''The Creatives'' is a British

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

created by

Jack Docherty John Docherty (born 1962) is a Scottish writer, actor, presenter and producer. Career He first performed at the 1980 Edinburgh Festival Fringe with the comedy sketch group The Bodgers which he formed with George Watson's College schoolfriend ...

and

Moray Hunter Moray Hunter (born 6 October 1957, Hawick, Scotland) is a Scotland, Scottish comedian, writer and performer. He starred in the Channel 4 sketch show, ''Absolutely (TV series), Absolutely''. Alongside Jack Docherty he played one half of the ecce ...

which ran for two series between 2 October 1998 and 16 February 2000 on

BBC Two 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 ...

. The series starring

Roger Allam Roger William Allam (born 26 October 1953) is a British actor, who has performed on stage, in film, on television and radio. He played Inspector Javert in the original London production of the stage musical ''Les Misérables'', First Officer D ...

, Jack Docherty, Moray Hunter,

Pippa Guard Philippa Ann Guard (born 13 October 1952) is a British actress. Biography Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Guard briefly attended the University of Montreal in Canada, first studying English and drama and then nursing, before returning to Britai ...

Aislín McGuckin Aislín McGuckin (born May 1974) is a Northern Irish actress. She has appeared in theatre, television, and film roles. Her early film work includes ''The Nephew'' and ''The White Countess''. From 2014 to 2015, she starred as Letitia MacKenzie ...

Arabella Weir Arabella Weir (born 6 December 1957) is a Scottish comedian, actress and writer. She played roles in the comedy series ''The Fast Show'' and ''Posh Nosh'', and has written several books, including ''Does My Bum Look Big in This?'' Weir has also ...

and Ricky Callan as the titular people. The Creatives is an advertising agency that has faded from its 1980s heyday. Charlie Baxter is the boss - a one-time whizkid hot shot, now world-weary and seeking solace in liquor and casual sex. The agency's principal creative brains are Ben and Robbie. Robbie is going out with the firm's advertising producer Lauren, and Ben is married to the emotional and insanely jealous Tanya, an Italian who is a secretary at the firm. Max is their film director and Rhona the new assistant - she's a sparky lass who has no qualms about telling her colleagues they're a bunch of has-beens. The first series followed the ups and downs of the crew as they pitched for and lost various campaigns. The second was considerably different, though, being edgier, darker and more challenging. The agency is thriving once again but Ben is having serious marital problems (we do not see Tanya), Robbie and Lauren seem to have parted, and Rhona has left for pastures new. Episodes revolved more around the private relationships and the concerns of Ben and Robbie than their professional lives, which the writers felt was closer to their original vision. Co-writer and co-star Moray Hunter looked very different, too, having shed four stones since the first series.

Cast

– Charlie Baxter *

– Ben Gray *

– Robbie Fraser *

– Lauren Marshall * Ricky Callan – Alan * Robert Marley – Max *

– Rhona Platt (series 1) *

– Tanya Gray (series 1) *

Fiona Bell Fiona Bell is a British actress, known for her role as Sergeant Angela McLeod in the ITV drama series ''Soldier Soldier'' (1997-1998), as Donna Killick in the BBC One crime drama series ''Shetland'' (2018) and as Hilary in the '' BBC One'' dra ...

– Joanna (series 2) * Stuart McGuigan – Cameron (series 2)

Episodes

Series overview

Series 1 (1998)

Series 2 (2000)

References

External links

*
''The Creatives''
at the Phill.co.uk Comedy Guide * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Creatives, The 1998 British television series debuts 2000 British television series endings 1990s British sitcoms 2000s British sitcoms BBC television sitcoms British comedy television shows English-language television shows Television series set in the 1980s Television shows set in London