The Worst Week of My Life
Encyclopedia
The Worst Week of My Life is a British
comedy
television series, first broadcast on BBC One
between March and April 2004. A second series was aired between November and December 2005 and a three-part Christmas
special, The Worst Christmas of My Life was shown during December 2006. It was written by Mark Bussell and Justin Sbresni.
, The Worst Week of My Life began with the seven days leading up to the marriage of publishing executive Howard Steel and his fiancée Mel, the daughter of a high-court judge, Dick Cook. Humiliating situations ensue: Cassie, a work colleague with whom Howard had a drunken one-night stand
two years earlier, sets out to snare him and becomes obsessive; Howard accidentally kills his in-laws' dog, puts Mel's granny in hospital and loses the wedding ring (a family heirloom). At the end of the first series, Howard and Mel were wed, despite the many mishaps that had befallen the well-meaning but accident-prone groom.
at work, and mistakenly arrested for 'dogging
'. He also manages to toast his father-in-law's CBE
on a barbecue. Despite Howard knocking out the midwife, the series ends with the birth of a baby girl, Emily.
in December 2006.
After his office Christmas party, Howard takes his intoxicated boss Nicola in a cab to her home, after realising she's not fit to drive. During the cab ride, she vomits on him and, after taking a shower at her place, he is forced outside naked by Nicola, after she mistakes his nakedness for preparation to rape her. Howard turns up naked on his in-laws' doorstep, and proceeds to urinate on the Christmas goose after the power goes out, leading to a series of events which culminate in him falsely claiming to his wife and mother-in-law that his father-in-law is dead. Later, he crashes into his father-in-law, drags his unconscious body inside, causes his mother-in-law to faint, makes his wife suspicious about his naked escapade the previous night when Nicola apologises and returns his clothes, and finally destroys his wife's childhood dollhouse, which was to be a gift to their newborn daughter, while attempting to fix the damaged fuse that led to him urinating on the goose initially.
With Dick continuing to receive wreaths and read obituaries following his "death", his contempt for Howard deepens further when he discovers he bought a new car with the money he was expecting to receive from the will. A freak accident involving a strimmer
leads to family friend Felicity's pedigree dog, who is regularly put out to stud, losing a testicle, with Howard once more taking the blame. He then takes baby Emily Christmas shopping in the local shopping centre, where he gets in a fight with a drunken Father Christmas and accidentally ends up pushing around the wrong pushchair. He eventually manages to swap the prams back and return the baby to its black parents and reclaim Emily, but Howard's despair isn't over yet as he spills mulled wine
over the local Vicar when he visits the house. Howard's visit to church on Christmas Eve sees him get in argument with Fraser over his refusal to publish his memoirs and another fight - this time with Eve's new love, Mitch, who Howard saw kissing another woman at the office Christmas party.
Howard receives a visit from police on Christmas morning following his fight with Mitch, while Eve is attempting suicide in the house and Fraser is accusing him of stealing his bagpipes. Meanwhile, Howard offers to help Dick repair the dollhouse but quickly the pair are glued together as their visitors, the Bledlow family (including Mel's ex-boyfriend, Ed), call in for Christmas lunch. With Howard fretting about a missing condom of his that the family dog took from his room earlier, he spots it and leaves the meal to try and reclaim it. But he ends up setting fire to the front room, damaging the presents that were to be opened after lunch.
(Stromberg
) as Joachim Witte (who is the counterpart to Howard Steel). The series aired weekly in the Friday evening prime time on Sat.1
.
An American pilot was ordered by the Fox network in 2005, but Fox decided not to proceed with the show. CBS
also commissioned a pilot of the series entitled Worst Week
. Adapted by Matt Tarses, Worst Week premiered on September 22, 2008, on CBS and was canceled May 20, 2009,.
ABC also ran a short lived series, with a similar story arc, in 2006-7, entitled Big Day
.
In 2011 the Italian director and screenwriter Alessandro Genovesi made his feature film directorial debut with La peggior settimana della mia vita, based on the British sitcom.
. The first series is also available on Region 1 DVD, and due for a Region 4 release in February 2008.
A french version was realized in 2011 by Frédéric Auburtin, a mini serie of 2 episodes.
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...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
television series, first broadcast on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
between March and April 2004. A second series was aired between November and December 2005 and a three-part Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
special, The Worst Christmas of My Life was shown during December 2006. It was written by Mark Bussell and Justin Sbresni.
Series one
'Anything that can go wrong, does' is the plotline used by the writers. Essentially a comedy of embarrassment and errorsComedy of errors
A comedy of errors is a narrative work that is light and often humorous or satirical in tone, in which the action usually features a series of comic instances of mistaken identity, and which typically culminates in a happy resolution of the thematic conflict.-Satire and farce:A slight variation of...
, The Worst Week of My Life began with the seven days leading up to the marriage of publishing executive Howard Steel and his fiancée Mel, the daughter of a high-court judge, Dick Cook. Humiliating situations ensue: Cassie, a work colleague with whom Howard had a drunken one-night stand
One-night stand
Originally, a one-night stand was a single theatre performance, usually by a guest performer on tour, as opposed to an ongoing engagement. Today, however, the term is more commonly defined as a single sexual encounter, in which neither participant has any intention or expectation of a relationship...
two years earlier, sets out to snare him and becomes obsessive; Howard accidentally kills his in-laws' dog, puts Mel's granny in hospital and loses the wedding ring (a family heirloom). At the end of the first series, Howard and Mel were wed, despite the many mishaps that had befallen the well-meaning but accident-prone groom.
Series two
The second series takes place in the week leading up to the birth of Howard and Mel's first baby, and Howard has not yet shaken off the fate inexorably attached to him. With his father blowing up granny's cottage, into which the married couple was preparing to move, they are forced to stay with his wife's parents once again. During the course of the week he is accused of sexual harassmentSexual harassment
Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...
at work, and mistakenly arrested for 'dogging
Dogging (sexual slang)
Dogging is a British English euphemism for engaging in sexual acts in a public or semi-public place or watching others doing so. There may be more than two participants; both group sex and gang banging can be included. As observation is encouraged, voyeurism and exhibitionism are closely associated...
'. He also manages to toast his father-in-law's CBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
on a barbecue. Despite Howard knocking out the midwife, the series ends with the birth of a baby girl, Emily.
The Worst Christmas of My Life
A three-part Christmas special entitled The Worst Christmas of My Life was shown on BBC OneBBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
in December 2006.
Episode One
- Set: 23 December: (aired 19 December 2006)
After his office Christmas party, Howard takes his intoxicated boss Nicola in a cab to her home, after realising she's not fit to drive. During the cab ride, she vomits on him and, after taking a shower at her place, he is forced outside naked by Nicola, after she mistakes his nakedness for preparation to rape her. Howard turns up naked on his in-laws' doorstep, and proceeds to urinate on the Christmas goose after the power goes out, leading to a series of events which culminate in him falsely claiming to his wife and mother-in-law that his father-in-law is dead. Later, he crashes into his father-in-law, drags his unconscious body inside, causes his mother-in-law to faint, makes his wife suspicious about his naked escapade the previous night when Nicola apologises and returns his clothes, and finally destroys his wife's childhood dollhouse, which was to be a gift to their newborn daughter, while attempting to fix the damaged fuse that led to him urinating on the goose initially.
Episode Two
- Set: 24 December: (aired 21 December 2006)
With Dick continuing to receive wreaths and read obituaries following his "death", his contempt for Howard deepens further when he discovers he bought a new car with the money he was expecting to receive from the will. A freak accident involving a strimmer
String trimmer
A string trimmer, also known as a strimmer, line trimmer, weed whacker, weed whip, weed eater, weedy, or whipper snipper, is a powered handheld device that uses a flexible monofilament line instead of a blade for cutting grass and other plants near objects...
leads to family friend Felicity's pedigree dog, who is regularly put out to stud, losing a testicle, with Howard once more taking the blame. He then takes baby Emily Christmas shopping in the local shopping centre, where he gets in a fight with a drunken Father Christmas and accidentally ends up pushing around the wrong pushchair. He eventually manages to swap the prams back and return the baby to its black parents and reclaim Emily, but Howard's despair isn't over yet as he spills mulled wine
Mulled wine
Mulled wine, variations of which are popular in Europe, is wine, usually red, combined with spices and typically served warm. It is a traditional drink during winter, especially around Christmas and Halloween.-Glühwein:...
over the local Vicar when he visits the house. Howard's visit to church on Christmas Eve sees him get in argument with Fraser over his refusal to publish his memoirs and another fight - this time with Eve's new love, Mitch, who Howard saw kissing another woman at the office Christmas party.
Episode Three
- Set: 25 December: (aired 22 December 2006)
Howard receives a visit from police on Christmas morning following his fight with Mitch, while Eve is attempting suicide in the house and Fraser is accusing him of stealing his bagpipes. Meanwhile, Howard offers to help Dick repair the dollhouse but quickly the pair are glued together as their visitors, the Bledlow family (including Mel's ex-boyfriend, Ed), call in for Christmas lunch. With Howard fretting about a missing condom of his that the family dog took from his room earlier, he spots it and leaves the meal to try and reclaim it. But he ends up setting fire to the front room, damaging the presents that were to be opened after lunch.
Main characters
- Ben MillerBen MillerBennet Evan "Ben" Miller is an English comedian, actor and director. He is perhaps best known as one half of comedy double act Armstrong and Miller, along with Alexander Armstrong. Together the pair wrote and starred in Channel 4 sketch show Armstrong and Miller, and the more recent BBC television...
as Howard Steel, the hapless male lead. A book publisher by trade, Howard continually puts himself in dreadful situations and makes things worse by trying to either put things right or explain what had happened.
- Sarah AlexanderSarah AlexanderSarah Alexander is an English actress, known for her roles in various British comedy series such as Armstrong and Miller, Smack the Pony, Coupling, The Worst Week of My Life and Green Wing....
as Mel Cook, Howard's fiancee and then wife, who remains in love with him despite his mishaps. However, Mel (who works as a vet) gradually loses patience with him as the story arc in each series progresses.
- Alison SteadmanAlison SteadmanAlison Steadman OBE is an English actress. She established her career with roles such as Beverley in Abigail's Party and Candice Marie in Nuts in May for the director Mike Leigh, to whom she was once married. In addition to her stage and radio work, she has had lead roles in The Singing Detective,...
as Angela Cook, Mel's mother. Her main role in life appears to be to entertain guests at her country home, regularly worrying about the impression that will be set following Howard-led problems. Regardless of Howards's faults, Angela often tries to see the good in him and is more friendlier to Howard than Dick. Whereas Dick doesn't understand why Mel loves Howard, Angela can see that the pair love each other and in the series one finale, Angela defends Howard after Dick refuses to give him the car keys to rescue Mel.
- Geoffrey WhiteheadGeoffrey WhiteheadGeoffrey Whitehead is an English actor. He has appeared in a huge range of television, film and radio roles. In the theatre, he has played at the Shakespeare Globe, St...
as Dick Cook, a High Court judge and Mel's father. He has little time for Howard and struggles to understand why Mel wanted to marry him.
- Janine DuvitskiJanine DuvitskiJanine Duvitski is an English actress, known for her roles as Jane Edwards in Waiting for God and Pippa Trench in One Foot in the Grave. She also created and played the role of Angela in Mike Leigh's play Abigail's Party.-Personal life:Duvitski was born in Nottingham. Her father was Polish...
as Eve, Howard's assistant. She devotes much of her life to her work and has little social life outside helping Howard.
- Ronald PickupRonald Pickup-Life and career:Pickup was born in Chester, England, the son of Daisy and Eric Pickup, who was a lecturer. Pickup was educated at The King's School, Chester, trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and became an Associate Member of RADA.His television work began with an episode...
as Fraser Cook, Dick's brother. Obsessed by his days in the army, Fraser will regularly offer rather pointless advice about life. He is initially a closet homosexual but finally comes out (series 2) while in a relationship with his "travelling companion" Gerard (Terrence Hardiman).
Minor characters
- Raquel CassidyRaquel CassidyRaquel Josephine Dominic Cassidy is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her television roles as Susan Gately in Teachers , the Home Office Junior Minister Jo Porter in Party Animals, and Mel in Lead Balloon, as well as her various stage works.-Filmography:-Selected...
as Cassie Turner, Howard's co-worker who he had a one-night stand with (series 1). She is unable to accept he wants to marry Mel and goes to any length possible to try and marry him instead.
- Emma PiersonEmma PiersonEmma Jane Pierson, better known as Emma Pierson, is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Anna Thornton-Wilton in the BBC television drama Hotel Babylon....
as Sophie Cook, Mel's troublesome younger sister (series 1). She asks Howard for relationship advice and then strongly criticises him when things do not work out. She is not in series 2 with no explanation as to her absence, however in The Worst Christmas Of My Life (third series) it is revealed that she has moved to New Zealand when Howard talks to her over the phone.
- Dean Lennox KellyDean Lennox KellyDean Lennox Kelly is an English actor, He is the brother of actor Craig Kelly.Dean is best known for his role as Kev Ball in Channel 4’s Shameless.-Career:...
as Dom, Howard and Eve's misogynistic co-worker and Howard's eventual best man. He develops a relationship with Mel's younger sister, Sophie in series one. At the end of series one Sophie announces to her parents that her and Dom are going to get married, to the dismay of her parents. He does not appear in series two and similarly to Sophie, there is no explanation to his absence, but he is mentioned when Eve gives Howard his office desk items that he left.
- John BenfieldJohn BenfieldJohn Benfield is a British actor, who has appeared in 75 TV episodes or films starting in 1981. He lives in Oxford with his wife, Lillian, and son, Fred.-Selected filmography:*Sharpe*The Worst Week of My Life*Cassandra's Dream...
as Ron Steel, Howard's laddish father. He has a lap dancer girlfriend, Trish, played by Lizzie Roper (series 1).
- Kim WallKim WallKim Wall is an American Actress. She is probably best known for starring in the 1988 sequel Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland.-Career:...
as Mitch, Eve's new boyfriend (series 3). Eve quickly announces her plans to marry him but Howard feels compelled to tell her he saw him kissing another woman at the office Christmas party. Howard and Mitch end up fighting with nativity figures at Midnight Mass.
- Paul BrookePaul BrookePaul Brooke is an English actor of film, television, and radio. He is the father of actor Tom Brooke.He and Ernie Fosselius played Malakili the Rancor Keeper in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. He played British Conservative politician Ian Gow in the 2004 BBC series The Alan Clark Diaries...
as the Vicar, who finds Howard hard work when preparing to carry out his wedding (series 1). After Emily is born, Angela and Dick are keen for her christening to be held at Winchester Cathedral and believe setting a good impression to the Vicar (a personal friend to the Bishop) when he calls on Christmas Eve (series 3) will seal their wishes. But Howard spills mulled wine over the Vicar, who has to be undressed to receive treatment.
- Terrence Hardiman as Gerard, Fraser's lover (series 2). Howard first meets him in the bath with Fraser. He leaves mid-way through the week in an effort to make Frazer tell the family about his homosexuality. He later returns for the last episode.
International versions
In 2007, the first series was remade as Hilfe! Hochzeit! Die schlimmste Woche meines Lebens (Help! Wedding! The Worst Week of My Life) for a German audience starring Christoph Maria HerbstChristoph Maria Herbst
Christoph Maria Herbst is a German actor and comedian.-Life and theatre career:After passing the Abitur, Herbst became a banker apprentice and was active at the free theatre scene in Wuppertal at the same time. In 1986, he was a founding member of the private Theater in Cronenberg and its acting...
(Stromberg
Stromberg (TV series)
Stromberg is a German television series which is produced by Brainpool and broadcast on the commercial television channel ProSieben. The series was proclaimed as a copy of the BBC series The Office, although initially the producers claimed it was based on a character from a past ProSieben comedy,...
) as Joachim Witte (who is the counterpart to Howard Steel). The series aired weekly in the Friday evening prime time on Sat.1
Sat.1
Sat.1 is a privately owned German television broadcasting station. Sat.1 was the first privately owned television broadcasting station in Germany, having started one day before RTL Television....
.
An American pilot was ordered by the Fox network in 2005, but Fox decided not to proceed with the show. CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
also commissioned a pilot of the series entitled Worst Week
Worst Week
Worst Week is an American TV series which originally aired on CBS from September 22, 2008 to June 6, 2009. The series was based on the British sitcom The Worst Week of My Life...
. Adapted by Matt Tarses, Worst Week premiered on September 22, 2008, on CBS and was canceled May 20, 2009,.
ABC also ran a short lived series, with a similar story arc, in 2006-7, entitled Big Day
Big Day
Big Day, originally titled A Day in the Life, is an American situation comedy that first aired on ABC from November 28, 2006 to January 30, 2007. The series was co-produced by Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa and directed by Michael Spiller for Sony Pictures Television...
.
In 2011 the Italian director and screenwriter Alessandro Genovesi made his feature film directorial debut with La peggior settimana della mia vita, based on the British sitcom.
Availability
Series one and two, as well as the Christmas special, are available on Region 2 DVDDVD
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....
. The first series is also available on Region 1 DVD, and due for a Region 4 release in February 2008.
A french version was realized in 2011 by Frédéric Auburtin, a mini serie of 2 episodes.