''Manchild'' is a British

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

comedy/drama series that ran for two series 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 ...

between February 2002 and April 2003 with seven episodes in Series 1 and eight episodes in Series 2. It was created and written by Nick Fisher.

Premise

The show starred

Ray Burdis Ray Burdis (born 23 August 1958 in London) is an English actor, screenwriter, director and film producer. Biography Burdis started acting at eleven years old when he attended drama school and trained at the Anna Scher Theatre in Islington, Gr ...

(Gary),

Nigel Havers Nigel Allan Havers (born 6 November 1951) is an English actor. His film roles include Lord Andrew Lindsay in the 1981 British film ''Chariots of Fire'', which earned him a BAFTA nomination; as Dr. Rawlins in the 1987 Steven Spielberg war drama ...

(Terry),

Anthony Head Anthony Stewart Head (born 20 February 1954) is an English actor and singer. Primarily a performer in musical theatre, he rose to fame in the UK in the 1980s following his role in the Gold Blend couple television advertisements for Nescafé, ...

(James) and

Don Warrington Don Warrington MBE (born Donald Williams, 23 May 1951) is a Trinidadian-born British actor. He is best known for playing Philip Smith in the ITV sitcom '' Rising Damp'' (1974–78), and Commissioner Selwyn Patterson in the BBC detective ser ...

(Patrick) as four successful fifty-something men dealing with different problems such as marriage and children or life after divorce, aging parents, sexual dysfunction, lost youth, a succession of (younger) girlfriends, and the problems of how to enjoy the wealth and success they worked so hard to achieve.

Reception

Upon the series' late 2002 debut 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 ...

, ''The New York Times'' review stated "Classy and clever as the show is, its sadistic core makes it awfully hard to like", the show is "a dry martini made with toxic acid in place of the vermouth. You may find yourself neither shaken nor stirred", and, in describing one character's self-obsession, "his wife is well rid of this clod. Quickly, you will be, too.".

Releases

The first series was released on DVD and VHS in March 2003.

U.S. version

An American pilot of the series was produced by

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global ...

, starring James Purefoy,

Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film '' Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, ...

John Corbett John Joseph Corbett Jr. (born May 9, 1961) is an American actor and country music singer. On television, he is best known for his roles as Chris Stevens on ''Northern Exposure'' (1990–1995), Aidan Shaw on ''Sex and the City'' (2000–2003), ...

and Paul Hipp.Smith, Kevin (December 2006)
"Kevin Smith is a 'Manchild' "
viewaskew.com. The pilot made significant changes to the characters and premise as it moved the setting from London to Los Angeles.

References

External links

* * *{{IMDb title, id=0496638, title=Manchild (2007 series) 2000s British drama television series 2002 British television series debuts 2003 British television series endings BBC television dramas English-language television shows