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''How Not to Live Your Life'' (styled in the opening credits as "how NOT to live your life") is a
British sitcom A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television. Most British sitcoms are recorded on studio sets, while some have an element of location filming. A handful are made almost exclusively on location ...
, written by and starring
Dan Clark Daniel Gregory Clark (born 3 July 1976) is an English actor, comedian, writer, director, and singer. He is best known for playing Don Danbury on the BBC Three sitcom ''How Not to Live Your Life'', which he also wrote, co-produced, and sometimes ...
that aired between 27 September 2007 and 22 December 2011 on
BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...
, about a pessimistic twenty-nine-year-old man who is trying to navigate his way through life but is not helped by his bad instincts. After a
pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
, the show debuted in 2008 with moderate ratings but grew over the course of the three series, doubling its ratings each series because of its
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. ...
. The third series got viewing figures of 1.5 million across the week and was the second most watched show on
BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services del ...
. When BBC Three controller Danny Cohen left the channel, new controller
Zai Bennett Zai Bennett (born 1974) is a television executive. He is the director of Sky Atlantic and former controller of BBC Three.
cancelled several comedies, including ''How Not to Live Your Life''.


Background

In 2006, Clark was commissioned to write two short comedies for
Paramount Comedy 1 Comedy Central is a British pay television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated. This channel is specific to audiences within the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is aligned with the original US versi ...
– ''Dan Clark's Guide to Dating'' and ''Dan Clark's Guide to Working''. Clark was the main character in both shows, and
Isabel Fay Isabel Fay is a British children's screenwriter, formerly a comedy writer and performer. Early life and education Fay was born in Bath in 1979 and graduated from Royal Holloway University of London in 2001 with a 2:1 BA (Hons) Bachelor ...
appeared in ''Dan Clark's Guide to Dating'', which was shown as ten one-minute clips on the channel, with lists of ten things people shouldn't do on a
date Date or dates may refer to: *Date (fruit), the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') Social activity *Dating, a form of courtship involving social activity, with the aim of assessing a potential partner ** Group dating *Play date, a ...
, such as "Ten things you shouldn't wear on a date". The clips began to appear on the
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
and the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
approached him about doing a 30-minute show in the same format. The result was the pilot for ''How Not to Live Your Life'', using the same style of short clips within a traditional sitcom. The pilot was filmed in a real house in London and first aired on
BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...
on 27 September 2007. The pilot featured a number of actors who did not appear as regular characters in the series –
Sally Bretton Sally Davis (born 1975/1976), known professionally as Sally Bretton, is a British actress. She is best known for appearing as Lucy Adams in the long-running BBC television sitcom '' Not Going Out'' since 2007, and as Martha Lloyd in the BBC1 cri ...
,
Rich Fulcher Richard Fulcher (born November 18, 1968) is an American comedian, actor and author. He played Bob Fossil and other characters in the British comedy series ''The Mighty Boosh'', and Edward Sheath in the American series '' Jon Benjamin Has a Van'' ...
,
Claire Keelan Claire Keelan (born 8 May 1975) is an English actress. She played Claire Ashcroft in ''Nathan Barley'' and Electroclash in '' No Heroics''. Background Keelan is a former member of the Royal Court Young People's Theatre.Bruce Mackinnon Bruce MacKinnon (born 1961) is a Canadian editorial cartoonist for ''The Chronicle Herald'' in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is the recipient of several awards of excellence for his work. Biography MacKinnon was born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, wher ...
. Although,
Isabel Fay Isabel Fay is a British children's screenwriter, formerly a comedy writer and performer. Early life and education Fay was born in Bath in 1979 and graduated from Royal Holloway University of London in 2001 with a 2:1 BA (Hons) Bachelor ...
who also appeared in the pilot was in the final episode of the first series, "The Break Up", as Fiona. The BBC then commissioned a full series, which was filmed in a studio in
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
. Clark wrote each episode and directed four episodes. The first series started broadcasting on
BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...
on 12 August 2008 with the first episode, "Home Sweet Home", which introduces the four main characters of Don, Abby, Karl and Eddie. BBC Three showed the first series on Tuesday evenings at 10:30pm. The series often features the character of Don giving a
narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller (ge ...
and talking to the camera, as well as cut away
dream sequence A dream sequence is a technique used in storytelling, particularly in television and film, to set apart a brief interlude from the main story. The interlude may consist of a flashback, a flashforward, a fantasy, a vision, a dream, or some other ...
s where he gives alternative scenarios such as put downs or physical moves he wished he had thought about at the time. For instance, in episode four of series one, "The Young Ones", these include, "Eight Ways Don Shouldn't Dance", "Alternative ways to deal with annoying teenagers" and "What Don wished he had said to his flatmate, Abby, while she was necking with her annoying and square boyfriend Kockface on the sofa".


Plot


Series 1

Don is a pessimistic, single twenty-nine-year-old, failing to navigate his way through the very basics of life. His biggest enemy is his overactive mind, which plays out countless scenes of things he shouldn't do or say. When he moves into a house left to him by his recently deceased grandmother, he meets Eddie, her enthusiastic carer who doesn't want to leave. Don soon realises there are advantages to letting him stay. To help pay off the huge back payments on the house, Don decides to get a lodger. He ends up choosing Abby, the girl he was in love with as a teenager and whom he still fancies. However, Abby isn't single. She has a boyfriend Karl, who Don refers to as 'Kockface'.


Series 2

In Autumn 2008, BBC Three commissioned a second series of ''How Not to Live Your Life'', which was filmed in the Spring of 2009. It started on 15 September 2009. The plotline is somewhat different from the first series. Abby and Karl did not feature in this series, and Mrs. Treacher (Don's neighbor) has become a main character as well as having more lustful humour towards Don, along with a new character named Samantha. The series featured
Julian Barratt Julian Barratt Pettifer (born 4 May 1968) is an English comedian, actor and musician. As a comedian and comic actor, he is known for his use of surreal humour and black comedy. During the 2000s he was part of The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe along ...
as a minor character, Jackson.


Series 3

On 2 November 2009, BBC Three recommissioned the show for a third series. This was confirmed by Dan Clark on both his
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
and
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page, and on 29 September 2010, Dan Clark posted on his official Twitter page that the third series was scheduled to be aired in the beginning of November. On 21 October 2010, Brown Eyed Boy Productions issued a press release on their website stating that series three would begin with a double-bill of Episodes 1 and 2 on 8 November 2010 at 22:30 on BBC Three. Laura Haddock returned to play Samantha. Other actors included
Noel Fielding Noel Fielding (; (born 21 May 1973) is an English actor and comedian. He is best known for his work with The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe alongside Julian Barratt in the 2000s, and more recently as a co-presenter of ''The Great British Bake Off'' ...
as Marcus and
Rupert Vansittart Rupert Nicholas Vansittart (born 10 February 1958) is an English character actor. He has appeared in a variety of roles in film, television, stage and radio, often playing comic characters. He is best known for his role as Lord Ashfordly in the ...
as a "Posh girl's father".BBC – BBC Three – Blog: How Not To Live Your Life: Filming Diary part 2
/ref>


Christmas Special: It's a Don-derful Life

On 27 May 2011 it was revealed by BBC Three's Controller Zai Bennett that the show would return for a Christmas Special, however he also revealed that this would be the last as the show had been axed. The Christmas Special was aired on BBC Three at 9pm on 22 December 2011. Several months after Series 3, there have been some changes in Don's life. The art gallery has closed and he is working in a shoe shop while Jason is managing an upmarket supermarket. Still coping with his romantic feelings for Samantha, Don receives a letter from his solicitors informing him that he may sell the house if he so wishes. He decides to sell it to a property developer for a large sum of money who plans to demolish it. As Mrs Treacher is becoming increasingly difficult to look after, Don and Eddie decide to put her in a nursing home, a decision that is made unavoidable by Don selling the house. After a lot of awkward situations, and Samantha believing that Don and Abby are a couple after Abby returns to the house, Don finally tells Samantha how he feels and the two become an item. Also, Don decides against selling the house and things return to normal. A "5 Things That Happened Next" segment reveals the futures of the main characters. Don and Samantha married on New Year's Day 2012 and eventually had nine children, all of them male. Eddie fled the country after the Police discovered he was a serial killer who grooms men for three years before killing them with kitchen utensils. Mrs Treacher became a popular session drummer under the name "D-Tree". Don published his memoirs entitled ''How Not To Live Your Life''. They were later made into a
BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
sitcom starring James Corden.


Cancellation

Dan Clark has been heard saying to fans after his recent live shows that they are unsure as to whether there will be a fourth series. On 27 May 2011 it was revealed by BBC Three's Controller Zai Bennett, that the show had been cancelled along with fellow BBC Three Comedies ''Coming of Age'' and ''
Lunch Monkeys ''Lunch Monkeys'' is a British situation comedy, first shown on BBC Three in 2008. Overview ''Lunch Monkeys'' by David Isaac is a BBC Three comedy series, produced by Channel X North, set in the administration department of fictional personal i ...
''. He explained that "They were good to the channel, but have had their time,". According to that statement the Christmas Special of How Not to Live Your Life was the final episode.


Characters

* Donald "Don" Danbury (
Dan Clark Daniel Gregory Clark (born 3 July 1976) is an English actor, comedian, writer, director, and singer. He is best known for playing Don Danbury on the BBC Three sitcom ''How Not to Live Your Life'', which he also wrote, co-produced, and sometimes ...
) – (2007–2011) – Don is the
protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
. Often acting in a socially awkward and diva-style manner. He inherited the house, in which the story centres, after his grandmother died. Don has been shown to have a crush on Abby, though he eventually falls in love with Sam. Sam and Don marry at the end of the series. * Samantha Parker (
Laura Haddock Laura Jane Haddock (born 21 August 1985) is an English actress. She is known for portraying Zoë Walker in ''White Lines (TV series), White Lines'', Kacie Carter in ''Honest (TV series), Honest'', Lucrezia in ''Da Vinci's Demons'', Meredith Quil ...
) – (2009–2011) – Don's new lodger in the second series and is regularly unimpressed with Don's selfish behaviour. She is a student at university and also has very similar characteristics to Don. She has unsuccessful relationships, likes to drink and previously had a job with which she was not happy. She is much more intelligent than Don and uses this against him on countless occasions; however she admires him for the excitement his life gives her. * Abby Jones (
Sinéad Moynihan Sinéad Bernadette Moynihan (born March 1982 in Salford, Greater Manchester) is an English model and actress, best known for her roles as Ashley Webb in '' Drop Dead Gorgeous'', Beth Clement in ''Hollyoaks'', and Abby Jones in ''How Not to Live ...
) – (2008, 2011) – Abby used to go to the same
secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...
as Don, and stayed with Don in his house after applying for a room to rent, but is away travelling during the second and third series. She is a
primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
teacher. In the first series, she dates Karl; Abby and Karl split up and subsequently got back together in the last episode, before splitting up for good. She is always very patient towards Don's weird behaviour. * Karl Menford (
Finlay Robertson Finlay Robertson (born 2 May 1975) is a British actor. Life and career Robertson was born in the Netherlands to Scottish parents, and grew up in England. He studied History at Cambridge University. Robertson has more than 40 screen credits, ...
) – (2008) – Karl is Abby's boyfriend in series 1. He earns the nickname "Kockface" (with a K, not a C) from Don, and the two show visible signs of hatred towards each other. However, Abby often attempts to get Karl to be more tolerant with Don, and tries to ease hostility between the two. He moves in with Don and Abby at the end of series 1. * Edward "Eddie" Singh (
David Armand David Armand (born David Robert Whitehead in September 1977) is an English comedian, actor and writer who has performed on stage, film, radio and most notably, television, where the shows he has appeared in include '' Fast and Loose'', ''Episo ...
) – (2008–2011) – Eddie was Don's grandmother's carer. After her death, he inexplicably continues to work for Don, caring for him in much the same way he would care for an elderly client - doing housework, preparing meals and even offering Don sponge baths in bed. Throughout many episodes there are continuous gags that joke on the relationship between Eddie and Don mostly making them appear to be a gay couple, such as '
The Odd Couple Odd Couple may refer to: Neil Simon play and its adaptations * ''The Odd Couple'' (play), a 1965 stage play by Neil Simon ** ''The Odd Couple'' (film), a 1968 film based on the play *** ''The Odd Couple'' (1970 TV series), a 1970–1975 televisi ...
'. His father is a sixteenth
Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...
, which Eddie reveals to Don who was confused about his surname. * Mrs. "Dot" Treacher aka Mrs. T,
Gollum Gollum is a fictional Tolkien's monsters, character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He was introduced in the 1937 Fantasy (genre), fantasy novel ''The Hobbit'', and became important in its sequel, ''The Lord of the Rings''. Gol ...
,
Yoda Yoda () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' universe, first appearing in the 1980 film ''The Empire Strikes Back''. He is a small, green humanoid alien who is powerful with the Force and is a leading member of the Jedi Order until ...
or
Dobby Rhyan Clapham, known by his stage name Dobby (stylised as DOBBY), is a Filipino-Aboriginal Australian musician. He describes himself as a "drapper", a contraction of rapper and drummer, although he also plays other instruments and is also a compo ...
(
Leila Hoffman Leila Hoffman (née Rothstein) (born 11 June 1934 in Hackney) is an English comedian, actress and writer. Personal life Hoffman is the daughter of Esther (née Schaewitch) (1906–1992) and Joseph "Joe" Rothstein, both children of Russian Jews ...
) – (2008–2011) – Don's ill-tempered, elderly next-door neighbour who refers to him as "dickhead". In series 2, Eddie has become her carer following her husband's death. She often tags along to events like Don's Gig in Episode 3. *Jason (Daniel Lawrence Taylor) – (2009–2011) – Don's boss at the art gallery. Jason hates Don, telling him so and also refers to him as an "awful employee." However, Jason later calms down and understands Don, despite a conflict in their relationship when Jason admits he intends to pursue Samantha. However, he later steps aside and it is implied that Jason ends up with Abby. *Brian (
Silas Carson Silas Carson (born 1965) is an English actor, mostly known for playing Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi and Viceroy Nute Gunray in all three of the ''Star Wars'' prequels and providing the voice of the Ood in ''Doctor Who''. Life and career In ''Sta ...
) – (2010) – Sam's professor at university and her new boyfriend in series 3. He is a recurring character only.


International broadcasts and streaming services


Reception

The first series received mixed reviews. The ''British Comedy Guide'' said of the show, "The 2007 pilot of this sitcom was average at best, lacking both focus and reason. We really enjoyed the full series though - the stronger premise (Don living in his deceased gran's house and plotting to dispense of Karl and win-over attractive Abby) and the new character of Eddie (David Armand in his best role yet) made all the difference." However, Deborah Orr in
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
newspaper said in a review of the first episode, "It's a dead cert that ''How Not to Live Your Life'' will attract no prizes at all. A great deal of humour can be squeezed from observing the lives of stupid men. But Don Danbury is no
David Brent David Brent is a fictional character in the BBC television mockumentary ''The Office'', portrayed by the show's co-creator, co-writer and co-director Ricky Gervais. Brent is a white-collar office middle-manager and the principal character of ...
and this new sitcom offers nothing except sound evidence that the BBC has now got more airtime than it can fill. This show is an insult to the intelligence of stupid men everywhere." Harry Venning in
The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those wh ...
said, "Pity poor Sinéad Moynihan. Okay, don't pity her too much, because she's drop dead gorgeous and clearly in demand as an actor. But it must have been galling to get the second lead in sitcom How Not to Live Your Life, only to discover that the full extent of your contribution would be to look pretty and provide a sensible foil to the show's writer/star Dan Clark. Would it have killed Clark to throw the show's only female character the occasional funny line to deliver? This grump notwithstanding, I rather like How Not to Live Your Life. Clark's unorthodox delivery, combined with Don's almost wilful unloveability, takes some getting used to, but this is consistently amusing, frequently hilarious and totally addictive."


Home releases


References


External links

* * *
Time Out featureInterview
on timesonline.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:How Not to Live Your Life 2007 British television series debuts 2011 British television series endings 2000s British sitcoms 2010s British sitcoms BBC high definition shows BBC television sitcoms Casual sex in television English-language television shows