Nathan Barley is a Channel 4 sitcom written by Charlie Brooker and Chris Morris which follows the exploits of a loathsome, fictional twenty-something London 'media type'. Described by his own creator as a 'meaningless strutting cadaver-in-waiting', the character originated on Charlie Brooker's TVGoHome - a website parodying television listings - as the focus of a fly-on-the-wall documentary called Cunt. After the cult success of TVGoHome, the name 'Nathan Barley' was frequently used pejoratively towards those whose lifestyles were satirised by the series. Image File history File links Nb-generic. ... Chris Morris (born September 5, 1965 in Bristol, England) is an English satirical comedian, writer, producer, director, actor and radio DJ. Morris began his career in radio before later moving into television. ... Charlie (Charlton) Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is a British comedy writer, cartoonist, reviewer and television presenter. ... Julian Barratt Pettifer (born 4 May 1968) is an English comedian, musician, music producer and actor. ... Nicholas Burns is a comic actor best known for playing Nathan Barley in the show of the same name, as well as playing Nick Mayer in television series Absolute Power. ... Claire Keelan is a British actress best known for her role as Claire Ashcroft in the Channel 4 comedy Nathan Barley. ... This article is about the British television station. ... is the 42nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 77th day of the year (78th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the British television station. ... Charlie (Charlton) Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is a British comedy writer, cartoonist, reviewer and television presenter. ... Chris Morris (born September 5, 1965 in Bristol, England) is an English satirical comedian, writer, producer, director, actor and radio DJ. Morris began his career in radio before later moving into television. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Charlie (Charlton) Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is a British comedy writer, cartoonist, reviewer and television presenter. ... TVGoHome was a website which parodied the television listings style of the British magazine Radio Times. ...

Plot

Nathan Barley is a webmaster, guerrilla filmmaker, screenwriter, DJ and in his own words, a 'self-facilitating media node'. He is convinced he is the epitome of urban cool, and therefore secretly terrified he might not be, which is why he reads Sugar Ape magazine — his bible of cool. A webmaster is a person responsible for designing, developing, marketing, or maintaining Web site(s). ... DJ or dj may stand for Disc jockey, dinner jacket The DeadJournal website, or Djibouti. ...

In reality however his 'output' is of no real interest to anyone but him and his immediate friends. The website consists of stupid pranks caught on camera, photos of him with attractive women and photos of him standing on street corners in major cities around the world. He is of the belief that because he has a camera, some knowledge of web publishing and some webspace, this makes him talented.

The humour derives from the fact that since the rapid rise of the internet and the explosion of digital television, actual publishers and broadcasters think that such drivel is worthy of attention. Barley and his fellow idiots are often hired/published ahead of actual journalists and talented writers trying to make intelligent points, such as the earnest documentary film maker Claire Ashcroft, and her brother Dan Ashcroft, a jaded and apathetic hack who, having written an article for Sugar Ape entitled 'The Rise of the Idiots', is disgusted to find that 'the idiots' in question — Nathan and his contemporaries — have adopted him as their spiritual leader. Digital television (DTV) is a telecommunication system for broadcasting and receiving moving pictures and sound by means of digital signals, in contrast to analog signals used by analog (traditional) TV. DTV uses digital modulation data, which is digitally compressed and requires decoding by a specially designed television set, or a...

Characters

The series features two other central characters, siblings Dan and Claire Ashcroft. Dan - an instantly recognisable Brooker point-of-reference - dislikes everything Nathan Barley stands for, while Claire seeks to highlight the plight of the inner city's homeless and drug-dependent. Ironically, while Dan sees a clear distinction between himself and the "idiots", he's frequently forced to compromise his own ethics in order to earn a living - and seems to be fighting the dawning realisation that he may actually be the very thing he despises. At the same time, Claire, who clearly wants to see herself as socially responsible and philanthropic, ultimately only seeks to further her own career. This sets the scene for an unusually open-ended, and certainly introspective, satire-bordering-on-social-commentary.

Other recurring characters include the staff at Dan Ashcroft's magazine, Sugar Ape, such as asinine chief editor "Jonatton Yeah?" [sic], Ned Smanks (Richard Ayoade) and Rufus Onslatt (Spencer Brown), a pair of gormless graphics designers, Sasha the receptionist (one of the few non-"idiots" in the show), and the eccentric and ludicrous "Doug Rocket", founder member of The Veryphonics (a parody of David A. Stewart of Eurythmics), played by comedian The Divine David. Richard Ayoade Publicity Photo Richard Ayoade (born c. ... Spencer Brown is a cult British comedian, actor and writer. ... David Allan Stewart, often known as Dave Stewart (born September 9, 1952 in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear), is an English musician and record producer best known for his work with Eurythmics. ... For the approach to music education, see Eurhythmics. ...

Dan Ashcroft's flatmate is a DJ called "Jones", who appears blissfully unaware of the antisocial cacophony he creates. Jones is played by Noel Fielding, Barratt's partner in comic duo The Mighty Boosh. Noel Fielding (born 21 May 1973 in Westminster, London) is an English comedian and actor, best known for his role as Vince Noir in The Mighty Boosh. ... The Mighty Boosh is a British cult comedy about two friends who go on magical adventures. ...

The first episode was broadcast on February 11, 2005 on Channel 4. The six-episode run was co-written by TVGoHome creator Brooker and Chris Morris. Morris also directed. is the 42nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the British television station. ...

Promotion

A piece of Nathan's artwork.

Advertising for the series attracted some attention, with billboards advertising a fictitious yet at-first plausible mobile telephone, the Wasp T12 Speechtool ('it's well weapon'), appearing throughout the UK. This device was exceptionally loud, came loaded with hugely annoying ringtones, had a giant key for the number 5 (allegedly the most common number), featured a powerful projector, business card printer and miniature turntables for scratching MP3s, and was apparently 'shark-proof'. Image File history File linksMetadata NathanBarleyScreenshot. ... Image File history File linksMetadata NathanBarleyScreenshot. ... The Wasp T12 Speechtool (Wasp being an acronym for What A Stupid Phone) is a fictional mobile phone created to publicise the UK Channel 4 sitcom Nathan Barley. ... For other uses, see MP3 (disambiguation). ...

Barley's website, trashbat.co.ck serves as an official site for the television series.

The DVD of the series was released in October 2005, featuring all six episodes, a host of extras (including the pilot) and a booklet written by Nathan featuring his 'artwork'. The artwork in question is largely in the style of prolific graffiti artist Banksy and the book could easily be mistaken for a book showcasing Banksy's work. Banksy is a well-known yet pseudo-anonymous[1] English graffiti artist, possibly named Robert Banks. ...

Cast

• Nicholas Burns — Nathan Barley
• Julian Barratt — Dan "Preacher Man" Ashcroft
• Claire Keelan — Claire Ashcroft
• Ben Whishaw — Pingu
• Richard Ayoade — Ned Smanks
• Spencer Brown — Rufus Onslatt
• Charlie Condou — Jonatton Yeah?
• Nina Sosanya — Sasha
• Rhys Thomas — Toby
• Noel Fielding — Jones
• David Hoyle (aka "The Divine David") — Doug Rocket
• Rupert Degas — Beer Gourd Man
• Ophelia Lovibond — Mandy
• Joe Van Moyland - Mudd

Nicholas Burns is a comic actor best known for playing Nathan Barley in the show of the same name, as well as playing Nick Mayer in television series Absolute Power. ... Julian Barratt Pettifer (born 4 May 1968) is an English comedian, musician, music producer and actor. ... Claire Keelan is a British actress best known for her role as Claire Ashcroft in the Channel 4 comedy Nathan Barley. ... Ben Whishaw, born 14 October 1980, is an English actor. ... Richard Ayoade Publicity Photo Richard Ayoade (born c. ... Spencer Brown is a cult British comedian, actor and writer. ... Charlie Condou (born 08 January 1973) is an English actor. ... Nina Sosanya is a British actress. ... Rhys Thomas (born 12 December 1978 in Essex) is an English comedian and actor. ... Noel Fielding (born 21 May 1973 in Westminster, London) is an English comedian and actor, best known for his role as Vince Noir in The Mighty Boosh. ... Rupert Degas (born August 17, 1970, London) is an English actor and voice artist. ... Joe Van Moyland is an actor perhaps best known for his 2007 role as Thomas Tallis on the Showtime television series The Tudors. ...

Nathan Barley 2

Continued rumours of a second series of the comedy,^[1] including possible auditions for extras,^[2] were given added weight with reports that Chris Morris told students at a talk at Bournemouth University that he was working on new Nathan Barley material.^[3][4] Bournemouth University is a university in and around the large south coast town of Bournemouth, UK (although its main campus is actually situated in neighbouring Poole). ...

Notes

External links

• Trashbat.co.ck - Official Website
• British Sitcom Guide
• A Cunt Compendium - the collected Cunt entries from TVGoHome
• BBC News: Anatomy of a backlash - Nathan in the context of Internet hype
• Text from press release for the Nathan Barley show
• Nathan Barley on IMDB
• Sugarape.com - Unofficial Sugar Ape Website