Plus One (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Plus One is a British sitcom written and created by Tim Allsop & Stewart Williams
and made by Kudos
for Channel 4
. A pilot was originally transmitted in 2007 as part of Channel 4's Comedy Showcase
, while a full series of 5 episodes began transmitting in January 2009;
The programme centres itself around Rob Black, played by Daniel Mays
(Rory Kinnear
in pilot), whose girlfriend has dumped him to marry "Duncan from Blue
". Rob's life is turned upside down when he is invited to the wedding and feels he must have a 'plus one' who will blow everyone away.
Rob is invited to the wedding of his ex-girlfriend, Linsey, to Duncan James, from Blue. In his attempt to get one up on his new nemesis, Rob decides to find Duncan’s first love, Jo, and ask her to the wedding as his ‘plus one’. However, he finds her in a coma, under the care of her mother who is hoping to raise money for her treatment by holding a fun run. In an attempt to impress Nicola Dare (Susie Amy) - his own first love - after having insulted her transgendered brother, Rob decides to participate in the fun run himself. Doubting his ability to run 20km, he plans to cut through the middle of the devised route. He turns up at the event with a cheque donating the greatest amount - most of which was put in from himself instead of sponsors - which earns him great popularity. However, while cutting through the middle of the route, he trips, hits his head on a log and is knocked unconscious. He wakes up with his shoes having been stolen by a tramp, and ends up getting kicked in the crotch by someone who assumes he is also homeless. A five-year-old girl catches him holding his groin in pain, and he proceeds to run to the end of the fun run, where the rest of the participants are awaiting his arrival to celebrate his generous donation. As he arrives, Duncan appears and provides a donation of £17,000, making him the largest donor instead of Rob. Already frustrated, the parents of the five-year-old girl appear and accuse him of masturbating in front of a young girl, and he is chased further.
T4 is featuring the build up to Duncan and Linsey’s wedding in reality show One Love. Rob feels he needs to find an impressive girl to have on his arm if he’s to show his ex just what she has missed out on. Enter Rich - Rob's brother - and his girlfriend’s sister, Abby (Sophie Winkleman); a gorgeous West End star who always has to have what she wants. In an attempt to secure her as his plus one, Rob agrees to go to a 'bad taste' fancy dress party with Abby, dressed as a panda. Before the party, she paints his face to resemble a panda, but ends up getting the colours the wrong way round. A car crash on the way leads to a nasty case of whiplash and Rob offending two paramedics with his facepaint. The paramedics call Linsey, who arrives at the hospital along with T4’s Steve Jones, a million TV viewers and Duncan from Blue. Continuing to offend people with his accidentally racist facepaint, the episode ends with Duncan telling young children in the hospital how it's wrong to be racist and wondering why we all can't just get along.
Rich persuades Rob that he needs a model to accompany him to the wedding. Working in the music compilation industry by placing songs in a spreadsheet, he has access to beautiful models only through the means of his colleague Laura, who works in graphic design. He convinces her to set up a photoshoot with model Aimee, who becomes more and more attracted to him when Laura tells her all the celebrities he has allegedly worked with, including mentioning that Rob and Jamelia are 'practically best friends'. After the shoot, Rob fantasizes about kissing Laura on their desk and begins to see her in a different way. Aimee invites Rob and Laura to a club night, and notice Jamelia is at the same club. Aimee begs Rob to introduce them, leading to him pleading with Jamelia to go along with the story that they're friends. She goes along with it, grudgingly, and tells Aimee that he is a very talented breakdancer. Having to go along with this story to impress Aimee, he performs a dance routine and manages to impress Jamelia, Aimee and Laura. However, this is short-lived when he kicks Laura in the face and is thrown out of the club. He drives alongside her, trying to apologise, and is arrested for mistakenly trying to solicit sex with Laura whom they think is a prostitute.
Rob decides the only way he can upstage Linsey and Duncan in their celebrity wedding magazine pictures is by taking a celebrity as his plus one. Spotting George Clooney's ex Lisa Snowdon
across a crowded bar gives him an idea - however he needs a 'competition winner' to even have a chance at meeting her. His brother, Rich, offers his assistance with one of his pupils, Craig, who pretends to be disabled - for a price of money and video games - to get Rob in with Lisa. An allergic reaction to peanuts on Craig's part leads to Lisa having to leave the date early but scheduling a lunch appointment with Rob the next day. Rob tells her about Linsey and Duncan's wedding, and Lisa insists he takes her as his plus one in order to upstage the bride and groom. However, his happiness son comes crashing down, as Craig's mother finds him and accuses him of grooming her son with money and video games in front of a crowd of paparazzi.
After a catalogue of dating disasters, close shaves with the law and public disgrace in front of celebrities and models, Rob decides to give up looking for the perfect plus one to outshine Linsey and Duncan. However, before long he meets the beautiful Astrid (a millionaire, supermodel, biochemist whose dad invented Toilet Duck
), and they quickly fall for each other. On spending the night together and joining Linsey and Duncan for a double date, he decides Astrid is the perfect plus one. However, on arriving at the wedding in her Aston Martin, Astrid appears to be slightly uncomfortable. The priest asks for any objections, and Astrid pulls out a knife, stabbing Duncan in his testicle
. It is revealed that she is his number one stalker, believing that she should be his bride. The wedding is ruined, and Linsey and Duncan plan to do it all again in the future. Laura hints at Rob to take her to the next wedding instead of hunting down models and celebrities, but Duncan bursts into the office in tears, claiming that Linsey ran off with Steve Jones, who was covering their wedding for T4.
Tim Allsop & Stewart Williams
Tim Allsop and Stewart Williams are a British writing and directing partnership. Their most recent work is channel 4’s comedy series Plus One which they created and wrote. It began transmitting in January 2009....
and made by Kudos
Kudos (production company)
Kudos Film and Television is a British independent film and television production company. It has produced television series for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, and its productions include Spooks , Hustle, Life on Mars and its spin-off Ashes to Ashes, The Amazing Mrs Pritchard and M.I. High...
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...
. A pilot was originally transmitted in 2007 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....
, while a full series of 5 episodes began transmitting in January 2009;
The programme centres itself around Rob Black, played by Daniel Mays
Daniel Mays
-Early life:One of four boys, Mays was raised in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, by his electrician father and bank cashier mother. He attended the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts before going on to win a place at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.-Career:...
(Rory Kinnear
Rory Kinnear
Rory Kinnear is an award-winning English actor who has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre.-Early life:...
in pilot), whose girlfriend has dumped him to marry "Duncan from Blue
Duncan James
Duncan Matthew James Inglis is an English singer, actor and television presenter. He is best known as a member of the boyband Blue.-Early life:...
". Rob's life is turned upside down when he is invited to the wedding and feels he must have a 'plus one' who will blow everyone away.
Cast
- Rob Black - Daniel MaysDaniel Mays-Early life:One of four boys, Mays was raised in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, by his electrician father and bank cashier mother. He attended the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts before going on to win a place at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.-Career:...
(Rory KinnearRory KinnearRory Kinnear is an award-winning English actor who has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre.-Early life:...
pilot only) - Duncan from Blue - Duncan JamesDuncan JamesDuncan Matthew James Inglis is an English singer, actor and television presenter. He is best known as a member of the boyband Blue.-Early life:...
- Rebecca - Ingrid OliverIngrid OliverIngrid Oliver is a British actress and comedian, and one half of comedic double act Watson and Oliver.-Career:In September 2005, Ingrid Oliver and Lorna Watson performed their first show together at The Canal Cafe Theatre in London...
- Linsey - Miranda RaisonMiranda Raison-Early life:Born in Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, her father Nick Raison is a jazz pianist and artist, while her mother Caroline read the news for Anglia Television. She has two brothers and two sisters: Ed , Rosie, Sam and May. Her parents divorced when she was six years old, and her father remarried...
- Rich - Nigel HarmanNigel HarmanNigel Derek Harman is an English actor, most famous for his role as Dennis Rickman in the UK soap opera EastEnders. He has worked extensively in theatre, with the stage being described as his "first love"...
- Laura - Ruth BradleyRuth Bradley-Career:Bradley's first screen appearance were in 2002 in Ultimate Force and Sinners .Since then she has had recurring roles in The Clinic , Love Is the Drug , Legend , The Innocence Project , Plus One and Love/Hate .She...
- Paul - Steve John ShepherdSteve John Shepherd-Career:Shepherd first became known in 1996, when he played the role of Jo, the law clerk, in the critically acclaimed BBC drama This Life. He remained in the role for two series...
Guest Appearances
- Nicola Dare - Susie AmySusie AmySusie Amy is an English model and actress most famous for her role as Chardonnay Lane-Pascoe in the first two series of Footballers' Wives.-Biography:...
- Abby Ross - Sophie WinklemanSophie WinklemanSophie Lara Winkleman is an English actress who has worked extensively in television, film and stage. On 14 February 2009, she became engaged to Lord Frederick Windsor, the son of Prince Michael and Princess Michael of Kent. They married in Hampton Court on 12 September 2009...
- Amy - Camilla Beeput
- Jamelia - JameliaJameliaJamelia Niela Davis , best known mononymously as Jamelia, is an English singer-songwriter, model, entertainer, television presenter and actress. She is most famous for her use of a cappella and prolific work in the R&B genre...
- Lisa Snowdon - Lisa SnowdonLisa SnowdonLisa Snowdon is an English fashion model, television personality and presenter. She was the host of the reality television show Britain's Next Top Model from 2006 until 2009...
- Astrid - Georgia KingGeorgia King-Career:King made her professional debut in Jane Eyre. She was nearly unable to play the role, however. "A week before the day she began filming, King felt stomach pains, then had her appendix rupture...
- Steve Jones - Steve JonesSteve Jones (presenter)Stephen Ashton "Steve" Jones is a Welsh television presenter. Jones is primarily known in the UK as presenter of T4. Internationally, he is known as the host of The X Factor USA.-Early life:...
Plot
- Episode 1: I Do a Lot of Work for Charity
Rob is invited to the wedding of his ex-girlfriend, Linsey, to Duncan James, from Blue. In his attempt to get one up on his new nemesis, Rob decides to find Duncan’s first love, Jo, and ask her to the wedding as his ‘plus one’. However, he finds her in a coma, under the care of her mother who is hoping to raise money for her treatment by holding a fun run. In an attempt to impress Nicola Dare (Susie Amy) - his own first love - after having insulted her transgendered brother, Rob decides to participate in the fun run himself. Doubting his ability to run 20km, he plans to cut through the middle of the devised route. He turns up at the event with a cheque donating the greatest amount - most of which was put in from himself instead of sponsors - which earns him great popularity. However, while cutting through the middle of the route, he trips, hits his head on a log and is knocked unconscious. He wakes up with his shoes having been stolen by a tramp, and ends up getting kicked in the crotch by someone who assumes he is also homeless. A five-year-old girl catches him holding his groin in pain, and he proceeds to run to the end of the fun run, where the rest of the participants are awaiting his arrival to celebrate his generous donation. As he arrives, Duncan appears and provides a donation of £17,000, making him the largest donor instead of Rob. Already frustrated, the parents of the five-year-old girl appear and accuse him of masturbating in front of a young girl, and he is chased further.
- Episode 2: Black White and Red All Over
T4 is featuring the build up to Duncan and Linsey’s wedding in reality show One Love. Rob feels he needs to find an impressive girl to have on his arm if he’s to show his ex just what she has missed out on. Enter Rich - Rob's brother - and his girlfriend’s sister, Abby (Sophie Winkleman); a gorgeous West End star who always has to have what she wants. In an attempt to secure her as his plus one, Rob agrees to go to a 'bad taste' fancy dress party with Abby, dressed as a panda. Before the party, she paints his face to resemble a panda, but ends up getting the colours the wrong way round. A car crash on the way leads to a nasty case of whiplash and Rob offending two paramedics with his facepaint. The paramedics call Linsey, who arrives at the hospital along with T4’s Steve Jones, a million TV viewers and Duncan from Blue. Continuing to offend people with his accidentally racist facepaint, the episode ends with Duncan telling young children in the hospital how it's wrong to be racist and wondering why we all can't just get along.
- Episode 3: See it in a Boys Lies
Rich persuades Rob that he needs a model to accompany him to the wedding. Working in the music compilation industry by placing songs in a spreadsheet, he has access to beautiful models only through the means of his colleague Laura, who works in graphic design. He convinces her to set up a photoshoot with model Aimee, who becomes more and more attracted to him when Laura tells her all the celebrities he has allegedly worked with, including mentioning that Rob and Jamelia are 'practically best friends'. After the shoot, Rob fantasizes about kissing Laura on their desk and begins to see her in a different way. Aimee invites Rob and Laura to a club night, and notice Jamelia is at the same club. Aimee begs Rob to introduce them, leading to him pleading with Jamelia to go along with the story that they're friends. She goes along with it, grudgingly, and tells Aimee that he is a very talented breakdancer. Having to go along with this story to impress Aimee, he performs a dance routine and manages to impress Jamelia, Aimee and Laura. However, this is short-lived when he kicks Laura in the face and is thrown out of the club. He drives alongside her, trying to apologise, and is arrested for mistakenly trying to solicit sex with Laura whom they think is a prostitute.
- Episode 4: The Competition Winner
Rob decides the only way he can upstage Linsey and Duncan in their celebrity wedding magazine pictures is by taking a celebrity as his plus one. Spotting George Clooney's ex Lisa Snowdon
Lisa Snowdon
Lisa Snowdon is an English fashion model, television personality and presenter. She was the host of the reality television show Britain's Next Top Model from 2006 until 2009...
across a crowded bar gives him an idea - however he needs a 'competition winner' to even have a chance at meeting her. His brother, Rich, offers his assistance with one of his pupils, Craig, who pretends to be disabled - for a price of money and video games - to get Rob in with Lisa. An allergic reaction to peanuts on Craig's part leads to Lisa having to leave the date early but scheduling a lunch appointment with Rob the next day. Rob tells her about Linsey and Duncan's wedding, and Lisa insists he takes her as his plus one in order to upstage the bride and groom. However, his happiness son comes crashing down, as Craig's mother finds him and accuses him of grooming her son with money and video games in front of a crowd of paparazzi.
- Episode 5: One Love
After a catalogue of dating disasters, close shaves with the law and public disgrace in front of celebrities and models, Rob decides to give up looking for the perfect plus one to outshine Linsey and Duncan. However, before long he meets the beautiful Astrid (a millionaire, supermodel, biochemist whose dad invented Toilet Duck
Toilet Duck
Toilet Duck is a brand name toilet cleaner noted for the duck-shape of its bottle, so shaped to assist in dispensing the cleaner under the rim. The design was patented in the 1980s by Walter Düring from Dällikon, Switzerland. It is now produced by S. C. Johnson & Son.Toilet Duck suppliers are...
), and they quickly fall for each other. On spending the night together and joining Linsey and Duncan for a double date, he decides Astrid is the perfect plus one. However, on arriving at the wedding in her Aston Martin, Astrid appears to be slightly uncomfortable. The priest asks for any objections, and Astrid pulls out a knife, stabbing Duncan in his testicle
Testicle
The testicle is the male gonad in animals. Like the ovaries to which they are homologous, testes are components of both the reproductive system and the endocrine system...
. It is revealed that she is his number one stalker, believing that she should be his bride. The wedding is ruined, and Linsey and Duncan plan to do it all again in the future. Laura hints at Rob to take her to the next wedding instead of hunting down models and celebrities, but Duncan bursts into the office in tears, claiming that Linsey ran off with Steve Jones, who was covering their wedding for T4.