Roman's Empire
Encyclopedia
Roman's Empire was a British television comedy show starring Mathew Horne
, Neil Dudgeon
, Chris O'Dowd
, Montserrat Lombard
and Sarah Solemani
. Written by brothers Harry and Jack Williams (sons of writer Nigel Williams) as their TV writing debut, the programme's first episode was shown on BBC Two
on 12 April 2007.
After a complaint from Roman in a restaurant, Japanese chef Mr Hokkasawa loses his job. He had sworn that he would never use his sword again but later takes the job of the Pretty family gardener. Mr Hokkasawa is always plotting against Roman, but falls for his youngest daughter Kelly. All the characters live in a large house owned by Roman, which is where the majority of the story is set.
The family is not averse to nudity, with Nikki declaring she will go to the Squid premiere naked in response to Leo's comment about clothing (Roman following suit), and Seb's infamous Wang Shapes.
Although apparently a shrewd (and morally corrupt) business man, Roman seems to lack certain common sense, and this is reflected on his insistence about the non-existence of geography, most notably Romania (the name for his theme park as inspired by Jase's scribbled escape plan) and later Rio de Janeiro (or Rio, as a combined Roman/Leo empire).
Mr Hokkasawa was sacked from his job as a waiter in Yuki's Japanese restaurant at Roman's insistence (due to Nikki's unfounded accusations of Mr Hokkasawa looking at her legs, which are under the tablecloth). From this point on Mr Hokkasawa plots his revenge, taking up his samurai vows once again, and finding employment as the Pretty gardener. His initial plot of luring Roman to his death in the potting shed (now redecorated as a Japanese house) fails as it is Kelly who is drawn by the sprinklers. Mr Hokkasawa is stuck by her beauty and decides it would be dishonourable to kill Roman and take his daughter as a wife. This becomes a running joke, as each time Mr Hokkasawa is tempted to kill Roman he is also reminded of his love for Kelly.
As Mr Hokkasawa speaks very little English, and as the rest of the cast do not speak Japanese, he often says things direct to the face of Roman, for example his plans to kill. As Roman says, "a wonderful language."
Seb is a rugby-playing man's man who likes men but who is not homosexual. He does, however, enjoy a man-tangle. "It's what men /do/."
Uncle Jesus.
Jase hates the family, his wife Jenny and their baby. He tried to leave twice before the series but was foiled firstly by the death of Jenny's grandfather, and secondly by her announcement of her pregnancy. Throughout the series Jase plots a number of ways of getting out and moving to, for example, Thailand "where the women are cheaper than rice."
Seb always greets Leo with the phrase "Hey, mate!".
A pilot episode of an American remake
of Roman's Empire has been commissioned by ABC, as a coproduction between Tiger Aspect, Katalyst, and CBS Paramount. It is expected to star Kelsey Grammer
.
Mathew Horne
Mathew Frazer Horne is an English actor, stand-up comedian, television presenter and narrator best known for appearing on several BBC sketch shows and sitcoms, most notably Gavin & Stacey portraying Gavin Shipman, The Catherine Tate Show, Teachers and Horne and Corden.-Early life:Horne was born...
, Neil Dudgeon
Neil Dudgeon
Neil Dudgeon is a British actor best known for his many television appearances, most often in crime drama.-Early Life:Dudgeon was born 1 January 1961 in Doncaster, Yorkshire, and attended Danum Grammar School among others. He established himself as an actor in school plays and went on to study...
, Chris O'Dowd
Chris O'Dowd
Chris O'Dowd is an Irish comedian and actor. He is best known for playing Roy Trenneman in British sitcom The IT Crowd...
, Montserrat Lombard
Montserrat Lombard
Montserrat Lombard is a British actress best known for playing WPC Sharon 'Shaz' Granger in the BBC Drama series Ashes to Ashes.Lombard was born in London. She is half Spanish and half Italian...
and Sarah Solemani
Sarah Solemani
Sarah Solemani , is an English actress and writer, best known for starring in BBC Three's series Him and Her.Solemani was a member of the National Youth Theatre, starring as Elaine in the West End theatre production of The Graduate. After passing her A levels, she took a gap year before studying...
. Written by brothers Harry and Jack Williams (sons of writer Nigel Williams) as their TV writing debut, the programme's first episode was shown on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
on 12 April 2007.
Plot
The programme centres around Leo, the ex-boyfriend of businessman Roman Pretty's middle daughter Nikki, who still works and lives with the family. Nikki's new boyfriend, Seb, has a shady past, which Leo tries to reveal to the Pretty family but usually ends up making himself look a fool. His best mate Jase is married to the eldest sister, Jenny, and is constantly attempting to get away from her and their new-born daughter.After a complaint from Roman in a restaurant, Japanese chef Mr Hokkasawa loses his job. He had sworn that he would never use his sword again but later takes the job of the Pretty family gardener. Mr Hokkasawa is always plotting against Roman, but falls for his youngest daughter Kelly. All the characters live in a large house owned by Roman, which is where the majority of the story is set.
Cast
- Neil DudgeonNeil DudgeonNeil Dudgeon is a British actor best known for his many television appearances, most often in crime drama.-Early Life:Dudgeon was born 1 January 1961 in Doncaster, Yorkshire, and attended Danum Grammar School among others. He established himself as an actor in school plays and went on to study...
- Roman - Chris O'DowdChris O'DowdChris O'Dowd is an Irish comedian and actor. He is best known for playing Roy Trenneman in British sitcom The IT Crowd...
- Jase - Mathew HorneMathew HorneMathew Frazer Horne is an English actor, stand-up comedian, television presenter and narrator best known for appearing on several BBC sketch shows and sitcoms, most notably Gavin & Stacey portraying Gavin Shipman, The Catherine Tate Show, Teachers and Horne and Corden.-Early life:Horne was born...
- Leo - Nicholas Burns - Seb
- Sarah SolemaniSarah SolemaniSarah Solemani , is an English actress and writer, best known for starring in BBC Three's series Him and Her.Solemani was a member of the National Youth Theatre, starring as Elaine in the West End theatre production of The Graduate. After passing her A levels, she took a gap year before studying...
- Jenny - Carla MendonçaCarla MendonçaCarla Mendonça is an English actress. She has a degree in Theatre Studies and Dramatic Art from the University of Warwick...
- Morwenna - Montserrat LombardMontserrat LombardMontserrat Lombard is a British actress best known for playing WPC Sharon 'Shaz' Granger in the BBC Drama series Ashes to Ashes.Lombard was born in London. She is half Spanish and half Italian...
- Nikki - Scarlett Rose Patterson - Kelly
- Robert BathurstRobert BathurstRobert Guy Bathurst is an English actor. Bathurst was born in the Gold Coast in 1957, where his father was working as a management consultant. His family moved to Dublin, Ireland, in 1959 and Bathurst was enrolled at an Anglican boarding school...
- Jesus - Masashi FujimotoMasashi Fujimotois a Japanese actor, singer, musician, and entertainer who lives in London. He was born in Hiroshima in 1963, and graduated in Music in Tokyo in 1985 . He joined Nikikai Opera in 1988...
- Mr Hokkasawa - Morwenna BanksMorwenna BanksMorwenna Banks is a British comedy actress, writer and producer.Banks is perhaps best known in the UK as a cast member of the British Channel 4 comedy series Absolutely, where her best-known character was a schoolgirl who sat on the edge of a desk.She appeared as the Keeper of the Rules in the...
- Baby (Voice)
Episodes
- Episode 1: 12 April 2007 - Leo meets Nikki at the airport only to discover she has a new boyfriend. Worse still the new boyfriend turns out to be an old school rugby unionRugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
rival called Seb. Leo starts to formulate a plan to win back Nikki when he remembers Seb and his gangs' strange traditions. However Leo's plan to expose Seb's past ends up backfiring, making his situation with Nikki even worse. - Episode 2: 19 April 2007 - Jase fakes his own death after previous attempts to get away from strange wife Jenny and her newborn baby have failed. Roman starts plans for a new theme park called "RomaniaRomaniaRomania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
", unaware that a country with the same name already exists. - Episode 3: 26 April 2007 - Roman's successful brother Jesus comes to stay with the family. Roman tells Leo that he should stay with Jesus at his country lodge, but after looking through Roman's financial records with Seb he realises that in Christmas of 1989, £1 million was given to the company. Leo realises that this was when Jesus mentioned that Roman's wife Morwenna had stayed at the lodge, and comes to the conclusion that Roman had "pimpPimpA pimp is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing a location where she may engage clients...
ed" his wife for financial support from his brother, and that the same fate was happening to him to receive funding for the new theme park, Romania. Seb is made to go after Leo refuses and pretends he is ill, but when him and Nikki are home alone he tells her what is going on and they drive to the lodge. Leo walks in alone and sees Roman's brother and Seb naked, talking to each other which proves his theory. He is then confronted by Roman and Nikki enters but when Leo tries to explain and show her what is happening, Jesus is sitting on his own, fully clothed. Meanwhile Jase tries to sell the baby while Jenny goes along with it as she believes she is using reverse psychologyReverse psychologyReverse psychology is a technique involving the advocacy of a belief or behavior that is opposite to the one desired, with the expectation that this approach will encourage the subject of the persuasion to do what actually is desired: the opposite of what is suggested...
on him. Jase arranges to meet someone local on the internet who is interested in buying a baby boy. After dressing the baby as a boy and waiting on a bench, Roman arrives and Jase realises he is there to buy the baby. Roman explains that he was disappointed when Jenny gave birth to a baby girl and only wanted an heir to his fortune. - Episode 4: 3 May 2007 - When Leo wakes up in bed with his ex-girlfriend Nikki's younger sister Kelly after a drunken night of passion, he sees that this could be the perfect way of making Nikki jealous and realise what she's missing. Jenny tells Jase that she wants another baby, so he tries everything to make sure he's unable to conceiveFertilisationFertilisation is the fusion of gametes to produce a new organism. In animals, the process involves the fusion of an ovum with a sperm, which eventually leads to the development of an embryo...
children, eventually dropping a brick onto his groin. Nikki and Seb are the stars in a risible film called "The Squid" and the entire family attend the premiere of the film at the end of the episode, where Seb proposes to Nikki. - Episode 5: 10 May 2007 - When Roman has a brush with death, or so he thinks, when actually it is just heartburn, he hands over the running of his business empire to Nikki. Roman's plans for Romania are seemingly scuppered when the National English Green Rights Organisation prohibits building. Leo and Nikki hatch a variety of plans to try and persuade the Organisation to come round to their side. Roman, however, takes up a variety of Yoga and Pilates classes with his gardener, Mr Hokasawa, who is actually trying to kill him. Seb and Kelly take it upon themselves to make a 'wang shape' video which backfires when they discover the copyright has already been bought by a theatrical group who specialise in the 'art' of 'genital sculpture' already alluded to in a dictionary close-up. Eventually Roman becomes himself again, fires his gardener and has to pay a fine for the copyright and agrees to bribe the National English Green Rights Organisation. Jase converts to Judaism to get away from Jenny, but his plan backfires. Roman's gardener goes to work for Jesus and swears to kill Roman Pretty.
- Episode 6: 17 May 2007 - Last in series. When Nikki has second thoughts about marrying Seb, it looks like Leo has one last chance to win back the girl he has always loved. At the same time, Jesus tries to enlist the help of Leo to destroy Roman's Empire. Seb sleeps with another man, but is determined to go ahead with the wedding. Leo discovers that Roman is actually just drilling for oil in the area he is planning to build 'Romania'. Jesus' plans to destroy the wedding backfire when Roman redirects the oil supply. Jase discovers that Dr Hartley is obsessed with his wife Jenny and a plan is hatched to make Jenny fall in love with him and finally leave Jase. The episode concludes with Seb and Nikki getting married and Roman re-accepting Leo back into the family. The episode concludes with Roman and Leo dancing to the classic Elton John tune, 'Tiny Dancer.'
Running gags
The obvious Roman references can be seen throughout the series, most notably with the family "forum" and the lack of a male heir for the empire. There is also an incestuous undercurrent, though this seems to be due to the close-knit nature of the family. There is, however, one reference to Roman's whole-body massages.The family is not averse to nudity, with Nikki declaring she will go to the Squid premiere naked in response to Leo's comment about clothing (Roman following suit), and Seb's infamous Wang Shapes.
Although apparently a shrewd (and morally corrupt) business man, Roman seems to lack certain common sense, and this is reflected on his insistence about the non-existence of geography, most notably Romania (the name for his theme park as inspired by Jase's scribbled escape plan) and later Rio de Janeiro (or Rio, as a combined Roman/Leo empire).
Mr Hokkasawa was sacked from his job as a waiter in Yuki's Japanese restaurant at Roman's insistence (due to Nikki's unfounded accusations of Mr Hokkasawa looking at her legs, which are under the tablecloth). From this point on Mr Hokkasawa plots his revenge, taking up his samurai vows once again, and finding employment as the Pretty gardener. His initial plot of luring Roman to his death in the potting shed (now redecorated as a Japanese house) fails as it is Kelly who is drawn by the sprinklers. Mr Hokkasawa is stuck by her beauty and decides it would be dishonourable to kill Roman and take his daughter as a wife. This becomes a running joke, as each time Mr Hokkasawa is tempted to kill Roman he is also reminded of his love for Kelly.
As Mr Hokkasawa speaks very little English, and as the rest of the cast do not speak Japanese, he often says things direct to the face of Roman, for example his plans to kill. As Roman says, "a wonderful language."
Seb is a rugby-playing man's man who likes men but who is not homosexual. He does, however, enjoy a man-tangle. "It's what men /do/."
Uncle Jesus.
Jase hates the family, his wife Jenny and their baby. He tried to leave twice before the series but was foiled firstly by the death of Jenny's grandfather, and secondly by her announcement of her pregnancy. Throughout the series Jase plots a number of ways of getting out and moving to, for example, Thailand "where the women are cheaper than rice."
Seb always greets Leo with the phrase "Hey, mate!".
Present status
Roman's Empire has not been recommissioned by the BBC.A pilot episode of an American remake
Roman's Empire (U.S. TV series)
Roman's Empire was an American sitcom, set to air on ABC. Produced by Ashton Kucher and set to star Kelsey Grammer as Roman, the series is based on the BBC comedy series of the same name.-Plot:...
of Roman's Empire has been commissioned by ABC, as a coproduction between Tiger Aspect, Katalyst, and CBS Paramount. It is expected to star Kelsey Grammer
Kelsey Grammer
Allen Kelsey Grammer is an American actor and comedian. He is most widely known for his two-decade portrayal of psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the sitcoms Cheers and Frasier...
.
External links
- Writers' Video Diary on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....