''How To Start Your Own Country'' is a British six-part documentary comedy series aired between August and September 2005. The show was presented by British comedian Danny Wallace and followed his quest to start his own country in his flat in

Bow, London Bow () is an area of East London within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is primarily a built-up and mostly residential area and is east of Charing Cross. It was in the traditional county of Middlesex but became part of the County of ...

. The

micronation A micronation is a political entity whose members claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by world governments or major international organizations. Micronations are classified se ...

he created was eventually named “Kingdom of Lovely”. The series was released on DVD in the UK on 18 June 2007.

Episodes

“Birth of a Nation”

Danny investigates

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

for his new country, starting by visiting

Sealand SeaLand, a division of the Maersk Group, is an American intra-regional container shipping company headquartered in Miramar, Florida with representation in 29 countries across the Americas. The company offers ocean and intermodal services using ...

. He also meets

Erwin Strauss Erwin S. Strauss is an American author, science fiction fan, noted member of the MITSFS, and filk musician, born in Washington, D.C. He frequently is known by the nickname "Filthy Pierre". Science fiction and writing Strauss has been chairman o ...

and

Dennis Hope Extraterrestrial real estate refers to claims of land ownership on other planets, natural satellites, or parts of space by certain organizations or individuals. Previous claims are not recognized by any authority, and have no legal standing. Never ...

, a man who claims to own the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

. He "invades"

Eel Pie Island Eel Pie Island is an island in the River Thames at Twickenham in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is on the maintained minimum head of water above the only lock on the Tideway and is accessible by boat or from the left (generall ...

but leaves after the

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

are called. He makes friends with a

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. He eventually decides upon the area of his flat as the territory and makes a

declaration of independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...

, which he gives to

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

“Citizens Required”

With the help of an

advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...

, Wallace chooses a design for the

flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...

of his country. He records a

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

, which is played during his interview on

Iain Lee Iain Lee (born Iain Lee Rougvie; 9 June 1973) is an English broadcaster, writer, and former television presenter and stand-up comedian who hosts the phone-in talk show '' The Late Night Alternative'' on "pay to view" Patreon. Lee's career began ...

LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadcast ...

show.

“For King and Country”

Danny Wallace meets the SAS (

Second Amendment Sisters Second Amendment Sisters, Inc. (SAS) was a United States women's gun rights advocacy group that supported gun use for self defense and empowerment. According to a 2003 ''Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times ...

) and meets the King of Fusa. He also goes to the

Principality of Seborga The Principality of Seborga ( it, Principato di Seborga) is an unrecognised micronation that claims a area located in the northwestern Italy, Italian Province of Imperia in Liguria, near the France, French border, and about from Monaco. The pr ...

"State of a Nation”

Wallace visits two very different '

utopian A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', describing a fictional island society ...

' communities, the planned town of Celebration which maintains its pleasantness through strict rules and regulations, and the

anarchic Anarchy is a society without a government. It may also refer to a society or group of people that entirely rejects a set hierarchy. ''Anarchy'' was first used in English in 1539, meaning "an absence of government". Pierre-Joseph Proudhon adopted ...

self-governing neighborhood of Christiania. He also speaks to a Catholic

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

about the role of religion in society and Sheriff

Joe Arpaio Joseph Michael Arpaio (; born June 14, 1932) is an American former law enforcement officer and politician. He served as the 36th Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona for 24 years, from 1993 to 2017, losing reelection to Democrat Paul Penzone i ...

about law and order. A sombre visit to

death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting Capital punishment, execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of ...

and an interview with the death row chief, John George leads him to decide against the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

in his country.

"The Bank of Danny”

When he struggles to pay his

electricity bill Electricity pricing (also referred to as electricity tariffs or the price of electricity) can vary widely by country or by locality within a country. Electricity prices are dependent on many factors, such as the price of power generation, gover ...

, Wallace begins to kick-start his country's economy. He investigates the

National Debt A country's gross government debt (also called public debt, or sovereign debt) is the financial liabilities of the government sector. Changes in government debt over time reflect primarily borrowing due to past government deficits. A deficit oc ...

, with advice from former

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...

Kenneth Clarke Kenneth Harry Clarke, Baron Clarke of Nottingham, (born 2 July 1940), often known as Ken Clarke, is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 1992 to 1993 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1993 to 1997 as well as serving as de ...

. He designs his own currency, the IOU (Interdependent Occupational Unit), which he shows to Andrew Bailey, the Chief Cashier at the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

. He also discovers the Principality of

New Utopia New Utopia, officially the Principality of New Utopia, is a micronation claiming the Misteriosa Bank, an unclaimed undersea rise of land in the Caribbean Sea off the Cayman Islands where it is hoped to build structures raised up from the unde ...

and interviews the UK Pro Consul, Tony Nicodemous. He applies for

international aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Ai ...

, and fails, due to the wealth of his citizens.

“The United Nations”

Wallace attempts to enter the

Eurovision Song Contest 2006 The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Athens, Greece, following the country's victory at the with the song "My Number One" by Helena Paparizou. Organised by the European Broadcasti ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

with a song called “Stop the Muggin', Start the Huggin'”. In an attempt to officially become a country, he travels to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

to try to win the support of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. The lack of territory lets him down. This final episode ends with a gathering of citizens in

Leicester Square Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leicester House, itself named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester ...

, where Wallace reveals that the country is to be called "Lovely.”

''Citizen TV''

A show called ''Citizen TV'', also presented by Danny Wallace, was shown to

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals **Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...

viewers after each episode, giving news and discussions about the country.

Kingdom of Lovely

Wallace named his

the Kingdom of Lovely. Like several other micronations it is a partly

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 ...

-based project that claims a small amount of territory. Wallace proclaimed himself King and, at its peak, 58,165 "citizens" were registered on the micronation's website citizensrequired.com. This site is no longer active. The sole official territory of Lovely was Wallace's flat in Bow, East London, but citizens of Lovely were invited to declare a room, or some other building or land belonging to them, to be an embassy for the country by taking a photograph displaying Lovely's flag there. The show depicted Wallace attempting to acquire various accoutrements of statehood for his fledgling nation. These included: * The country's name. Wallace solicited ideas online and put his two favourites “Home” and “Lovely” to a vote. * A national holiday: "Lovely Day" on 2 September, celebrating the nation's naming. * A flag featuring a blue stripe and a red stripe at erratic angles on a white background. * A pixelated coat of arms to reflect the Internet-based nature of the micronation * A Latin

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...

: ''Die Dulci freure'' (''sic'' – the correct Latin is ''fruere''), meaning “Have a nice day”. * A national anthem performed by

Banks & Wag Banks & Wag are composers based in London. Chris Banks and Wag Marshall-Page studied Commercial Music together at the University of Westminster (1996-1999). After graduation, Chris studied Composition For Screen at the Royal College of Music (1 ...

. When the owners of a private island in Ireland rejected Lovely's currency (The "Interdependent Occupational Unit (IOU)”) as a basis for sale, Wallace tried to start his nation by “invading”

in London with the help of his friend Jon Bond, now Lovely's Minister of Defence. Bond was chosen for the role having once worked as a security guard at

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

, making him the closest thing Wallace had to an army. However, the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

were contacted by local people, and Wallace was forced to call off the “invasion”. After speaking to several people including the leaders of

and

, who claims to own the Moon, Wallace declared his flat to be a sovereign nation on 1 January 2005 and he set about populating the micronation and recording the television series. Other notable interviewees included democracy advocate

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is ...

, Sheriff

Maricopa County, Arizona Maricopa County is in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,420,568, making it the state's most populous county, and the fourth-most populous in the United States. It contains about 6 ...

Giorgio Carbone The Principality of Seborga ( it, Principato di Seborga) is an unrecognised micronation that claims a area located in the northwestern Italian Province of Imperia in Liguria, near the French border, and about from Monaco. The principality is c ...

, Prince of Seborga, Major General Andrew Graham and

, author of the guidebook ''How to Start Your Own Country''. During the broadcasting run of ''How to Start Your Own Country'', additional material was broadcast to

digital TV Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative advanc ...

viewers after each episode. This took the style of a national broadcast named ''Citizen TV''. It was presented live by Danny Wallace and featured news, a special guest (usually a member of Wallace's government), and conversations with "citizens" who had called in. An early political change occurred when Wallace fired his first foreign minister live on-air and appointed citizen Kieran Collins in his place. Wallace attempted to submit a song of his own composition, ''Stop The Mugging, Start The Hugging'', as the Lovely entry to the

. The contest's scrutineer,

Svante Stockselius Stig Svante Stockselius (; born 31 December 1955) is a Swedish journalist and television executive. He was the executive supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest from 2004 to 2010 and the Junior Eurovision Song Contest from 2003 to 2010. Early ...

, met with Wallace and was sympathetic to his cause but informed him that Lovely could not enter the Contest as it has no national television or radio station of its own and therefore could not join the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...

(EBU). Wallace then submitted his song to 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. ...

...