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''Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights'' is a
comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
sketch show
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...
created in 2010 by
Frankie Boyle
Francis Martin Patrick Boyle (born 16 August 1972) is a Scottish comedian and writer. He is known for his cynical, surreal, graphic and often controversial sense of humour.
A stand-up comedian since 1995, Boyle first gained widespread recognit ...
, starring Boyle himself alongside Jim Muir,
Tom Stade
Tom Stade is a Canadian comedian who currently lives in Edinburgh, Scotland with his wife Trudy and their two children. Stade was encouraged to move from his hometown of Vancouver to the UK in 2001 by his friend and fellow comedian, Craig Campbell ...
,
Robert Florence
Robert Luke McBrian Florence (born 29 July 1977) is a Scottish presenter, comedian and writer who starred in the BBC comedy sketch show ''Burnistoun''.
Early life
Robert Florence was born on 29 July 1977 and was raised in a working-class famil ...
and
Thaila Zucchi
Thaila Lucia Zucchi (; born 19 January 1981) is a British singer and actress of English and Italian descent. She began her career as a member of the British band allSTARS* before transitioning into acting, appearing in '' Big Brother 8'' in th ...
.
History
In October 2009, Boyle announced online that he would be leaving
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. ...
...
panel show ''
Mock the Week
''Mock the Week'' is a British topical satirical celebrity panel show, created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson. It was produced by Angst Productions for BBC Two, and was broadcast from 5 June 2005 to 4 November 2022. The programme was present ...
'' after seven series to focus on his tour and "some other funny things I'm writing". Later that month, he told ''
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 ...
'' that his new material would include a comedy sketch show for
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
, without censoring any of the
black humour
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...
he had become known for. An appearance on ''
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' is a British chat show presented by Jonathan Ross and broadcast on BBC One between 2001 and 2010. The programme features Ross' take on current topics of conversation, guest interviews (usually three per show) ...
'' followed, when Boyle revealed that the show was originally called ''Deal with This, Retards'', but had to be changed to avoid offence. The show was consequently renamed ''Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights'' (a reference to the
opioid
Opioids are substances that act on opioid receptors to produce morphine-like effects. Medically they are primarily used for pain relief, including anesthesia. Other medical uses include suppression of diarrhea, replacement therapy for opioid us ...
drug ''
Tramadol
Tramadol, sold under the brand name Ultram among others, is an opioid pain medication used to treat moderate to moderately severe pain. When taken by mouth in an immediate-release formulation, the onset of pain relief usually begins within an h ...
'' and the
J. G. Ballard
James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist, short story writer, satirist, and essayist known for provocative works of fiction which explored the relations between human psychology, technology, sex, and mass medi ...
novel ''
Cocaine Nights
''Cocaine Nights'' is a 1996 novel by J. G. Ballard. Like '' Super-Cannes'' that followed it, it deals with the idea of dystopian
A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia ( ...
''), with a broadcast date of November–December 2010.
Content
The show mixed pre-recorded comedy sketches with
stand-up
Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up.
Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...
routines before a
studio audience
A studio audience is an audience present for the recording of all or part of a television program or radio program. The primary purpose of the studio audience is to provide applause and/or laughter to the program's soundtrack (as opposed to canned ...
who were "gleefully abused"
by Boyle.
Critical reception
The show received a mixed critical reception. The first episode, broadcast on 30 November 2010 after an advertising campaign on London buses, attracted a "modest" audience (1.54 million viewers including the time-shifted repeat the same evening). The
free daily newspaper
Free newspapers are distributed free of charge, often in central places in cities and towns, on public transport, with other newspapers, or separately door-to-door. The revenues of such newspapers are based on advertising. They are published at d ...
''
Metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...
'' applauded the first episode's blend of stand-up and sketches, that "cantered gleefully – but never gratuitously - past the boundaries of taste and decency" with "some fantastically acerbic rants about religious people and the mentally ill."
''
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 ...
's'' Rhiannon Harries felt "the best of the sketches were those that satirised the bland inanity of TV culture" but was "less comfortable with the jokes about mental illness" that more or less "conflated religion and autism", concluding that there was "something very brittle about the laughter. The world seems a meaner place after listening to Boyle." The ''
Liverpool Echo
The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liverp ...
'' observed that "in a former life, not so long ago, Boyle was the best thing about ''
Mock the Week
''Mock the Week'' is a British topical satirical celebrity panel show, created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson. It was produced by Angst Productions for BBC Two, and was broadcast from 5 June 2005 to 4 November 2022. The programme was present ...
''" but thought the new series' uncompromising material "was, somehow, over the top and below the belt at the same time," culminating in a parody of ''
Knight Rider
''Knight Rider'' is an American entertainment franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The core of ''Knight Rider'' is its three television series: the original ''Knight Rider'' (1982–1986) and sequel series ''Team Knight Rider'' (1997–1998) ...
'' that was "one of the most tedious and unfunny sketches in the history of tedious and unfunny sketches."
In ''
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 ...
'',
John Crace, noting that the absence of previews was usually PR speak for "We don't think it's much good and we want to avoid it getting a kicking," implied that Boyle's standup sequences were re-hashed from his recent "least exciting" tour. The conclusion that Boyle – known for "heartless sensitivity-baiting and not much else" – has been given "enough rope to hang himself" is difficult to resist. But "there are flashes of the caustic wit that make him great" and "even to those who've heard his jokes before, there are laugh-out-loud moments." Writing in ''
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 ...
'', Aidan Smith said he didn't find any of the jokes very funny and the filmed sketches "showed up Boyle's limitations as a comic actor."
MSN
MSN (meaning Microsoft Network) is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps for Windows and mobile devices, provided by Microsoft and launched on August 24, 1995, alongside the release of Windows 95.
The Microsoft Net ...
's Stuart Bak wondered whether Frankie Boyle was still funny. In sketch form, his material is "neither particularly offensive nor particularly funny, but a bit run-of-the-mill and even, at times, embarrassingly awful" so Boyle should "stick to the stand-up." ''
The British Comedy Guide'' branded the show "disappointing", citing "over-long sketches" and an "almost childish fixation on sex".
On 7 December the second episode (including the time-shifted repeat) reached 1.14 million viewers, down 26% on week one. ''Metro'' withdrew its support, claiming "laughs were thin on the ground" in the second week and that in the third episode "almost without exception, the sketches were wholly unfunny and the in-house audience seemed to be struggling to raise even the smallest of titters." The final episode was broadcast on 29 December and averaged an audience of 575,000.
Controversy
Harvey Price
In December 2010, both
Katie Price
Katrina Amy Alexandra Alexis Price (''née'' Infield; born 22 May 1978) is an English media personality and model. She gained recognition in the late 1990s for her Glamour photography, glamour modelling work and had regular appearances on Pag ...
and
Peter Andre
Peter Andre (born Peter James Andrea, 27 February 1973) is an English-Australian singer and television personality of Australian descent.
Andre gained popularity as a singer, best known for his singles "Mysterious Girl" and " Flava". He is als ...
were said to have been left "absolutely disgusted and sickened" by a joke in the 7 December 2010 broadcast about Price's disabled son, Harvey (then years old). On the show, Boyle said: "Apparently Jordan
atie Priceand Peter Andre are fighting each other over custody of Harvey - well eventually one of them'll lose and have to keep him. I have a theory that Jordan married
a cage fighter cause she needed someone strong enough to stop Harvey from fucking her."
In a response, Katie Price said: "If Mr Boyle had a 10th of his courage and decency he would know that to suggest, let alone think funny, that Harvey may sexually attack me is vile and deeply unfair. To bully this unbelievably brave child is despicable, to broadcast it on television is to show a complete and utter lack of judgment." Peter Andre's representative also responded to the comments made by Boyle and said "We're all disgusted by these comments. Peter is angry and very upset at Harvey being mocked in this way. Children, especially a disabled youngster, should be off-limits." Both have confirmed that they are seeking legal action and have written a complaint to Channel 4 regarding Boyle's jokes with Katie saying "To bully this unbelievably brave child is despicable; to broadcast it is to show a complete and utter lack of judgement. I have asked my lawyers to write to Channel 4." The charity Mencap described Boyle's joke as a "disgusting" attack on a disabled child.
In April 2011
Ofcom
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...
upheld 500 complaints about the incident and censured Boyle and Channel 4 for broadcasting the jokes, which had been personally cleared by Channel 4's Chief Executive
David Abraham, ruling that the material appeared to directly target and mock the mental and physical disabilities of a known eight-year-old child who had not himself chosen to be in the public eye. "As such, Ofcom found that the comments had considerable potential to be highly offensive to the audience."
Racism
In a later episode, Boyle was criticised by some media outlets for using racially offensive terms. A character played by Boyle used the term 'Pakis' during a joke criticising prioritisation of British and western war casualties over others in UK news media.
In July 2011, the Daily Mirror published an article which strongly criticised Boyle, describing him as a 'racist comedian'. In response, he sued the Mirror for libel, and was awarded £54,650 damages after a High Court jury found he had been libelled. Boyle said after the case that he intended to donate the money to charity.
DVD release
The series was released on DVD on 21 November 2011.
The Harvey Price joke from episode two has been cut from the DVD version.
References
External links
*
*
*{{IMDb title, id=1798787, title=Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights
Channel 4 sketch shows
2010s British comedy television series
2010 Scottish television series debuts
2010 Scottish television series endings
Scottish television shows
2010s Scottish television series
English-language television shows
Television series by Banijay
Television controversies in the United Kingdom