'Nighty Night': Tube Talk Gold

If you like your comedy dark, twisted and even more bitter than bittersweet, chances are you were a fan of the BBC's sitcom Nighty Night! The show garnered critical acclaim and a cult but loyal following... but what was it that captivated us?

Well, let's cast our minds back all the way to 2004 to remind ourselves just what Nighty Night was all about...

Nighty Night: Originally aired January 6, 2004 to October 11, 2005

Let's get straight to the point - Nighty Night is not a nice comedy. If the title conjures up images of a warm family household, where hilarious misunderstandings lead to japes and jollity with everything resolved by bedtime, then you'll be sorely disappointed.

If, though, you fancy a show that'll make you laugh while making you feel a little bit nauseous at the same time, then Nighty Night could be the comedy for you!

The show revolved around the magnificently horrible Jill Tyrell, a truly unsympathetic, self-obsessed figure who manipulates a wheelchair-bound woman with multiple sclerosis in an attempt to begin a relationship with her husband. Yeah, so Nighty Night's going for the darkness, then...



The series worked because of its casting. Julia Davis was absolutely superb as Jill, a Machiavellian, murderous creation with a sickly, saccharine grin and absolutely no sense of moral fortitude. This is a woman who pretends that her cancer-stricken husband is dead in an attempt to begin a new romance, get extra sympathy, and generally get ahead a little bit. Yeugh.

Davis doesn't take the easy route, either - where she could so easily have offered some explanations for Jill's behaviour or offered us glimpses at a softer side, the character's pretty much unremittingly grim. And the show's all the funnier for it, too; Davis isn't afraid of being hideously unlikeable, allowing us some hilarious moments as we realise just what this woman is capable of (pretty much everything, in case you were wondering).

Rebecca Front is also in the perfect role as poor, long-suffering Cath, a woman who is determined to remain polite and courteous even when her insane neighbour is trying to steal her husband. Everyone's got a bit of Cath in them - the desperation to please, the tendency to cave in to ridiculous demands while having a moan about it at the same time - so whenever she hints that she's going to stand up for herself it's joyous.



Actually, the cast is full of star power - Angus Deayton, Ruth Jones, Mark Gatiss and Kevin Eldon all have big roles, while even Miranda Hart pops up for a few episodes. With that kind of talent behind it, it's not surprising that Nighty Night became a critical hit.

That's the kicker, though - the show never really broke into the mainstream. Really, it's unsurprising - it's shocking and funny, sure, but it's also really quite difficult to take. It's not the sort of show to watch if you need a quick pick-me-up, to be honest. The basic premise is depressing enough about humankind, and the comedy remains determinedly black throughout.

When you think about it, then, it's not too much of a shock that the public at large didn't take to Jill Tyrell and the people in her circle (though it does remain a shame). But perhaps it's one of those series that becomes a bigger hit after its original airing - one of those programmes that people go back to on DVD after word-of-mouth recommendations.



It's also probably fair to say, as is the case with so many shows, that the first series is better than the second. But that shouldn't be taken as too much of an insult - it would always have been difficult to keep the standard up.

If you haven't seen Nighty Night yet - and fancy feeling pretty rubbish about the state of humanity - then you can pick both series up on DVD (and they're really rather cheap indeed, so no excuses.) But, like I say - it's not pyjamas and hot chocolate, more adult nappies and poisoned Angel Delight...

Were you a fan of Nighty Night? Leave your comments below!