Dark Ages (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Dark Ages is a 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...

 television sitcom, first broadcast as five thirty-minute episodes on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 in December 1999. It portrayed medieval English villagers fearful of the turn of the new (second) millennium in the year 999 AD, and parodied contemporary fears at the turn of the third millennium (such as the Millennium Bug
Year 2000 problem
The Year 2000 problem was a problem for both digital and non-digital documentation and data storage situations which resulted from the practice of abbreviating a four-digit year to two digits.In computer programs, the practice of representing the year with two...

) in 1999. It was written by Rob Grant
Rob Grant
Robert Grant is a British comedy writer and television producer, who was born in Salford and studied Psychology at Liverpool University for two years....

 and directed by Steve Bendelack
Steve Bendelack
Steve Bendelack is a British film and television director, who has worked primarily on a range of highly-acclaimed comedy programmes.Originally an assistant to Peter Fluck and Roger Law on satirical TV puppet show Spitting Image, Bendelack went on to direct the show in later years...

.

Production

Dark Ages was created by Merle Nygate in 1996 and commissioned by Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....

 for development. Producer Justin Judd and Nygate could not make the concept work for an ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 audience, so Nygate was replaced by Rob Grant
Rob Grant
Robert Grant is a British comedy writer and television producer, who was born in Salford and studied Psychology at Liverpool University for two years....

, better known for writing Red Dwarf
Red Dwarf
Red Dwarf is a British comedy franchise which primarily comprises eight series of a television science fiction sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999 and Dave from 2009–present. It gained cult following. It was created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, who also wrote the first six series...

for 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...

. Grant's new scripts for Dark Ages were described by Judd as being more suited for a BBC Two audience, and Grant was required to alter them accordingly. Though a lot of scenes featuring computer-generated effects were required, Dark Ages still had a regular sitcom budget of no more than £200,000. Location filming of the village was done for a week at West Stow
West Stow
West Stow is a small parish in West Suffolk, England.The village lies north of Bury St. Edmunds, south of Mildenhall and Thetford and west of the villages of Culford and Ingham in the area known as the Breckland.This area is located near the Lark River Valley and populated from AD 420-650.it is...

 Anglo-Saxon village in Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

. Production then moved into a studio for five weeks between April and May 1999 to film scenes in front of a live audience.

The costume designer was inspired by the works of Bruegel and from research visits to the Jorvik Viking Centre
Jorvik Viking Centre
The JORVIK Viking Centre is a museum and visitor attraction in York, England. It was created by the York Archaeological Trust.- Background :Cravens, a firm of confectioners founded in 1803, relocated from their factory in Coppergate, a street in central York, in 1966...

. She created some costumes from scratch, using vegetable dyes from the era depicted, and re-used some from other productions. In post-production, the video was "filmized
Filmizing
Filmizing is a process that makes video productions seem to have been shot on film. The term is generic and informal. The process is usually electronic, although filmizing can sometimes occur as an un-intentional by-product of some optical techniques, such as telerecording.-Differences between...

" to improve the production standards.

Cast

  • Phill Jupitus
    Phill Jupitus
    Phillip Christopher Jupitus is an English stand-up and improvised comedian, actor, performance poet, musician and podcaster....

     - Gudrun, an "Essex man of 1,000 years ago".
  • Alistair McGowan
    Alistair McGowan
    Alistair McGowan is a British impressionist, stand-up comic, actor, singer and writer best known to British audiences for The Big Impression , which was, for four years, one of BBC1's top-rating comedy programmes - winning numerous awards, including a BAFTA in 2003...

     - Redwald
  • Pauline McLynn
    Pauline McLynn
    Pauline McLynn is an Irish actress, comedienne and author, best known for playing Mrs Doyle in the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted, and Libby Croker in the Channel 4 comedy drama Shameless.- Early life :...

     - Agnes
  • Dave Lamb
    Dave Lamb
    Dave Lamb is a British actor and voice-over artist best known for his work on Come Dine with Me as well as appearances in British television and radio programmes, especially comedy programmes. He also currently presents the CBBC game show Horrible Histories: Gory Games.- Early work :Lamb's first...

     - Badsmith
  • Paul Putner
    Paul Putner
    -Life and career:He was born in East Grinstead. He studied at LAMDA where he won, amongst other prizes, the Kenneth More prize for comedy acting.His first significant TV role saw Putner as numerous characters in The Glam Metal Detectives shown on BBC2. His real break in comedy came after he set up...

     - Bigwart
  • Laurence Howarth
    Laurence Howarth
    Laurence Howarth is an English comic actor and writer. He has appeared in one episode each of the TV series After You've Gone , Hyperdrive , Blessed , The Robinsons , My Hero and Dark Ages...

  • Mike Hayley
    Mike Hayley
    Mike Hayley is a comedian, impressionist, actor and writer. He starred alongside Shane Richie in the BBC's sketch shows, Something For The Weekend and Up To Something ....

     - Byrnoth
  • Sheridan Smith
    Sheridan Smith
    Sheridan Smith is an English actress and singer who is best known for her contributions to the British sitcoms Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Gavin & Stacey and Benidorm. She has also become a recognised face in West End theatre, where she has appeared in Little Shop of Horrors,...

     - Matilda
  • Laurence Howarth
    Laurence Howarth
    Laurence Howarth is an English comic actor and writer. He has appeared in one episode each of the TV series After You've Gone , Hyperdrive , Blessed , The Robinsons , My Hero and Dark Ages...

     - Cedric
  • Jason Byrne
    Jason Byrne (comedian)
    Jason Byrne is an Irish comedian born in Ballinteer, Dublin, Ireland. In August 2008, he made his twelfth Edinburgh Fringe Festival appearance and is a regular at the Kilkenny Cat Laughs comedy festival....

    - Arland
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