''The Security Men'' is a British

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

comedy pilot, written by BAFTA-award-winning comedian

Caroline Aherne Caroline Mary Aherne (24 December 1963 – 2 July 2016) was an English actress, comedian and writer. She was best known for performing as the acerbic chat show host ''The Mrs Merton Show, Mrs Merton'', in various roles in ''The Fast Show'', and ...

and Jeff Pope, that first broadcast on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

on 12 April 2013. The pilot, written as a precursor to a planned four-part series, follows a group of night security guards working at the fictional Whittington shopping centre in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

, who create an elaborate scheme to hide a robbery that has taken place on their watch. The pilot, which was filmed in 2011, remained shelved whilst writing on a planned four-part series, which promised to "follow the characters home to meet their friends and families", was written. Although the series did not materialise, for reasons undisclosed, the pilot was finally broadcast in 2013 as part of ITV's new "primetime comedy" season. Produced by

ITV Studios ITV Studios is a British multinational television production and distribution company owned by the British television broadcaster ITV plc. It handles production and distribution of programmes broadcast on the ITV network and third-party broadcas ...

, the pilot starred

Brendan O'Carroll Brendan O'Carroll (born 17 September 1955) is an Irish actor, comedian, director, producer and writer. He is best known for portraying foul-mouthed matriarch Agnes Brown on stage and in the BBC and RTÉ television sitcom ''Mrs. Brown's Boys''. ...

Bobby Ball Robert Harper (28 January 1944 – 28 October 2020), known professionally as Bobby Ball, was a British comic, actor, singer and television host. He was best known as a member of the comic double act Cannon and Ball, with Tommy Cannon (Thomas ...

Dean Andrews Dean Andrews (born 6 August 1963) is an English actor. He is known for his role as DS Ray Carling in the BBC drama series ''Life on Mars''. He continued the role in the sequel series, '' Ashes to Ashes'', until 2010. As of April 2019, he ha ...

and Peter Wight as "security men" Jimmy, Duckers, Ray and Kenneth. Archie Kelly and

Paddy McGuinness Patrick Joseph McGuinness (born 14 August 1973) is an English actor, comedian and television presenter. He rose to fame with the help of Peter Kay, who invited him to appear in his programmes ''That Peter Kay Thing'', ''Phoenix Nights'' and ''Ma ...

also starred as police constables Clarke and Greaves. The pilot received an advance broadcast in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, being shown on 5 April 2011 prior to the broadcast of a new documentary series on

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

following the lives of real life "security men". The pilot was critically panned, with ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' stating that it was "unfunny" and "full of rancid sexism."

Cast

as Jimmy *

as Duckers *

as Ray * Peter Wight as Kenneth *

as PC Clarke * Archie Kelly as PC Greaves * Ben-Ryan Davies as Rhys * Denice Hope as Eunice *

John Rawling John Rawling is a British boxing, track and field, darts and yachting commentator, currently working for BT Sport, ITV and Talksport. He has become known as one of the best known voices of boxing commentary. With BT, John commentates alongside ...

as the Boxing Commentator

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Security Men 2013 television films 2013 films Films directed by David Drury ITV television dramas Television series by ITV Studios