Joanie Taylor
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Joan Taylor known as Joanie (née O’Neill) is a fictional character in ''
The Catherine Tate Show ''The Catherine Tate Show'' is a British television sketch comedy written by Catherine Tate and Derren Litten. Tate also stars in all but one of the show's sketches, which feature a wide range of characters. ''The Catherine Tate Show'' airs on B ...
,'' referred to mainly as "Nan". She is one of the main characters of the show and is portrayed by
Catherine Tate Catherine Jane Ford (born 5 December 1969), known professionally as Catherine Tate, is an English actress, comedian and writer. She has won numerous awards for her work on the BBC sketch comedy series ''The Catherine Tate Show'' (2004–2007), ...
. She has since gone on to be the main character of a number of specials. In 2022, she starred as the main character in the movie entitled ''
The Nan Movie ''The Nan Movie'' (originally conceived as ''This Nan's Life'') is a 2022 British comedy film written by Catherine Tate and Brett Goldstein and directed by Josie Rourke (uncredited). The film stars Tate and Mathew Horne. It is based on the telev ...
'', featuring
Matthew Horne Mathew Frazer Horne (born 6 September 1978) is an English actor, comedian, television presenter and narrator. He is best known for appearing on several BBC sketch shows and sitcoms, most notably '' Gavin & Stacey'' (as Gavin Shipman), '' The ...
reprising his role as her on-screen grandson Jamie from the original sketch series.


Character history


''The Catherine Tate Show''

Joanie is most often referred to as "Nan". She is an obnoxious
cockney Cockney is an accent and dialect of English, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by working-class and lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the East End, or b ...
woman in her seventies who frequently swears at and criticises other people. She is often visited by her well-mannered grandson, Jamie (
Mathew Horne Mathew Frazer Horne (born 6 September 1978) is an English actor, comedian, television presenter and narrator. He is best known for appearing on several BBC sketch shows and sitcoms, most notably ''Gavin & Stacey'' (as Gavin Shipman), ''The Ca ...
), whom she refers to when visitors come "' e ain't got a job", even though Jamie is in fact at
university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
. His visits usually start off well enough, with Nan showing how grateful she is that he has come to see her. However, the situation usually takes a turn for the worse after she starts to make unfavourable comments about her neighbours, family, or home help visitors. Nan is mostly very pleasant to visitors, but after they leave, she harshly criticises and rants about them. Sketches in series one show Jamie taking her to a
pound shop A variety store (also five and dime (historic), pound shop, or dollar store) is a retail store that sells general merchandise, such as apparel, automotive parts, dry goods, toys, hardware, home furnishings, and a selection of groceries. It us ...
, which ends with shambolic consequences. Joanie complains to her grandson about her home help visitor, whom she refers to as a "fucking
thief Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...
". She also calls her new great-grandchild ugly. Her
catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...
, delivered at the crucial point of each sketch, is "What a fucking liberty!" In series two, Nan spends less time in her flat. She makes a disastrous visit to the doctor and spends two weeks in hospital. True to form, she does not suffer in silence, complaining about her fellow patients, accusing a nurse of stealing from her and caustically surveying the food menu. While in hospital, her grandson brings his first girlfriend to visit her. Unfortunately, his girlfriend has an abnormally large nose, provoking Nan's insulting behaviour as she becomes fixated with it, even offering her some old
bed sheet A bed sheet is a rectangular piece of cloth used either singly or in a pair as bedding, which is larger in length and width than a mattress, and which is placed immediately above a mattress or bed, but below blankets and other bedding (such as ...
s to use for tissues. Another sketch sees Joanie arrive home from her friend Lena's funeral, where she is very upset, until she realises that the deceased actually owed her £15. She quickly gets over her grief and is overcome with rage, coupled by the fact she had spent another £25 on a wreath, and it is then revealed she had stolen food from the
wake Wake or The Wake may refer to: Culture *Wake (ceremony), a ritual which takes place during some funeral ceremonies *Wakes week, an English holiday tradition * Parish Wake, another name of the Welsh ', the fairs held on the local parish's patron s ...
. In the last episode of Series 2,
Peter Kay Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973) is an English actor, comedy writer and stand-up comedian. He has written, produced and acted in several television and film projects, and has written three books. Born and brought up in Bolton, Kay studied ...
guest stars as one of Nan's friends who thinks Jamie is
gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
and describes it as a disability. In the 2005 Christmas special, a sketch features Nan attending a Christmas party in an old people's care home.
Charlotte Church Charlotte Maria Church (born Charlotte Maria Reed, 21 February 1986) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, actress, television presenter and political activist from Cardiff. Church rose to fame in childhood as a classical singer before branching i ...
makes a guest appearance as herself, where she starts to sing a Christmas song for the guests, which prompts Nan to exclaim, "What a load of ole' shit!" In series three,
Leslie Phillips Leslie Samuel Phillips (20 April 1924 – 7 November 2022) was an English actor, director, producer and author. He achieved prominence in the 1950s, playing smooth, upper-class comic roles utilising his "Ding dong" and "Hello" catchphrases. ...
plays another of Nan's friends, who is himself very much like her, evident when he says "What a fucking liberty" after Nan visits him in hospital and leaves him a present which he did not like, she had also used the phrase after receiving the same gift, which she re-gifted. Dame Sheila Hancock appears as Nan's sister June, who lives in Spain and is equally as foul-mouthed as Nan. They reveal that most of their family were London gangland career criminals and mass murderers, with nicknames such as "Clownface", "Wallopnuts" and "Longsocks". Nan also made a characteristic appearance on ''
The Paul O'Grady Show ''The Paul O'Grady Show'' is a British comedy chat show presented by comedian Paul O'Grady, first shown on 11 October 2004. The programme is a teatime chat show consisting of a mixture of celebrity guests, comic stunts, musical performances, an ...
'', in which she was pleased to discover his show had bought her a new armchair, but soon got annoyed when she learned that they had entered her house without her permission to deliver it, upon which she stormed off the set, exclaiming "Paul O'Grady? What a load of old shit!" Nan has at least one daughter, Diane, who is the mother of Jamie and a granddaughter, Gail, who bore Nan's "ugly" great-grandchild, Francesca. She initially believes the child to have been named Tesco's. The Christmas 2007 special introduced us to Diane herself, played by
Kathy Burke Katherine Lucy Bridget Burke (born 13 June 1964) is an English actress, comedian, writer, producer, and director. She achieved fame with her appearances on sketch shows such as ''French and Saunders'' (1988–1999) and her recurring role as Mag ...
, who was exactly like Nan in that she swore at and criticised people behind their backs. The sketch ends with both of them saying "What a fucking liberty!" together.


Charity sketches

In a sketch made especially for '' Comic Relief 2007'', Nan appears on the game show, ''
Deal or No Deal ''Deal or No Deal'' is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was the Dutch ''Miljoenenjacht (Netherlands), Miljoenenjacht'' (''Hunt/Chase for Millions''). The centerpiece of this f ...
'', hosted by
Noel Edmonds Noel Ernest Edmonds (born 22 December 1948) is an English television presenter, radio DJ, writer, producer, and businessman. Edmonds first became known as a disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg before moving to BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presente ...
. In the sketch, Nan plays a game of ''Deal or No Deal'', in which she uncovers the five highest amounts of money in the first five boxes. As the boxes are opened, she makes an offensive comment about the player opening it, targeting their weight, earrings, and glasses. Being given an offer of £199 by the Banker, Nan accepts the offer happily, having already cheated and looked in her box and found that it only contained £50. Later in 2007, she did a Sport Relief sketch, about the World Cup. In 2010, she appeared on Comic Relief, receiving a cheque for her local community centre. Nan has also appeared in
Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama ''Casualty'', and pr ...
's hospital, because of her
ingrown toenail An ingrown nail, also known as onychocryptosis from el, ὄνυξ () 'nail' and () 'hidden', is a common form of nail disease. It is an often painful condition in which the nail grows so that it cuts into one or both sides of the paronychium ...
, a 2013 Children in Need sketch.


''Nan's Christmas Carol''


''Catherine Tate's Nan''


See also

* List of ''The Catherine Tate Show'' characters and sketches


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Joanne Female characters in television Female characters in film Fictional people from London Fictional bullies The Catherine Tate Show characters Television characters introduced in 2004