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- Bedsitcom is a British reality television hoax series that was broadcast on Channel 4 in December 2003. Pitched as "somewhere between a sitcom and a reality TV show", the show documented the lives of six young people living in a loft flat in London. Its hook was that its TV audience was aware that three of the participants—named Mel, Paul and Rufus—were actually actors being directed by a trio of "writers" in a garage on the ground floor. Bedsitcom was commissioned by the Channel Four Television Corporation and produced by Objective Productions. Producers auditioned thousands of people to be the show's genuine subjects and selected from them six young adults to live in the flat with the three actors. These six participants were told that they would be starring in a new reality TV series called Making Friends, and featured on the show three at a time over a period of eight weeks. The programme ran for a single series of eight episodes and featured various storylines, involving dead goldfish, dodgy dealings, promiscuous mothers and telephone psychics. The show received largely negative feedback from television reviewers, who criticised the show's premise as a "deeply offensive" idea. It received a viewership peak of 1.2 million with its final episode, giving it an audience share of 8.9 per cent. Bedsitcom was not recommissioned for a second series and is currently not available either on DVD or on Channel 4's on demand service, 4oD. (en)
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- The word "Bedsitcom" written in a large, black font over a bright landscape of the south bank of the River Thames. The word is being lifted up by puppet strings held by a human hand. There is a red-orange circular glow around the image. (en)
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- Bottom, l-r: Paul, Mel, David, Barrington, Rufus and Jessica. (en)
- The two generations of cast in Bedsitcom. (en)
- Top, l-r: Paul, Rufus, Bob, Shirine, Dave and Mel. (en)
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- Bedsitcomcast1.jpg (en)
- Bedsitcomcast2.jpg (en)
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- (en)
- Kirsty Smith (en)
- Matt Crook (en)
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- "Bedsitcom might have worked as a 90-minute one-off with the unveiling at the end. By spinning out the encounter over almost eight hours, this punningly titled series suggests that a more honest title would have been: Flat." (en)
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- Bob, Dave and Shirine have moved out, and three new unaware members of the public—named Barrington, David and Jessica—move in with the actors. During this episode, the group discover a pair of women's underwear in Rufus's laundry. He confesses to occasionally wearing them and wonders how he can explain this to his girlfriend Jo . Rufus intends to confess his secret to Jo over dinner that evening with everyone else, so Paul suggests to David that the two of them should show solidarity to Rufus by wearing female underwear as well. During the meal, Rufus cannot bring himself to tell his secret, forcing David to do it for him. It also emerges that Paul was too afraid to wear the women's underwear, so David is the only person around the table wearing them. (en)
- Rufus is called in for an interview to assess his continuation of the art history course that he is studying with the Open University. The rest of the flatmates help him to prepare for this interview by teaching him about the life of Leonardo da Vinci—however, all he is able to remember is the year of Leonardo's birth and that he was the son of a peasant woman. Come the day of his interview, Rufus gets a migraine and convinces Bob to take the interview in his place. Partway through the meeting, the interviewer receives a phone call from Rufus's father , who asks to speak with his son. After being handed the telephone, Bob discreetly hangs up on him, fakes a brief conversation, makes his excuses and promptly leaves. (en)
- Barrington, David and Jessica begin to suspect that Rufus may not be all that he seems, so the writers ask him to tell the group that he is the only actor and to leave the show. The writers then begin a new storyline involving Mel fancying Paul . Mel confesses that she thinks Paul is "lovely" and asks David to find out if Paul feels the same way. David asks Paul, who responds that he thinks Mel is a "pig". Barrington, David and Jessica continue to be suspicious of the true nature of the programme, so the writers abandon the Mel and Paul storyline. Instead, they orchestrate a new one involving Barrington, David and Jessica discovering the garage that the writers have been using to spy and keep notes on the group. Under the pretence of being summoned by their landlord, the three flatmates discover the garage and are told what the show has really been about. The episode ends with the three of them having champagne with the Mel, Rufus and Paul, who confesses to having only ever slept with "about five" women. (en)
- Rufus wants the group to get to know better his girlfriend Jo , and invites her round to the flat for lunch. Situations become tense when Rufus's flatmates witness Jo steal from his wallet, and begin to suspect that she may only be with him for his money. As the episode progresses, they overhear what sounds like Jo flirting with another man over the phone and making arrangements to meet up with him. After seeing her meeting with a man in a London café, the group decide to inform Rufus of Jo's infidelity. The episode ends with the group finding Rufus passionately kissing another woman , revealing that he has also been unfaithful. (en)
- Mel takes a job as a telephone psychic and convinces Shirine to try it as well. "Psychic Shirines first caller is particularly rude and questions her credentials. Meanwhile, Paul claims that his friend Terry can obtain almost any item that is requested of him, mainly through dodgy dealings. After Bob jokingly asks for a thousand cigarettes and an expensive jacket, the flatmates are surprised when Terry delivers the goods. Shirine finds the entire situation particularly unbelievable and begins to question everything that has occurred in the flat during their time living there. The writers realise that she is close to discovering the true nature of the show, so inform the group through one of the producers that three of them are actors. The writers try to suggest that Dave has starred in the film 24 Hour Party People, and Rufus accuses Bob of being an actor. Eventually, Rufus, Paul and Mel reveal that they are the actors. (en)
- Paul asks Barrington and David how many women they have slept with, then boasts that he has been with more than 200. He explains the methods he uses to pick up women, such as the "love switch", which involves slapping a woman that he likes on the buttocks. He also lists his pick-up lines, including "Give me a shag, or I'll smack yer" and "Why don't you get us some condoms, NOW!" The group question Paul's claims and take him to a bar to try out his techniques. While at the bar, Rufus points out an attractive young woman and suggests that Paul try to seduce her. The group are amazed when Paul is successful. (en)
- The group are visited by Paul's mother Yvonne , who develops a romantic interest in Rufus and asks Shirine to set up a date with him at a restaurant. Not wanting Yvonne to get the wrong idea, Rufus asks Bob to accompany him. The writers' initial idea is to make Bob so uncomfortable that he will leave, but, after he continues to stay at the restaurant, they change the storyline to have Rufus run out of the restaurant and go home in a taxi, leaving Bob to deal with Yvonne alone. (en)
- Mel departs the flat for a while, leaving Bob a note asking him to take care of her grandmother's pet goldfish. The writers' initial storyline is to have Mel return to the flat with various exotic animals, but after they see Dave throwing vodka into the goldfish bowl, they decide to change the plot to have the group kill Mel's goldfish after only one day. The writers remove the goldfish during the night and replace it with an identical, dead one. After discovering the dead goldfish and assuming that they have killed it, the group spend the rest of the day hunting around pet shops trying to find an identical one. The episode ends with Mel's grandmother visiting to check on her goldfish, and commenting that she thinks it looks "a bit bigger" than before. (en)
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- — Mark Lawson, writing in The Guardian (en)
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- A Mother's Love (en)
- Worst Case Scenario (en)
- Bad Monkey (en)
- Bedsitcom (en)
- Fag Ends (en)
- P.I.G (en)
- Scrotal Support (en)
- The Third Degree (en)
- Two Hundred and One (en)
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- Bedsitcom is a British reality television hoax series that was broadcast on Channel 4 in December 2003. Pitched as "somewhere between a sitcom and a reality TV show", the show documented the lives of six young people living in a loft flat in London. Its hook was that its TV audience was aware that three of the participants—named Mel, Paul and Rufus—were actually actors being directed by a trio of "writers" in a garage on the ground floor. (en)
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