Ten Percent (TV Series)
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''Ten Percent'' is a British comedy series based on the French series ''
Call My Agent! ''Call My Agent!'' (french: Dix pour cent, lit=Ten Percent) is a French comedy-drama television series that premiered on France 2 on 14 October 2015. The series depicts talent agents at the fictional agency ASK (''Agence Samuel Kerr'') and thei ...
'' (titled ''Dix pour cent'' in French, which translates as 'ten percent'); both are set in
talent agencies Talent has two principal meanings: * Talent (measurement), an ancient unit of mass and value * Talent (skill), a group of aptitudes useful for some activities; talents may refer to aptitudes themselves or to possessors of those talents Talent may ...
that see turbulence when their founder unexpectedly dies. The London talent agency, Nightingale Hart, has agents Jonathan Nightingale (
Jack Davenport Jack Arthur Davenport (born 1 March 1973) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in the television series '' This Life'' and ''Coupling'', and as James Norrington in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' series. He has also appeared ...
), Rebecca Fox (
Lydia Leonard Lydia Leonard (born 5 December 1981) is a British stage, film and television actress, best known for her roles in the television series '' Bring Up the Bodies'', '' Ten Percent'' and ''The Crown''. Early life and education Leonard was born in ...
), Stella Hart (
Maggie Steed Maggie is a common short form of the name Magdalena, Magnolia, Margaret. Maggie may refer to: People Women * Maggie Adamson, Scottish musician * Maggie Aderin-Pocock (born 1968), British scientist * Maggie Alderson (born 1959), Aust ...
), and Dan Bala (
Prasanna Puwanarajah Prasanna Puwanarajah ( ta, பிரசன்னா புவனராஜா; born 1981) is an English actor, director, writer, and former junior medical doctor. Early life Puwanarajah was born at Ipswich Hospital in Suffolk to Eelam Tamil pare ...
), interact with celebrity clients, featuring many real actors portraying versions of themselves. It was originally released in select markets on Amazon Prime Video on 28 April 2022, also being shown in the United States on
BBC America BBC America is an American basic cable network that is jointly owned by BBC Studios and AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary seri ...
.


Premise

Misha has decided to follow her absent father, Jonathan, and grandfather, Richard, in their
talent agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, and other professionals in various entertainment or sp ...
career, arriving at London agency Nightingale Hart just in time to be spontaneously hired as an assistant when one is fired. Shortly after Misha joins, Richard dies, and Jonathan and another agent, Stella, discover the agency is struggling financially. Jonathan also struggles to keep his family from realising who Misha really is. Meanwhile, agent Rebecca is launching a production branch of the agency and falling for Margaux, the author of the book she's set to adapt, and agent Dan tries to launch the career of their receptionist-turned-actress, Zoe – also while falling for her. Stella sorts through a different personal dilemma and supports old friend and self-sabotaging actor Simon. Misha starts to help Jonathan's son Luke become a screenwriter. They all try to handle their temperamental celebrity clients while holding off the imposition of the American company who bought the agency.


Cast and characters

*
Jack Davenport Jack Arthur Davenport (born 1 March 1973) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in the television series '' This Life'' and ''Coupling'', and as James Norrington in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' series. He has also appeared ...
as Jonathan Nightingale (based on Mathias) :*Jonathan is the son of agency founder Richard, a friendly but authoritative agent. When his wife, Charlotte, was pregnant with their son, Luke, he had an affair at the
Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...
; from this affair he is also the father of Misha. *
Lydia Leonard Lydia Leonard (born 5 December 1981) is a British stage, film and television actress, best known for her roles in the television series '' Bring Up the Bodies'', '' Ten Percent'' and ''The Crown''. Early life and education Leonard was born in ...
as Rebecca Fox (based on Andréa) :*Rebecca is a passionate agent who is emotionally withdrawn in her personal life. She wants the agency to open a
production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...
division and acquires the rights to an autobiographical book written by French journalist Margaux, who she then develops a romantic interest in. *
Maggie Steed Maggie is a common short form of the name Magdalena, Magnolia, Margaret. Maggie may refer to: People Women * Maggie Adamson, Scottish musician * Maggie Aderin-Pocock (born 1968), British scientist * Maggie Alderson (born 1959), Aust ...
as Stella Hart (based on Arlette) :*Stella is a warm but stern agent who has been around since the start and maintains the founding ideals. *
Prasanna Puwanarajah Prasanna Puwanarajah ( ta, பிரசன்னா புவனராஜா; born 1981) is an English actor, director, writer, and former junior medical doctor. Early life Puwanarajah was born at Ipswich Hospital in Suffolk to Eelam Tamil pare ...
as Dan Bala (based on Gabriel) :*Dan is a bumbling agent who takes on receptionist Zoe as a client after seeing her play, as well as dating her, but gets overly jealous. *Hiftu Quasem as Misha Virani (based on Camille) :*Misha is a young Scottish woman who decides to follow her absent father and grandfather's career as a talent agent, being spontaneously hired to their agency. She helps Rebecca and Luke with their career aspirations. *
Fola Evans-Akingbola Fola Evans-Akingbola () is a British actress. She is known for roles such as Maddie Bishop in the Freeform series ''Siren'' and American Secret Service agent Chelsea Arrington in the 2023 Netflix series '' The Night Agent''. Early life and e ...
as Zoe Spencer (based on Sofia) :*Zoe is an aspiring actress and the receptionist of Nightingale Hart, who dates Dan. *Rebecca Humphries as Julia Fincham (based on Noémie) :*Julia is Jonathan's attentive assistant who has had a long crush on him, she is initially cold towards Misha. * Harry Trevaldwyn as Ollie Rogers (based on Hervé) :*Ollie is Dan's capable and fanatical assistant, who develops a quick friendship with Misha and a crush on the new American assistant, Kevin. *Eléonore Arnaud as Margaux Martorana (based on Colette) :*Margaux is a French journalist and war correspondent who sells the film rights to her book to Rebecca, also getting into a tumultuous relationship with her. * Edward Bluemel as Luke Nightingale (based on Hippolyte) :*Luke is an aspiring screenwriter who gives his scripts to Misha to vet for the agency, nervous to approach his father. * Jack Holden as Kevin :*Kevin is the new American assistant, who cannot stop smiling and appeasing his bosses; he gets dumped by his boyfriend after moving to London. *
Natasha Little Natasha Emma Little (born 2 October 1969) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles as Edith Thompson in the film '' Another Life'', Lady Caroline Langbourne in the BBC miniseries ''The Night Manager'', and Christina Moxam in the B ...
as Charlotte Nightingale (based on Catherine) :*Charlotte is Jonathan's wife and Luke's mother, and a dance teacher. She is friendly, and is kind to Misha before and after discovering her husband's affair. *
Tim McInnerny Tim McInnerny ( ; born 18 September 1956) is an English actor. He is known for his many roles on stage and television, including as Lord Percy Percy and Captain Darling in the 1980s British sitcom ''Blackadder''. Early life McInnerny was bor ...
as Simon Gould :*Simon is an old friend of Richard and Stella who has been an unsuccessful actor from the agency's start; though talented, he suffers from self-doubt and alcoholism. * Chelsey Crisp as Kirsten Furst :*Kirsten is an American executive who comes in to oversee the agency, causing cultural conflicts. She has an unhealthy relationship with her American boss, and is a recovering alcoholic. Jim Broadbent played Richard Nightingale, the agency's founder (based on Samuel), who in the series is also the father of Jonathan. Smurf the dog portrays Stella's loyal dog, named Mathias (based on Arlette's dog, Jean Gabin). The characters Simon Gould, played by McInnerny, Kirsten Furst, played by Crisp, and Kevin, played by Holden, are original creations for the British series.


Production

John Morton adapted the French series ''
Call My Agent! ''Call My Agent!'' (french: Dix pour cent, lit=Ten Percent) is a French comedy-drama television series that premiered on France 2 on 14 October 2015. The series depicts talent agents at the fictional agency ASK (''Agence Samuel Kerr'') and thei ...
'' (''Dix pour cent'') for British television, after the success of his original British workplace satires ''
Twenty Twelve ''Twenty Twelve'' is a BBC television comedy series written and directed by John Morton. Starring Hugh Bonneville, Jessica Hynes and Amelia Bullmore, the programme is a spoof on-location mockumentary following the organisation of the 2012 Summ ...
'' and ''
W1A The W (Western and Paddington) postcode area, also known as the London W postcode area is a group of postcode districts covering part of central and part of West London, England. The area originates from the Western (W1) and Paddington (W2-14) ...
'', the latter of which centred on the running of 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. ...
...
and had celebrity cameos. Morton felt there were two directions the adaptation could have gone, portraying the agent-client relationships either cynically or affectionately; he decided he wanted to take the latter route, which also aligned best with the tone of the original series.


Episodes


Release

The series was released in select regions on Amazon Prime Video on 28 April 2022, on SundanceNow and
AMC+ AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...
in the United States on 29 April 2022, and began airing with weekly episodes on
BBC America BBC America is an American basic cable network that is jointly owned by BBC Studios and AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary seri ...
from 1 May 2022.


Reception

The series was received mildly, with critics saying that, based on the first two episodes, it is generally pleasant but is almost a direct copy of the original French series. Rachel Cooke of the ''
New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice ...
'' thought the celebrity cameos were unimpressive, using "cut-price" actors compared to the original, which lessened the impact of the setting, but said she would personally continue watching. Camilla Long for ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' was instead pleased with the cameos, but found its release on subscription streaming platform Amazon off-putting and the series lacking in entertainment value. ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' Scott Bryan, and Rebecca Nicholson of ''
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'' found it enjoyable but too faithful to the original French series to be necessary: Bryan did think the dialogue was particularly good, and Nicholson said that "it also shares some of the original's jaunty spirit and bounce", though felt it was not as funny as it should have been. She suggested that viewers who have not seen the original would enjoy it more, as the direct similarities made it more of a re-watch. Conversely, Sophie Gilbert for ''
The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' found it charming and, though much alike the original, to have a distinctly British sensibility that gave it enough difference to enjoy as a product of its own, adding that its most resonant elements are those Morton created for the series, like Simon and the Americans, with no basis in the French show.
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
's Andrew Trendell agreed, saying it kept the tone of ''Call My Agent!'' and added "a little more heart and piercing
British humour British humour carries a strong element of satire aimed at the absurdity of everyday life. Common themes include sarcasm, tongue-in-cheek, banter, insults, self-deprecation, taboo subjects, puns, innuendo, wit, and the British class syste ...
". Roslyn Sulcas of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' noted that the first episode followed the French series beat-for-beat but, after the set-up, "the show's plotlines gradually begin to differ, and to cater more closely to the specific preoccupations of the British cultural industry".


References


External links

* {{Amazon Video original series 2022 British television series debuts 2020s British comedy-drama television series 2020s British LGBT-related comedy television series 2020s British LGBT-related drama television series Amazon Prime Video original programming British television series based on non-British television series English-language television shows Lesbian-related television shows Television series about actors Television shows filmed in the United Kingdom Television shows set in London