''Hardware'' is a British

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

that aired on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

from 2003 to 2004. Starring

Martin Freeman Martin John Christopher Freeman (born 8 September 1971) is an English actor. Among other accolades, he has won an Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award. Freeman's most no ...

, it was written and created by

Simon Nye Simon Nye (born 29 July 1958) is an English screenwriter, best known for television comedy. He wrote the hit sitcom ''Men Behaving Badly'', and all of the four ITV Pantos. He co-wrote the 2006 film ''Flushed Away'', created an adaptation of Ric ...

, the creator of ''

Men Behaving Badly ''Men Behaving Badly'' is a British sitcom that was created and written by Simon Nye. It follows the lives of Gary Strang (Martin Clunes) and his flatmates Dermot Povey (Harry Enfield; series 1 only) and Tony Smart (Neil Morrissey; series 2 on ...

'' and directed by Ben Kellett. The show's opening theme was " A Taste of Honey" by

Herb Alpert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the ...

's Tijuana Brass.

Cast

- Mike *

Peter Serafinowicz Peter Szymon Serafinowicz ( ; born 10 July 1972) is an English actor, comedian, director and screenwriter, best known for his roles as the title character in the 2016 live-action series of '' The Tick'', Pete in ''Shaun of the Dead'' (2004) an ...

- Kenny * Ken Morley - Rex *

Ryan Cartwright Ryan Cartwright (born 14 March 1981) is an English actor. Early life Cartwright was born on 14 March 1981 in Erdington, Birmingham, West Midlands. He has an older brother, Che Cartwright, who is also an actor. Career He began acting with th ...

- Steve *Susan Earl - Anne *

Ella Kenion Ella Kenion (born 18 June 1969) is an English comedy actress, known for shows such as ''The Catherine Tate Show'', Five's sketch shows ''We Know Where You Live'' and ''Swinging'', and in BBC Four's ''Fear of Fanny''. However she is best known ...

- Julie * Iain Pearson - Brian McCampion

Plot

''Hardware'' is set in "Hamway's Hardware Store" in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where main character Mike (

) works with Steve (

) and Kenny (

) for shop owner Rex ( Ken Morley). They relax at the next-door-but-one cafe, "Nice Day Cafe", where Mike's girlfriend Anne (Susan Earl) works with Julie (

). The series revolves around the store staff as they engage in a daily wisecrack battle with packs of DIY obsessed clients. The exterior scenes were filmed at 237 and 241 Neasden Lane in

Neasden Neasden is a suburban area in northwest London, England. It is located around the centre of the London Borough of Brent and is within the NW2 ( Cricklewood) and NW10 (Willesden) postal districts. Neasden is near Wembley Stadium, the Welsh Har ...

Episodes

Series Overview

*Series 1: 23 March 2003 to 27 April 2003 (6 Episodes) *Series 2: 7 March 2004 to 11 April 2004 (6 Episodes)

Series 1 (2003)

#"Nice" (23 March 2003) #"Naked" (30 March 2003) #"Bondage" (6 April 2003) #"Finger" (13 April 2003) #"Women" (20 April 2003) #"Hutch" (27 April 2003)

Series 2 (2004)

#"Bastard" (7 March 2004) #"Big Foot" (14 March 2004) #"Nude" (21 March 2004) #"Loser" (28 March 2004) #"Tony Two-Ways" (4 April 2004) #"Celebrity" (11 April 2004)

DVD releases

The first series of ''Hardware'' is available on DVD in Region 4 (Australia). The complete series of ''Hardware'' was released in February 2009 in the UK on Region 2 from Network DVD.

Notes

References

Mark Lewisohn Mark Lewisohn (born 16 June 1958) is an English historian and biographer. Since the 1980s, he has written many reference books about the Beatles and has worked for EMI, MPL Communications and Apple Corps.

, "Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy", BBC Worldwide Ltd, 2003
''Hardware''
at British TV Comedy

External links

''Hardware''
at bbc.co.uk * {{IMDb title, 0358319 2003 British television series debuts 2004 British television series endings 2000s British sitcoms ITV sitcoms Television series set in shops Television series by Fremantle (company) Television shows set in London English-language television shows Television shows produced by Thames Television