''Life of Riley'' is a British comedy television series, shown on

BBC One 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, p ...

and

BBC HD BBC HD was a 24-hour high-definition television channel provided by the BBC. The service was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007 before its discontinuation on 26 March 2013. It broadcast ...

. The show stars

Caroline Quentin Caroline Quentin (born Caroline Jones; 11 July 1960) is an English actress, broadcaster and television presenter. Quentin became known for her television appearances: portraying Dorothy in ''Men Behaving Badly'' (1992–1998), Maddie Magellan in ...

and

Neil Dudgeon Neil is a masculine name of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. A ...

as a recently married couple, and is set around their

dysfunctional family A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often child neglect or abuse and sometimes even all of the above on the part of individual parents occur continuously and regularly, leading other members to accommodate suc ...

. The show also features the couple's four children, Danny (Taylor Fawcett), Katy (

Lucinda Dryzek Lucinda Dryzek (born 4 August 1991) is an English actress of Polish descent, known for playing Katy Riley in the BBC sitcom '' Life of Riley'' and Jasmine Burrows in BBC medical drama ''Holby City''. Career She started acting at the age of eig ...

), Ted (Patrick Nolan), and Rosie (Ava and Neve Lamb). After three series the show was cancelled. It is not to be confused with ''

The Life of Riley ''The Life of Riley'' is an American radio situation comedy series of the 1940s that was adapted into a 1949 feature film, a 1950s television series, and a 1958 comic book. Radio The radio program initially aired on the Blue Network (later kn ...

'', a 1940s–1950s radio show, or with a 1950s American television series which starred

William Bendix William Bendix (January 14, 1906 – December 14, 1964) was an American film, radio, and television actor, who typically played rough, blue-collar characters. He is best remembered for his role in ''Wake Island'', which earned him an Academy ...

as Chester A. Riley.

Airing

The first episode aired on 8 January 2009, and was shown on Thursdays at 8:00pm on BBC One. Each episode of ''Life of Riley'' also aired in high-definition on

. Series 2 was shown on Wednesdays at 7:30pm from 17 March 2010. Series 3 was shown on Wednesdays at 8:30pm from 13 April 2011.

Development

The six episode series was commissioned by Lucy Lumsden, BBC Controller, Comedy Commissioning. The show was produced by Catherine Bailey Productions Limited for BBC Scotland, and distributed by Outright Distribution Ltd. The show was written by Georgia Pritchett, and filmed at

Pacific Quay Studios BBC Pacific Quay is BBC Scotland's television and radio studio complex at Pacific Quay, Glasgow, Scotland. Opened by then Prime Minister Gordon Brown on 20 September 2007, the studios are home to BBC Scotland's television, radio and online se ...

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 ...

, Scotland and on location (for example at Joppa, North-East of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

). Also briefly filmed on 75 Park Avenue South. The theme music is a cover version of

The Lightning Seeds The Lightning Seeds (also known as Lightning Seeds) are an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1989 by Ian Broudie (vocals, guitar, producer), formerly of the bands Big in Japan, Care, and Original Mirrors. Originally a studio-based so ...

' song, "

Plot

Jim (Dudgeon) and Maddy Riley are newly-weds. Jim has two children from a previous relationship – teenagers Katy and Danny – whilst Maddy also has a child of her own – Ted – from her previous marriage; baby Rosie is the child of Jim and Maddy. The couple often try to compete with their next-door neighbours, the Weavers, who are the other principal characters in the series. Series 1 was released on DVD on 29 March 2010. Series 2 was released on DVD on 18 April 2011 along with the transmission of the new series. Series 3 was released on DVD in late 2011.

Cast

as Maddy Riley *

as Jim Riley *

Heather Craney Heather Craney (born 1971) is an English actress, known for portraying Joyce Drake in ''Vera Drake'', Alison Weaver in '' Life of Riley'' and Emily Holroyd in ''Torchwood''. Background Craney was born in Stapleford, Cambridgeshire. Her family ...

as Alison Weaver *

as Katy Riley * Taylor Fawcett as Danny Riley * Patrick Nolan as Ted Jackson * Ava and Neve Lamb as Rosie Riley * Richard Linnell as Anthony Weaver (Series 3) * John Bell as Anthony Weaver * Jordan Clarke as Adam Weaver *

Marcia Warren Marcia Warren (born 26 November 1942) is an English stage, film and television actress. On stage, she appeared in '' Blithe Spirit'' as Madame Arcati and '' The Sea'' (2008) at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. She is currently appearing in Netflix' ...

as Maddy's Mum, Margaret *

Richard Lumsden Richard James Lumsden (born 24 June 1965) is an English actor, writer, composer and musician. He has made regular appearances on TV and film throughout his career. Notable series include Channel 4's Emmy-award winning ''Sugar Rush'', ''Is it L ...

as Roger Weaver *

Jessica Gunning Jessica Gunning is an English television and theatre actress. She was educated at Holmfirth High School near Huddersfield before attending Rose Bruford College, graduating in 2007.

as Babysitter

Characters

Critical reception

Reviews for the first series were almost universally negative. '' The Herald'' described it as "a palpable flop" and "unfunny in any age". ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' noted that it was "another half-hour firmly on Planet Sitcom: that strange world where people behave not like anybody in real life, but merely like people in other sitcoms". '' The Daily Record'' called it a "lazy insult of a comedy". ''

The Northern Echo ''The Northern Echo'' is a regional daily morning newspaper based in the town of Darlington in North East England, serving mainly southern County Durham and northern Yorkshire. The paper covers national as well as regional news. In 2007, its t ...

'' observed that "there was something missing for a comedy – jokes"; ''

The Daily Mirror ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' comments that there are "some witty moments but these are drowned out by more regular unfunny happenings, so unimaginative and staid it's embarrassing". ''

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 ...

'' headlined its review of the opening episode by calling it "a marital comedy divorced from wit". Most vehemently '' The Sunday Mail'' called the show "about as funny as inflamed piles". The second series of the show was well received by audiences, with viewing figures reaching nearly 6 million, a much higher proportion of the viewing public than the BBC usually receives in this time slot. However, it again received regular negative reviews from critics. '' The Herald'' declared that 'it lacked any of the basic ingredients of good sitcom'. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' described the show as a "tired effort" ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'' reviewed it by noting that it "feels like a parody, this time of the kind of bland, mechanical, family sitcom they supposedly don't make anymore". The final series garnered still more negative press comment. '' The Metro'' said that the programme was "like a cereal advert that has been spun out into a full-length TV comedy", and that its inoffensive nature felt like being "smothered by cushion

Series overview

Episodes

Series 1 (2009)

''Life of Rileys first series comprises six episodes, each of which are thirty minutes long.

Series 2 (2010)

In May 2009, it was confirmed that the ''Life of Riley'' would have a second series. It began airing on 17 March 2010.

Series 3 (2011)

A third series had been in production from October 2010; it began airing on 13 April 2011.

Ratings

International broadcast

The series is currently airing on

RTÉ One RTÉ One ( ga, RTÉ a hAon) is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís � ...

on Sundays in an early morning time slot.

References

External links

* * *
Review, ''Leicester Mercury''Neil Dudgeon website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Life Of Riley (Tv Series) 2000s British sitcoms 2010s British sitcoms 2009 British television series debuts 2011 British television series endings BBC Scotland television shows BBC television sitcoms Television shows set in London 2000s Scottish television series 2010s Scottish television series Films shot in Edinburgh