows have almost similar characteristics although Pets had four main Characters while Mongrels had five.
Also Mongrels' range of locations is more diverse (though often behind a London pub), while Pets is confined to a single flat.
The episodes are self-contained, and set entirely within the house. Most of the events that take place tend to be surreal, contain strong elements of black comedy
and off-colour humour, and frequently make references to pop culture subjects.
Pets also follows a rather traditional sitcom technique by using a "reset button
". Each of the Pets have died at least once, only to reappear alive and well in the next episode. Events from previous episodes are never referred to, but unseen events from the past are often mentioned.
, is a large Red Setter. He is well-spoken and the most intellectually-minded of the Pets, often seen reading books or newspapers. On the flipside, however, he is also frequently uptight, sarcastic, has a short temper, and longs to be in more intelligent, cultured, and dignified company than the rest of the Pets household.
Trevor, voiced by Andrew Barclay, is a small, grey bulldog
. He is foul-mouthed, irritable, extremely perverted and spends most of his time eating and masturbating. He has a large collection of hardcore pornography
and is often seen humping items of furniture. He can be rather intelligent and eloquent at times, but does not take these traits seriously, being more content in engaging in other very crude activities, including drinking out of the toilet with a curly straw and smearing the walls with his own faeces. He speaks in a gruff Cockney
accent. He has no sense of hygiene and has had the same two tapeworms in his stomach since the late 1970s. The worms, also voiced by Barclay and Brian Luff
, converse about a wide range of subjects, from ABBA
to the Kennedy assassination.
Davina, voiced by Sally Elsden, is a Persian blue cat
. She is cynical, sardonic, suffers from clinical depression
and is addicted to her medication. She has a large collection of bloodstained plastic bags, all of which seem to contain some kind of furry animal. She puts these bags under the floorboards, or attempts to flush down the toilet. She has a countercultural, hedonistic boyfriend named Vince; an unseen
tomcat who constantly travels alone over many parts of the world. However, he still sends her messages about his pursuits that often imply that he is cheating on her, which she bitterly discusses directly to the camera about, ultimately ending in her plotting twisted methods on how she will murder him when he returns.
JP, voiced by Petros Emmanuel, is a parrot
. He has no feathers, since losing to Trevor in a card game where he bet his entire plumage on a pair of fours. He also has two different coloured eyes
and can not fly. He has a pet himself, a goldfish
who has obviously been dead for a long time, although he does not acknowledge this, and continues to dote on it. He is extremely eccentric, perpetually cheerful and lives in a fantasy world of his own, often rambling on directly to the camera about subjects or individuals related to the episodes' themes. He speaks in an Afrikaans
accent, and has a tendency to intersperse his dialogue with phrases in the language. He also enjoys drinking his own urine
, a fact which he states in almost every episode, and has an unreturned infatuation with Davina.
Iestyn Evans, Mark Mander, Garry Rutter, Mandy Travis and Martin Weinling performed the puppets in Pets, swapping characters scene-by-scene. The puppets were designed and built by Iestyn Evans and Andy Heath.
Adult
An adult is a human being or living organism that is of relatively mature age, typically associated with sexual maturity and the attainment of reproductive age....
British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
puppet
Puppet
A puppet is an inanimate object or representational figure animated or manipulated by an entertainer, who is called a puppeteer. It is used in puppetry, a play or a presentation that is a very ancient form of theatre....
sitcom, produced by Fit2Fill Productions Limited. It was originally aired on 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...
and ran for two series, the first being broadcast in 2001, and the second in 2002. It was also sold to Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, and the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
.
The series was created and written by Andrew Barclay and Brian West
Brian Luff
Brian Luff is an artist, writer, TV producer/director and performer from London. His weekly stage show Brian Luff's Sketch Club helped launch the careers of such comedians as Laura Solon and BBC double-act Colin & Fergus....
(pen name Brian Luff), who had previously worked together at the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
, winning an award for an advert for The Jerry Springer Show
The Jerry Springer Show
The Jerry Springer Show is a syndicated television tabloid talk show hosted by Jerry Springer, a former politician, broadcast in the United States and other countries...
, and on the sketch show We Know Where You Live.
A total of 26 episodes of Pets were aired, all approximately 11 minutes long. They were shown in the early hours of the morning, and as a result, the series was fairly unknown, although it did gain a significant cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
. There was a demand on the official website for Pets to be released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
. Eventually a limited edition DVD was made available to purchase via the official website. As well as the two series, the DVD included two unbroadcast episodes, a clip show
Clip show
A clip show is an episode of a television series that consists primarily of excerpts from previous episodes. Most clip shows feature the format of a frame story in which cast members recall past events from past installments of the show, depicted with a clip of the event presented as a flashback. ...
named "The Trials Of Hamish", and a behind-the-scenes special named "The Making Of Pets".
Several episodes of Pets are currently available as a free podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
downloadable via iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
. In 2010 a similar show named Mongrels aired on BBC3 sparking controversy between the two. The characters in those two shows have almost similar characteristics although Pets had four main Characters while Mongrels had five.
Also Mongrels' range of locations is more diverse (though often behind a London pub), while Pets is confined to a single flat.
Situation
Pets focuses on the everyday lives of four anthropomorphic animals and their dysfunctional interactions with each other. They live in a filthy, rundown house, although it has working electricity and running water. There is never a human owner visible or even evident.The episodes are self-contained, and set entirely within the house. Most of the events that take place tend to be surreal, contain strong elements of black comedy
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
and off-colour humour, and frequently make references to pop culture subjects.
Pets also follows a rather traditional sitcom technique by using a "reset button
Reset button technique
The reset button technique is a plot device that interrupts continuity in works of fiction. Simply put, use of a reset button device returns all characters and situations to the status quo they held before a major change of some sort was introduced...
". Each of the Pets have died at least once, only to reappear alive and well in the next episode. Events from previous episodes are never referred to, but unseen events from the past are often mentioned.
Characters
Hamish, voiced by Ian Angus WilkieIan Angus Wilkie
Ian Angus Wilkie is a British actor. He was born in September 1960. He is probably best known for his recurring role as the Vicar in the sitcom Barbara, though he also appeared in the 1994 short film Blue Christmas, played the title character in CBBC show Mr. Wymi and provided the voice for Hamish...
, is a large Red Setter. He is well-spoken and the most intellectually-minded of the Pets, often seen reading books or newspapers. On the flipside, however, he is also frequently uptight, sarcastic, has a short temper, and longs to be in more intelligent, cultured, and dignified company than the rest of the Pets household.
Trevor, voiced by Andrew Barclay, is a small, grey bulldog
Bulldog
Bulldog is the name for a breed of dog commonly referred to as the English Bulldog. Other Bulldog breeds include the American Bulldog, Olde English Bulldogge and the French Bulldog. The Bulldog is a muscular heavy dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose...
. He is foul-mouthed, irritable, extremely perverted and spends most of his time eating and masturbating. He has a large collection of hardcore pornography
Hardcore pornography
Hardcore pornography is a form of pornography that features explicit sexual acts. The term was coined in the second half of the 20th century to distinguish it from softcore pornography. It usually takes the form of photographs, often displayed in magazines or on the Internet, or films. It can also...
and is often seen humping items of furniture. He can be rather intelligent and eloquent at times, but does not take these traits seriously, being more content in engaging in other very crude activities, including drinking out of the toilet with a curly straw and smearing the walls with his own faeces. He speaks in a gruff Cockney
Cockney
The term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...
accent. He has no sense of hygiene and has had the same two tapeworms in his stomach since the late 1970s. The worms, also voiced by Barclay and Brian Luff
Brian Luff
Brian Luff is an artist, writer, TV producer/director and performer from London. His weekly stage show Brian Luff's Sketch Club helped launch the careers of such comedians as Laura Solon and BBC double-act Colin & Fergus....
, converse about a wide range of subjects, from ABBA
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
to the Kennedy assassination.
Davina, voiced by Sally Elsden, is a Persian blue cat
Persian cat
The Persian is a longhaired breed of cat characterized by its round face and shortened muzzle. Its name refers to Persia, the former name of Iran, where similar cats are found. Recognized by the cat fancy since the late 19th century, it was developed first by the English, and then mainly by...
. She is cynical, sardonic, suffers from clinical depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
and is addicted to her medication. She has a large collection of bloodstained plastic bags, all of which seem to contain some kind of furry animal. She puts these bags under the floorboards, or attempts to flush down the toilet. She has a countercultural, hedonistic boyfriend named Vince; an unseen
Unseen character
In fiction, an unseen character is a character that is never directly observed by the audience but is only described by other characters. They are a common device in drama and have been called "triumphs of theatrical invention". They are continuing characters — characters who are currently in...
tomcat who constantly travels alone over many parts of the world. However, he still sends her messages about his pursuits that often imply that he is cheating on her, which she bitterly discusses directly to the camera about, ultimately ending in her plotting twisted methods on how she will murder him when he returns.
JP, voiced by Petros Emmanuel, is a parrot
Parrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...
. He has no feathers, since losing to Trevor in a card game where he bet his entire plumage on a pair of fours. He also has two different coloured eyes
Heterochromia
In anatomy, heterochromia refers to a difference in coloration, usually of the iris but also of hair or skin. Heterochromia is a result of the relative excess or lack of melanin...
and can not fly. He has a pet himself, a goldfish
Goldfish
The goldfish is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It was one of the earliest fish to be domesticated, and is one of the most commonly kept aquarium fish....
who has obviously been dead for a long time, although he does not acknowledge this, and continues to dote on it. He is extremely eccentric, perpetually cheerful and lives in a fantasy world of his own, often rambling on directly to the camera about subjects or individuals related to the episodes' themes. He speaks in an Afrikaans
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
accent, and has a tendency to intersperse his dialogue with phrases in the language. He also enjoys drinking his own urine
Urophagia
Urophagia is the consumption of urine. There are various reasons that humans may consume urine. Urine was used in several ancient cultures for various health, healing, and cosmetic purposes, practices which are still used by some people of these cultures today...
, a fact which he states in almost every episode, and has an unreturned infatuation with Davina.
Iestyn Evans, Mark Mander, Garry Rutter, Mandy Travis and Martin Weinling performed the puppets in Pets, swapping characters scene-by-scene. The puppets were designed and built by Iestyn Evans and Andy Heath.
Series 1 (2001)
| # | Title |
|---|
Series 2 (2002)
| # | Title |
|---|