''Hippies'' is a six-part British television comedy series broadcast on

BBC 2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

from 12 November to 17 December 1999. It was created by Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan, the writing partnership most famous for '' Father Ted'', but the scripts were written by Mathews alone. It starred Simon Pegg, Sally Phillips, Julian Rhind-Tutt and Darren Boyd.

Synopsis

''Hippies'' is set in 1969 during the '

Swinging Sixties The Swinging Sixties was a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism, with Swinging London as its centre. It saw a flourishing in art, mus ...

' and follows the misadventures of Ray Purbbs (Pegg), who is the editor of a counterculture magazine called ''Mouth'' (a parody of '' Oz'' and ''

International Times ''International Times'' (''it'' or ''IT'') is the name of various underground newspapers, with the original title founded in London in 1966 and running until October 1973. Editors included John "Hoppy" Hopkins, David Mair ...

''), which he produces in his flat in Notting Hill Gate. He is aided by Alex Picton-Dinch (Rhind-Tutt), Hugo Yemp (Boyd) and Jill Sprint (Phillips). Ray is constantly pining for Sprint to no avail. The series delves into late 1960s culture and involves the characters in various socially awkward situations in this setting.

Episodes

Critical reaction

The series was Mathews and Linehan's immediate follow up to the hugely popular and highly successful '' Father Ted''. As such it received a significant amount of pre-release hype which viewers felt let down by after watching the first few episodes, as it did not meet their expectations. In general it was badly received by critics but has gained a

cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

. A second series was commissioned, but was never made after Mathews was put off by the negative critical reaction. ''Hippies'' has never been repeated on any terrestrial BBC channels, although it has been repeated on Paramount Comedy 2, the now defunct Play UK, and Gold. BBC America aired the series in the United States in 2000. The series was released on Region 0 DVD in the UK in March 2008.

External links

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BBC comedy guide entry

1999 British television series debuts 1999 British television series endings 1990s British sitcoms BBC television sitcoms 1990s British satirical television series English-language television shows Television series created by Graham Linehan Television series by Fremantle (company) Television shows set in London Television series set in 1969 {{BBC-tv-prog-stub