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''Desmond's'' is a British television
sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
broadcast by
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
from 5 January 1989 to 19 December 1994. Conceived and co-written by Trix Worrell, and produced by Charlie Hanson and
Humphrey Barclay Humphrey Barclay BEM (born 24 March 1941) is a British comedy executive and producer. Career Barclay was educated at Harrow School, before reading Classics at Trinity College, Cambridge, where his first foray into show business was via the Am ...
, ''Desmond's'' stars
Norman Beaton Norman Lugard Beaton (31 October 1934 – 13 December 1994) was a Guyana, Guyanese actor long resident in the United Kingdom. He became best known for his role as Desmond Ambrose in the Channel Four television comedy series ''Desmond's''. The wr ...
as
barber A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a barbershop or the barber's. Barbershops have been noted places of social interaction and public discourse ...
Desmond Ambrose, whose shop is a gathering place for an assortment of local characters. The show is set in
Peckham Peckham ( ) is a district in south-east London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon place name meaning the vi ...
, London, and features a predominantly black British Guyanese cast. With 71 episodes, ''Desmond's'' became Channel 4's longest running sitcom in terms of episodes.Paul Jackson
"Desmond's"
''Britain in a Box'', BBC Radio 4, 11 May 2013.


Notability

While the show was not the first black (or predominantly black) British television situation comedy ('' The Fosters'', produced by
London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT; now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00&nbs ...
, aired 1976–77), ''Desmond's'' was the first to be set mainly in the workplace, providing an insight into black family life different from what had been seen before on British television. The characters had aspirations (Desmond to return to
Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...
, Michael to run his own branch of the bank, Gloria to get a job in fashion, Sean to go to university) and were socially mobile. The vast majority of the crew were also black. Worrell wanted to show that prejudice existed not just between broad ethnic groups, but also within them. The show reveals antagonism between recent African immigrants and established Caribbeans based on their differences in aspirations. While Matthew was the frequent butt of jokes from the West Indian characters, particularly Porkpie and Desmond, he also regularly pointed out the strength of African history with his repeated interjection, "There's an old African saying..." In 1989, Channel 4 described ''Desmond's'' as "the most instantly popular home-grown situation comedy in the channel's history," with the series appealing to a broad spectrum of the British public. The series had an average viewership per episode of 3.5 million people. ''Desmond's'' continued to perform well in subsequent years, scoring consistently in the channel's Top 20 programmes. By 1993, ''Desmond's'' was still considered Channel 4's most popular home-grown sitcom. Speaking about his experiences while visiting Jamaica, Norman Beaton said he was "known in virtually every parish" because of his role in ''Desmond's''.


Creation

While Trix Worrell was at the National Film and Television School, he won a writers' competition organised by Channel 4, which led to producer Humphrey Barclay contacting him about writing a comedy. Although apprehensive about the idea of writing a comedy, Worrell agreed to a meeting with Barclay. While on the bus to the meeting, his bus stopped by the barber shop he went to during his childhood. Worrell got the idea to create a comedy set in a barber's shop that servers more as a community centre, which was the idea he pitched to Barclay.


Production

''Desmond's'' was filmed with a multi-camera setup in front of a live studio audience of three hundred people, with the audience's laughter and reactions recorded into the episode audio. To dispel the misconception that the laughter was a dubbed track added in post-production, an audience-participation moment was left in Series 4, Episode 5, "Calypso." In a scene with Desmond writing a song for Shirley with very simple lyrics, the audience shouts out the last word of the verse. Episodes were filmed at the LWT Tower in
Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...
,
Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...
.


Characters

Much of the success of the show came from the dynamics and relationships both within the Ambrose family and with the other characters in the show who spent time in the shop.


The Ambrose family

The Ambroses are the central family around which the show was built. *Desmond Ambrose (
Norman Beaton Norman Lugard Beaton (31 October 1934 – 13 December 1994) was a Guyana, Guyanese actor long resident in the United Kingdom. He became best known for his role as Desmond Ambrose in the Channel Four television comedy series ''Desmond's''. The wr ...
) is the protagonist and owner of the barbershop, which is named after him. Desmond’s relative lack of skill at barbering is a running joke through the series. Desmond dreams of building a house in Guyana and returning there to retire, although Shirley is reluctant to go with him. In his youth in Guyana, he played the trumpet in his band, The Georgetown Dreamers, and was known as "Jazzy D." In the spin-off ''Porkpie'', it was revealed that Desmond had died (as Norman Beaton had died the previous year). *Shirley Ambrose (née Pleshette) ( Carmen Munroe) is Desmond's wife and mother of their three children; she works together with Desmond in the barbershop. Shirley often solves the problems of the other characters. Shirley is the only member of the Ambrose family not to appear in an episode of the spin-off ''Porkpie'' as it is revealed that she has decided to return to Guyana. *Michael Ambrose ( Geff Francis), Desmond and Shirley's elder son, is an assistant bank manager. He later becomes a manager. He was not introduced until the second episode, when Shirley suggested that Desmond go to the bank and get a loan to renovate the shop. He owns half the barbershop. Michael and Desmond have an antagonistic relationship. *Gloria Jeanette Elaine Ambrose ( Kimberly Walker) is the only daughter of Desmond and Shirley. She starts the series as a teenager finishing secondary school, and her arc follows her as she matures, aspiring to become an "independent woman of the '90s". Instead of going to university, she decides to become a fashion writer. She eventually moves out to live with her boyfriend, Alex. *Sean Ambrose ( Justin Pickett) is the youngest child in the Ambrose family. He is experienced with computers and coding. He goes through various phases over his adolescence as he discovers his identity and deals with
puberty Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a female, the testicles i ...
, including a period when he frequently raps and a bad boy phase. He performs
ragga Raggamuffin music (or simply ragga) is a subgenre of dancehall and reggae music. The instrumentals primarily consist of electronic music with heavy use of sampling. Wayne Smith's " Under Mi Sleng Teng", produced by King Jammy in 1985 on a ...
music with his best friend, Spider, but stops when he starts attending university in Series 5.


Other characters

* Augustus Neapolitan Cleveland "Porkpie" Grant ( Ram John Holder) is Desmond's best friend who frequently spends time at the barbershop. He plays the
acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
in The Georgetown Dreamers. His nickname derives from his habit of always wearing a
pork pie hat A pork pie hat is one of several different styles of hat that have been worn since the mid-19th century. The pork pie hat gained further popularity in the 20th century, being worn by famous actors and musicians. This style of hat features a flat ...
. His wife Gwendolyn left him many years earlier after catching him cheating; she took their two children with her. He gets a job as a lollipop man in Series 5. Porkpie has his own
spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...
series, '' Porkpie''. * Matthew Joffor ( Gyearbuor Asante) is a perpetual student from
The Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...
who has spent decades studying at university level in London, earning several degrees. He also spends a significant amount of time at the barbershop; he and Porkpie frequently bicker and insult each other. He regularly asserts the superiority of Africans over West Indians, and often interjects with, "There's an old African saying..." * Louise Dixon ( Lisa Geoghan) is Gloria's best friend in the first four series, and also the first white character to appear in the series. She goes away to university between the fourth and fifth seasons. * Lee Stanley (
Robbie Gee Robbie Gee (born 24 March 1970) is a British actor, best known for his '' Desmond's'' character Lee Stanley, for appearing in Guy Ritchie's crime caper '' Snatch'', and for his comedy roles in TV series like '' The Real McCoy'' and '' The Crou ...
) is the local wide-boy wheeler-dealer, often trying to sell his wares to the regulars in the shop. He habitually flirts with women, and is a boxer under the name of The Peckham Prince. He frequently drives the other characters places. He does not know his mother or father until the fourth series, having grown up in a home for children, but Shirley and Desmond treat him as their son. * Lewis ( Lewis St. Juste) is very often in the background of the barbershop, using the payphone; however, he has very few lines over the course of the series. He first speaks in the third episode of the second series, when Shirley asked him his name. * Amanda "Mandy" Mosgrove ( Matilda Thorpe) is Michael's PA and is obviously infatuated with him, although Michael does not realize until the fifth series, when they start dating. She is the second white character to appear in the series. In episode two of the sixth series, Michael proposes to her. In Series 6, she becomes a becomes a financial director of an art gallery. In the
spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...
series, '' Porkpie'', it is revealed that Mandy married Michael and took the Ambrose surname. * Tony (
Dominic Keating Dominic Keating (né Power; born 1 July 1961) is a British television, film and theatre actor best known for his portrayals of Tony in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Desmond's'' and Lieutenant Malcolm Reed on '' Star Trek: Enterprise''. Early life ...
) is hired by Michael as the part-time hairstylist for Desmond's barbershop to bring in more customers. He is the third white character to appear in the series, and of the white characters, he appears the most frequently. Tony often wears colourful, eccentric outfits and is regarded by the younger characters as "trendy." He leaves between Seasons 5 and 6 to become a hairdresser on a
cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...
. * Doreen Wilma "Susu" Pleshette ( Mona Hammond), usually referred to as Auntie Susu, is Shirley's sister who acts and dresses much younger than her age. She has a number of romantic and sexual dalliances. Prior to her engagement to Porkpie, she was married to (and divorced from) Maxwell, with whom she had several sons. In the fourth series, Susu gets deported to
Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
; in the final series of the spin-off show '' Porkpie'', she returns to England to marry Porkpie. * Neville "Nev" James ( Treva Etienne) is a friend of the Ambrose family who was a police constable; he later becomes a Detective Constable CID. He went to school with Lee and Michael as a child. He only appears in three episodes across the second and third seasons. * Beverley McIntosh ( Joan Ann Maynard) is a good friend of Shirley's, Michael's godmother and the local gossip. She always wears a hat that resembles a
tea cosy A tea cosy or tea warmer is a cover for a teapot,Article of the'' Boston Journal'', 25 November 1879 traditionally made of cloth. It insulates a teapot, keeping the contents warm, with its properties based on low thermal conductivity of the a ...
. Other characters often find her annoying - Desmond is particularly antagonistic towards her. She often speaks about her ailments and the many medications she has to take, as well as having to prepare her husband's Cuthbert's red mullet. The couple has four children: three sons and a daughter, Merlene. * Vince ( Count Prince Miller) becomes a part-time assistant in the barbershop in the final series to replace Tony. He is also the
drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...
for The Georgetown Dreamers. *Burt (
Sol Raye Neville Marshall-Corbin (1936 – 31 March 2006) was a Guyana, Guyanese cabaret singer, composer and recording artist who moved to England in the 1960s and originally studied acting, performing with the English Stage Company. He was born in Chris ...
) plays the
electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...
in The Georgetown Dreamers, along with Desmond, Porkpie, Vince, and, formerly, Sweetsticks. * Andrew "Spider" Webb ( Robert McKewley) is Sean's best friend after Series 3 and has an open crush on Gloria. He plays
ragga Raggamuffin music (or simply ragga) is a subgenre of dancehall and reggae music. The instrumentals primarily consist of electronic music with heavy use of sampling. Wayne Smith's " Under Mi Sleng Teng", produced by King Jammy in 1985 on a ...
music and is an entrepreneur; semi-famous under the name Spider Ranks, he eventually becomes semi-famous as a
dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...
artist, although other characters criticise him for misogynistic and homophobic lyrics. Desmond and Shirley disapprove of him. * Alex Reynolds ( Chris Tummings) is Gloria's boyfriend from Series 4. He is a strict vegetarian and an abstract artist who works in various media. Gloria and Alex move in together towards the end of the series. It is revealed in the first episode of the ''Porkpie'' spin-off series that Alex and Gloria are still together. * Bernie ( Rhashan Stone) is the first friend that Sean made at university on his first day. He is openly gay. * Ronni ( Teohna Williams) is Gloria's best friend in Series 5 and 6. * Ricky Flaxman ( Dean Gatiss) is Tony's replacement in the final season. He gets the job as the new barber's assistant although he is underqualified, having only been a dog groomer, because Desmond owes his father a favour in exchange for supplying an alibi. Ricky moves into Gloria's room after she moved out to live with Alex. Through Season 6, Desmond teaches him about barbering. * Sweetsticks is sometimes mentioned in the show although he never appears on screen. He was a member of The Georgetown Dreamers as their
steelpan The steelpan (also known as a pan or steel drum) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago from Afro–Trinidadians and Tobagonians, Afro-Trinidadians. Steelpan musicians are called pannists. In 1992, the steelpan was declared ...
player and is often cited by Desmond and Porkpie as having been a ladies' man, a liar, and a cheat. He was revealed to be Lee's father.


Episodes

During the course of the series, 71 episodes of ''Desmond's'' aired between 1989 and 1994''.'' Desmond's ran for 6 series. 70 episodes had a runtime of 30 minutes, while the final episode had a runtime of 60 minutes. The last episode, the ''Desmond's Christmas Special'' was already announced as the last ever ''Desmond's'' episodes when Norman Beaton died a few days before the transmission of said episode.


Theme song

The series theme song "Don't Scratch My Soca," performed by Beaton, was used in the opening credits throughout the entire run. A version without the vocals was used in the closing credits. At the beginning of Series 5, the theme received an update which added more percussion. The instrumental was used as the basis for a song by The Georgetown Dreamers, Desmond's old band. The full theme was released on Apple Music on June 21, 2021, and as a limited edition 7" vinyl on October 1, 2021.


Accolades

''Desmond's'' won the
British Comedy Award The National Comedy Awards (known as the British Comedy Awards from 1990 to 2014) is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom, celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year. The British Comedy Awards (1 ...
for Best C4 Sitcom in 1992. In 1994, ''Desmond's'' was nominated for a
BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to f ...
under the category of Comedy Programme or Series. ''Desmond's'' (Humphrey Barclay Productions) won the Team Award at the 1994
Royal Television Society Programme Awards The Royal Television Society Programme Awards, (often referred to as the RTS Awards) seek to recognise programmes or individuals who have made a positive and material contribution to their genre: either because their content or originality in for ...
. Norman Beaton was awarded the
Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...
Best Comedy Performer Award for his role as Desmond Ambrose in 1994. A clip from Series 1, Episode 6, "Sad News" was used in the segment celebrating British film and television in the
2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony The opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on the evening of Friday 27 July 2012 in the Olympic Stadium, London, during which the Games were formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proc ...
.


Legacy

The show had a unique method of team writing that raised the profile of some writers, such as playwright Michael J. Ellis, who later worked on other shows, including the BBC's all-black sketch show '' The Real McCoy'', and Worrell himself, who became a film writer. ''Desmond's'' was featured on the BBC Radio 4 programme ''Britain in a Box'' on 11 May 2013. In 2018, the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
(BFI) partnered with We Are Parable for that year's Comedy Genius season. We Are Parable were commissioned by the BFI to create a barbershop experience to celebrate ''Desmond's'' for a project titled ''The Comedy Cuts Barbershop.'' A pop-up barbershop inspired by ''Desmond's'' was created and toured around various locations in the United Kingdom in 2018 and 2019, including a pre-existing barbershop. The series was screened during these events. In 2019, Channel 4 and Gal-dem collaborated for
Black History Month Black History Month is an annually observed commemorative month originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It began as a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the Af ...
by curating a Black British History collection highlighting the impact of black British content creators on television. ''Desmond's'' was one of the six titles covered in this collection.


Streaming

The full series was published for viewing on All 4 through YouTube. With 71 episodes, it remains Channel 4's longest running sitcom in terms of the number of episodes produced. The complete series was added to Netflix UK between 8 October 2021 to 2 October 2023. In the UK, Desmond's is available for streaming via the Channel 4 website.


Re-runs

* Re-runs aired in the USA on
BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...
in the early 1990s. * The show was shown on NYC Media as part of their
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
programming on Sunday nights in the late 1990s up until 2007. * From 1997 until late 2000, Paramount Comedy re-ran the show. * Trouble, a channel in the UK, began showing re-runs of ''Desmond's'' in September 2007. * On 14 January 2013, The Africa Channel International (which was on
Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...
channel 209 &
Virgin Media Virgin Media Limited is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 ...
channel 828) relaunched ''Desmond's'' on weeknights at 7pm and 11pm. * In November 2015, London Live started airing repeats of the series. * On 21 February 2022, the UK channel
Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
started showing the series. Repeats continued into 2023 and 2024. * The UK channel U&Drama started airing repeats on 31 July 2024.


Home media


Region 2 DVD

Channel 4 DVD has released the first two series on DVD in the UK. Series One was released on 1 October 2007. Series Two was released on 13 April 2008.


Region 1 DVD

Visual Entertainment has begun releasing ''Desmond's'' on DVD in Canada. To date they have released the first four series of the show on DVD. Series 1 and 2 were released on 27 March 2007. Series 3 was released on 3 November 2009. On 2 March 2010, VEI released ''Desmond's- The Collection: Series One to Four'', a seven-disc set featuring all episodes from the first four seasons.


On demand

All six seasons are available to stream in the UK on the Channel 4 service
All 4 Channel 4 (previously 4oD and All 4) is a video on demand service from Channel Four Television Corporation, free of charge for most content and funded by advertising. The service is available in the UK and Ireland; viewers are not required to ...
and through the streaming services Amazon Prime and Netflix.


Follow-up

Following the end of ''Desmond's'' in 1994, a spin-off series was made with Porkpie in the title role. It ran for twelve episodes over two series in 1995 and 1996.


References


External links

* - including free "on demand" video of all episodes, all series. * * * * {{British Comedy Guide, tv, desmonds
Desmond's: A sitcom that changed Britain
BBC's Witness History interviews Trix Worrell. 1989 British television series debuts 1990s British sitcoms 1994 British television series endings 1980s British multi-camera sitcoms 1990s British multi-camera sitcoms Black British sitcoms Black British television shows Channel 4 sitcoms Television shows set in London British English-language television shows Peckham