Miranda Hart

by Sophie Johnson

  And there’s very little in the show to offend your nan. The rudest bit in the show is a reference to chocolate penises, but rather than being smutty it is just silly and there’s no need for anyone to leave the room in embarrassment. As Miranda has said, ‘It wasn’t planned to put the series out at 8.30 originally, but I found that I loved that pre-watershed slot. So much so, that for the second series I decided to put no profanity in whatsoever. There’s not even an “Oh my God”… The mainstream’s where I’m at.’

  Almost everyone can relate to something in Miranda – bossy mums (OMG, annoying right?!), unsuitable friends, a job you have little interest in, the guy you know you should be with but just aren’t, perhaps even being mistaken for a man. With Miranda, BBC Two seems to have hit the jackpot with a show that attracts viewers of all ages, which just means higher viewing figures and lasting popularity.

  There have been suggestions that the show would mainly, or even exclusively, appeal to women. There are even hints that, within the industry, there is this separation. Not Going Out’s Lee Mack has said, ‘Miranda is naturally funny – BBC Two seems to allow itself one funny woman at a time, and, now that Catherine Tate has finished her show, that job is hers.’

  This could be seen as a rather cynical view, but it’s hard to argue against. Hart herself doesn’t appreciate the distinction. She told the Daily Telegraph, ‘I hate being called a “woman in comedy”. I understand that men may possibly only watch it because they’re persuaded to do so by their partners but I want to make sure it’s for everyone. I don’t want to write a show for women. Everyone feels they’ve been a bit of an idiot in social situations but no one likes to admit to it.’

  This honesty is a large part of the character’s – and therefore the show’s – appeal. A lot of the show’s social embarrassment stems from the neuroses of women… naturally, because the lead character is female, and so inevitably, the show appeals to women a great deal. Hart has said it’s like having a ‘friend you can laugh at… who does things you fear you might do, or have done’.

  When Hart appeared on Loose Women, her popularity among the sisterhood was confirmed. Amid cheers from the studio audience, host Kate Thornton said, ‘Miranda is such a breath of fresh air. It’s nice to see a female comic doing something on her own terms, you know… trailblazing again, because it’s been a while since we had female comics on screen doing something that isn’t just stand-up.’

  Hart’s most devout fans may be women, but many men also love the show – like the Observer’s Phil Hogan who wrote, ‘There’s always a sharp sensibility at work – in Hart’s gleeful observations of Miranda’s post-Bridget Jones victimhood, of girly fads and shibboleths (“Fabulasmic!”)… So, yes, more.’

  Hart’s fellow comic Frank Skinner is also a fan. When she asked him if he thinks female comedy appeals to men, he replied, ‘I think, Miranda, it’s just, just funny. You can break it down into many categories, but if one of the ones it sits comfortably in is “funny”, you’re all right.’

  Even Miranda’s opening titles do something to endear the viewer, male or female. The theme tune is cheerful, like the main character’s disposition but, as the show’s script editor James Cary points out, the succession of large childhood photographs Hart holds during the sequence ‘begin the theme of family embarrassment and we’re already beginning to invest in her emotionally’.

  Everyone is on Miranda’s side, and this is largely due to the clever way the character was devised and developed over a number of years. The Guardian’s Kira Cochrane has written, ‘While the character is awkward, she is made admirable, even heroic, by her essential happiness. Miranda is one of the few single women in pop culture ever to truly enjoy their own company, constantly breaking into song while alone in her flat, or drawing faces on items of fruit.’

  James Cary explains that, despite the character’s delight in herself, she is really at odds with herself, in a constant struggle to fit in: ‘Miranda reveals the truth that fitting in is a lot harder than it looks, takes a lot of effort and can lead you down any number of blind or embarrassing alleys (in a way that many of the audience identify with).’

  We’ll look at it in more depth a little later, but one of the key talking points around Miranda was the way it affectionately harked back to the sitcoms of yesteryear. Its old-fashioned style attracted some of the audience but put others off. It was definitely the marmite-esque ingredient of the show. Miranda said, ‘I knew, before the first series went out, that the phrase “old-fashioned” would be levelled at me. But I regard that as a positive rather than a negative. The mainstream’s where I’m at.’

  So we already know and love Miranda, but what of the people around her – who makes up the sitcom family? Her best friend, shop manager and fellow conspirator is Stevie. They grew up together and generally enjoy each other’s company despite huge personality differences. Stevie is uptight, business-like and takes pride in her work. She encourages Miranda to strive for success and has Heather Small as a sort of motivational spirit guide. Throughout the series, she pops the Heather mask over her face and asks Miranda – doing her best impression and in tribute to Small’s hit of 2000 – ‘What have you done today to make you feel proud?’

  Stevie is played by Sarah Hadland, who previously appeared in TV series including Moving Wallpaper, That Mitchell and Webb Look and How Not to Live Your Life, as well as playing the small part of Ocean Sky Receptionist in the Bond film Quantum of Solace. Her smaller physical stature gives Miranda many opportunities to bite back with remarks about her size – a key aspect of the relationship since there had been a similar dynamic between Hart and Charity Trimm, in the Edinburgh Festival Sitcom Trials show in 2001.

  The lady who gave Miranda’s character many of her insecurities during her upbringing was her mother Penny. She sees her daughter as an enormous disappointment and embarrassment; she is desperate for her to find a husband and secure a more respectable job than playing around in her joke shop. Penny brought the sitcom one of its most memorable catchphrases. If it has momentarily slipped your mind, just recheck the front cover of this book.

  Patricia Hodge plays Penny, as she did in the BBC Radio 2 version of the show, but she might not necessarily have been Miranda’s first choice to play her on-screen mum. In April 2009, Miranda told her Twitter followers, ‘Today I will be penning a letter to Penelope Keith to persuade her to be in my sitcom. Think it unlikely but one can but try.’ Getting in touch with the actress’s agent, she kept her fans in the loop: ‘Penelope Keith update – the letter is sent, but her agent says “it’s highly unlikely”. Think BBC2 not 1 was nail in coffin!’ On receiving the bad news – ‘Penny Keith can’t do my show. Shame’ – she asked for more suggestions from her followers. Many replies followed, and Miranda summarised the results: ‘The funniest mother suggestion was Margaret Mountford. The most exciting suggestion was Julie Andrews. Imagine! Thanks team.’

  But Hart didn’t approach Sir Alan’s former right-hand lady or Mary Poppins. Instead, she popped by the Noël Coward Theatre in London, during the run of Calendar Girls, to meet Patricia Hodge in her dressing room. A week later, it was confirmed that the former Rumpole of the Bailey star would play Miranda’s mum.

  Penny is one of the most popular characters in the show, perhaps because she is so familiar to us, or maybe because she’s given so many fantastic lines, whether it’s responding to a casual ‘Good morning!’ with the riposte ‘Don’t get emotional, we’re not Spanish’, or indeed her many utterances of her immortal catchphrase. One of my personal favourites to feature the latter would be: ‘I don’t know what I’m going to buy for such an ugly baby… Your father’s suggested a balaclava. Such fun!’

  Penny’s biggest obsession is finding Miranda a man. Her first line in the series is ‘Are you engaged yet?’ and Miranda humours her with the reply: ‘Not since you asked last night, no.’ She does her best to set her daughter up with any man possible, even suggesting her cousin, as well as stopping to pick up
hitchhikers but leaving them stranded on the side of the road at the first mention of a girlfriend. But there is one person she overlooks as a potential son-in-law – Gary Preston.

  Gary (Tom Ellis) comes back into Miranda’s life after some time travelling abroad. He has taken the job of chef at a bistro that just so happens to be next door to the joke shop. Miranda does her best to create romantic moments, but her yearning to succeed is about as powerful as the forces that make her fail. It even seems like Gary has feelings for her too, but it never seems to be the right time.

  Clive is Gary’s boss, the manager of the restaurant. The characters of Clive and Miranda obviously know each other well, though their backstory is never explained. He teases her like a good friend and always manages to get himself involved in her problems. James Holmes, who plays Clive, is the only member of the cast who manages to out-camp Miranda. Before the sitcom, he appeared mostly in the theatre, formerly playing Lady Bracknell (‘a handbag?!’) in The Importance of Being Earnest, as well as taking various roles in Catherine Tate’s theatre comedy show. Before this, he was a stand-up comedian working the circuit and he took his solo show Anorak of Fire to the Edinburgh Festival in 1993 and 1994.

  Tilly is a ‘friend’ from boarding school whom Miranda has failed to shake off. She is forever lying to be seen in Tilly’s favour, despite the fact she doesn’t even seem to like her. She is played by Sally Phillips, who had previously worked with Hart on Smack the Pony, and Hart felt honoured when Phillips agreed to appear in the series. The character of Tilly plays an important role in the stories of the show, as she represents a standard of achievement which Penny approves of, and then compares Miranda unfavourably to her. So the main reason Penny pushes her daughter to lying about a new job, and then seeking one, is because Tilly has just got a promotion. For Penny, it’s all about keeping up with the Joneses, where Miss Jones is Tilly.

  Another ex-school friend is Fanny, played by Katy Wix (Daisy in Not Going Out), and who plagues Miranda with screams of ‘Aaaah! I’m engaged!’ Plus, in the second series’ Christmas special, there is a guest appearance from Tom Conti as Miranda’s father, Charles. The Oscar-nominated actor and fellow RTS award winner has, among numerous other roles, played the lead in Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell at London’s Garrick Theatre. More recently, he appeared in an episode of Lark Rise to Candleford, playing the role of Mr Reppington. In the Christmas episode, Charles shows where Miranda inherited her clumsiness from. He exceeds the show’s usual quota of falling over, stumbling into furniture as naturally as his ungainly daughter.

  In an interview on the red button, Miranda thanked Conti for ‘joining the family’ and he was just as happy to be there, telling Miranda, ‘I’m shocked by the degree of your talent; the enormity of your talent – it’s pretty damn stunning. You have the magic.’ He continued to talk about how well the cast got on and the relaxed atmosphere: ‘There’s no – well, maybe you’re all crazy, I don’t know – but you don’t show it. Maybe you just keep the crazy for when you get home and then your husbands or partners get it. Certainly, we don’t get it in rehearsal – it’s very good fun.’

  Among other secrets revealed in this conversation with her sitcom ‘family’ were that Patricia Hodge was the worst culprit of the cast when it came to corpsing. But then Sarah Hadland put Miranda in it by pointing accusingly at her and saying, ‘I’d rather somebody corpsed than farted. It’s literally like working in a wind tunnel actually, and I speak for all of us.’ Hadland went on to reveal her favourite flatulent moment of the series to date, which came about when they were in a taxi filming the opener for series one: ‘We had to have our make-up checks done, and the make-up ladies were on the outside of the taxi but for some reason they could only get the window down a bit. So I had my face like this, halfway through a window, leaning across you, and then you did a massive trump. I was trapped with my head halfway through a window and your wind rising up. We laughed so much, as quickly as they were putting the make-up on me, I was crying it off!’

  There was a lot of fun to be had on set, but there was just as much work to be done. The shows were recorded on Sunday nights. Before this, there was the readthrough on Wednesday mornings and then rehearsals for the rest of each Wednesday and Thursday. Miranda told BBC Writersroom about the rest of the process: ‘Friday at 2:00pm [we have] the producer’s run to make sure we’re not doing anything that upsets them. Then you might do final script notes that afternoon. Then Saturday you pre-record things in the studio that you can’t do live, and then Sunday you start at 9:00am and rehearse on camera all day. And then do the show at 7:00pm.’

  Recordings for series one of Miranda began in July 2009. After the first studio recording, Hart posted on Twitter the following message: ‘I was terrified, but audience were brilliant and it couldn’t have gone better. I am one happy lucky lady.’ It all suggested that, when broadcast, the series could well become a success.

  12

  ADVENTURES IN A JOKE SHOP

  ‘Hello to you and thanks for joining! This is exciting, isn’t it?’

  – Miranda

  ‘So here we are. It’s show time. Episode One tonight,’ wrote Miranda on her BBC blog that Monday night in November 2009. All her hard work had built up to this moment, so it was unsurprising she was nervous about how it would be received. ‘Hope you enjoy the show tonight. I can’t believe it’s going out (this has been years in the coming). My career either takes off or comes to a sad end tonight…!’

  Miranda remembered the first day’s filming was a location shoot for scenes for this episode – including Patricia Hodge fainting in a busy high street: ‘So on the first day’s filming it was “Hello Patricia, lovely to meet you, thanks for doing this, now we just need you to faint on to this grubby Hounslow pavement – ok, action…”’ She saw someone sweeping the pavement ahead of Patricia having to lie there and was most impressed, telling her blog readership: ‘I thought, that’s nice, I do lots of falling over in this show, perhaps that will be a precedent. Let me tell you – I have yet to be swept for. I am still waiting.’

  The first-ever episode sees Miranda excited about being reunited with her crush, Gary Preston, who she hears is back from travelling. She decides to give in and go to lunch with her old school friends, despite the fact that she hates them. It’s either that or help Stevie unpack the chocolate penises and wrongly delivered baby stock. She goes to the restaurant next door and discovers Gary is working there as the new chef. Trying her best to impress, she at first tells him she has trapped wind, and then lies that she was a gymnast in the last Olympics… in the busty category.

  After her girly lunch where she inadvertently agrees to go wedding-dress shopping, she lies to Gary again, saying that her two children (Orlando and Bloom) froze to death – children that of course have never existed. Gary doesn’t mind, though, and asks her if she’d like to go to dinner, saying, ‘Don’t worry, it’s not a date, it’s just a thing.’ She then worries about what to wear, so, after she ‘tidies’ away the boxes of stock (by putting them in Stevie’s office), she goes shopping. Struggling to find something in her size, she unwittingly buys an outfit from a shop for transvestites. She feels proud when a customer compliments her, but less so when Stevie sees her wearing the outfit and asks why she is dressed as a transvestite. At this point, Gary walks in and Miranda rushes upstairs to change. Meanwhile, Stevie is furious to discover the boxes stored in her office.

  Eventually, Gary and Miranda have a lovely dinner and things seem to be going well. But after he goes up the stairs to Miranda’s flat, he discovers it is filled with all the baby stock. He apologises the next day, but things go from bad to worse when he sees Miranda trying on wedding dresses with Tilly and Fanny. She runs down the street after him, shouting for him to come back.

  Ratings were good for the first episode. The Guardian reported that it reached 2.5 million people in its 8.30pm slot (not bad considering its competition on other channels included Coronation Street on ITV). A same-week repea
t, at the later time of 10pm attracted an extra 1.7 million viewers, and a 7 per cent share of the audience watching at that time.

  The second episode (‘Teacher’) introduced a special guest star – Peter Davison, whose long career included a stint in the early 1980s as TV’s Doctor Who. ‘Yes, hark at me,’ Miranda wrote on her blog, ‘I only got a Doctor to stay in the show’.

  The episode begins with Miranda agreeing to be Gary’s safety wife. When he says that, if there was to be ‘a moment’, they wouldn’t ignore it, Miranda then sets about trying to ‘create a moment and do some wooing’. Stevie comes to stay with Miranda and convinces her to join her French evening class, but then discovers the teacher is Mr Clayton (Davison), her old teacher from school, and makes a quick escape. Meanwhile, Miranda tries to make it up to Gary for not appreciating his cooking by inviting him to a tango class – though, obviously, she has ulterior motives.

  The next morning, Miranda is disgusted to discover Stevie has brought Mr Clayton (‘Keith’, in fact) home with her. She and Gary go to the tango class, but the teacher dances with Gary so Miranda tries to get in between them. When they get home, they argue because she says she prefers her kebab to his cooking. He insists that she let him give her a cooking lesson. She thinks this could create a moment as she finds him sexy when he’s angry. Of course, things don’t go to plan. There is almost ‘a moment’ – they are about to kiss – but are interrupted by Mr Clayton bursting in saying, ‘Has anyone seen my pants?’

  Then Miranda’s mother arrives and the regular ‘You Have Been Watching’ sequence at the end (in which each character in turn waves to the camera) is reminiscent of Morecambe and Wise’s breakfast routine.

  During the episode, Miranda talks about a sex-education video they were shown in biology about conception in which the egg was represented by a woman on a lilo, in the middle of a swimming pool; the sperm were represented by men wearing swimming trunks and caps.