Big Bad World is a British comedy-drama series written and created by Nicholas Martin, following the misadventures of an Irish expat named Eamon (played by Father Ted'''s Ardal O'Hanlon) as he awkwardly navigates his thirties and dating in London. The series originally aired on ITV for running for 16 episodes across three seasons between 20 June 1999 and 15 October 2001. The show was originally produced by Central Independent Television in the first series and followed by Carlton Television in the last two series. It chronicled the relatable, sometimes painful friction of transitioning into full adulthood, contrasting Eamon's wild single lifestyle with his close friends Patrick and Beatrice Dempsey (played by Steve Nicolson and Emma Fielding), who were busy dealing with a young family and suburban responsibilities.
Plot A series centring around two single people terrified of remaining unmarried forever, and desperate to find love. They want to experience those life's ups and down's that married couples go through.
Cast Ardal O'Hanlon as Eamon Donaghy Beth Goddard as Kath Shand Steve Nicolson as Patrick Dempsey Emma Fielding as Beatrice Dempsey Mick Ford as Stuart Nisha Nayar as Stephanie George Wickes/Scott Wickes as Sean Dempsey Matthew Valaitis/Daniel Valaitis as Brendon Dempsey Thelma Whiteley as Hilary Shand Lucy Punch as Melissa
Episodes Series overview
Series 1 (1999) Episodes aired on ITV on Sundays at 21:30.
Series 2 (2001) Episodes aired on ITV on Fridays at 22:00.
Series 3 (2001) Episodes aired on ITV1 on Mondays at 22:50.
Critical reception ITV has pulled comedy drama Big Bad World from its Friday night schedule after only four episodes due to the show's poor ratings.
The Carlton show, which was being beaten in the ratings by BBC1's Clive Anderson Now and Channel 4's So Graham Norton, is to be replaced this Friday at 10.30pm by ITV regional programming.Big Bad World, which is a Cold Feet-esque thirtysomething comedy drama starring Ardal O'Hanlon and Beth Goddard, has averaged just 3.1m and an 18% share since debuting on Friday night on January 19.
The second series of the show started out at 10pm, before being moved back to 10.30pm in its second week.
"This is a commercial channel," said an ITV spokeswoman. "There's still a lot of trial and experiment with the new schedule. Big Bad World'' wasn't doing as well as it could have done."
The spokeswoman added that the remaining six episodes of the comedy drama will be broadcast, though they have not yet been rescheduled.
Home media The complete first series was released on VHS on 11 September 2000 by Carlton Video and the second series was released on VHS on 19 March 2001 as well, but has never been issued on DVD in the United Kingdom.
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