About a week ago I was invited to BAFTA by Channel 4 to see their new comedy. After some caffeine we were shown the second episode, and it was incredibly funny, well written and completely not politically correct. Frost are a fan of such witty writing and boundary pushing. Give it a watch and see if you are too. I reckon you’ll enjoy it, but you might feel that you shouldn’t….
Campus. Tue 5 Apr, 10pm, Channel 4 – www.channel4.com/Campus #Campus
CAMPUS
Tue 5 Apr, 10pm, Channel 4 – www.channel4.com/Campus #Campus
Campus is a brand new comedy set in the hotbed of academic mediocrity that is Kirke University. At its helm is the stubby, mercurial Vice Chancellor Jonty de Wolfe, who wants nothing more than to drench Kirke in the juices of his own greatness.
As a scary cloud of financial doom hovers over the gently crumbling 60s concrete, Jonty attempts to pimp up Kirke in any way he can, whether it’s faked alumni, kidnapped prodigies or a range of “Eau de Kirke” perfumery – but his lofty plans soar as gracefully as a porky tortoise… And while the strangely unsettling puppet master plunges deeper into the pickle jar, the rest of Kirke’s assorted staff get sidetracked by the more urgent dilemma of who to sleep with next.
The philandering English Professor Matt Beer is forced to up his game in all departments, as he makes no impression on shy Maths lecturer Imogen Moffat, who herself is consumed with creative agony over expectations of a follow-up to her hit Mathsbuster. He is left to contemplate his rapidly greying pubes while his younger, bouncier, athletic student sidekick Flatpack – who combines a six-pack body with the intellect of a piece of Ikea furniture – makes more headway with the lovely Maths boffin. The gawky Mechanical Engineer Lydia ‘big shit’ Tennant, the three Graces of Admin (Big Grace, Pretty Grace and ‘Was Once A Man’ Grace), Jason the reticent Accountant and Nicole the feisty Accommodations Officer add more sexual confusion to the mix.
CAMPUS is a comedy about the life of a university under fire. Jonty and his team face extinction if they cannot harness their individual and collective brain power, some of which has not been exercised for many years, in an effort to reinvigorate their tired and vulnerable institution…but of course it’s mainly a love story with lots of sex. What did you expect?
CAMPUS is produced and directed by Victoria Pile (Green Wing) with Associate Producer Robert Harley and the Executive Producer is Caroline Leddy.
Starring:
Andy Nyman (Ghost Stories) plays Jonty de Wolfe
Joseph Millson (Casino Royale, Love Never Dies) plays Matthew Beer
Lisa Jackson (Bright Young Things, Time and The Conways) plays Imogen Moffat
Jonathan Bailey (Young Leonardo) plays ‘Flatpack’
Sara Pascoe (The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret) plays Nicole Huggins
Will Adamsdale (Jackson’s Way, The Boat That Rocked) plays Jason Armitage
Dolly Wells (Star Stories) plays Lydia Tennant
Katherine Ryan (Last Comic Standing) plays Georgina Bryan
CAST OF CHARACTERS
JONTY DE WOLFE
Kirke University’s idiosyncratic and strangely unsettling Vice Chancellor.
Kirke – once a concrete academic field of dreams, now a landfill of educational mediocrity – is the child Jonty never had. Now, to make his life even harder, clouds of financial doom and political grief are gathering ominously over the campus.
MATTHEW BEER
The sexually active and academically dormant English professor whose research speciality appears to be The Easy Life. Matt deftly side-steps student queries by insisting they ‘google it’.
IMOGEN MOFFAT
Awkward but prodigiously talented Maths lecturer, who brought huge kudos to Kirke with the success of her best-selling book, The Joy of Zero. Much to Jonty’s frustration, however, the celebrated Imogen is struggling badly with its sequel.
FLATPACK
Post-graduate student, nominally Matt’s teaching assistant, but more significantly an athlete with serious international potential. Cute and bouncy and allegedly studying English Literature, Flatpack has in fact only read six books since the age of ten; three about sports science (twice each). For Jonty, however, he brings star quality and is therefore indispensible.
JASON ARMITAGE & NICOLE HUGGINS
Chief Accountant and Accommodations Officer respectively. A meeting of chalk with cheese, although this doesn’t mean they can’t be special friends. However, as Jason’s finding it hard to dump his current girlfriend, a tangled web of deceit seems to be the best route to avoiding any awkwardness.
LYDIA TENNANT
Senior Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering who usually prefers power tools to humans – although she could find a small space for some sort of sexually-active male. Her job seems safe as she has a hugely lucrative sponsorship deal with a pharmaceutical company specialising in vivisection. And despite resembling a laboratory rat herself, there is a key difference: Lydia is a born survivor.
GEORGINA BRYAN
Canadian troubleshooter – or troublemaker as far as Jonty’s concerned – head of the ruthless consultancy team tasked with ‘restructuring’ Kirke. Cold-hearted and cleavage-flaunting, George is scarily ambitious.
EPISODE SYNOPSES
Ep 1: PUBLICATION! PUBLICATION! PUBLICATION!
According to Vice Chancellor Jonty De Wolfe, Kirke University’s bank balance and academic reputation both need a bit of a boost. Reactions to this news from members of staff range from nonchalance to panic, but Jonty, titillated by his mousy Maths Lecturer’s success insists all the staff take a leaf out of her (best selling) book – Publication! Publication! Publication!
Ep 2: THE CULLING FIELDS
Jonty is forced to make huge spending cuts and the Kirke University rumour mill goes into paranoid overdrive. No one’s job is safe, it seems. Apart from those whose jobs are safe, of course. Hard work, diligence and not telling whopping great fibs on your CV should see you right. So not looking great for Lazy Prof Matt or Accomms. Officer Nicole.
Ep 3: DARK CANADIAN FOG
The arrival of a restructuring guru, in the shapely shape of George Bryan, sends a chill wind up many a Kirke trouser leg. A fully paid-up member of the ‘slash and burn’ school of downsizing, George appears without heart or soul. In an act of crippling desperation, Jonty enlists Matt’s help to ‘melt’ the Ice Maiden.
Ep 4: COME TOGETHER
Philandering English Professor, Matt Beer, is on a mission to woo icy business consultant George into knee-trembling, resolve-weakening, book-cooking submission. Flatpack embarks on a little wooing of his own, and even Accountant Jason is feeling a certain ‘stirring’ around gay best friend Nicole.
Ep 5: POST COITAL
As George puts the finishing touches to her Final Report, Matt is plunged into total crisis over his recent shenanigans and the thought that he might actually have genuine feelings for another member of the human race. Imogen suffers her own inner turmoil about an ill-advised coupling and only Flat seems perkily sure of what he wants.
Ep 6: AN ENDING AND A BEGINNING AND AN ENDING
The Day of Reckoning. Stomachs and hearts are in knots as George prepares to deliver the bad news. ‘The News” however, turns out to be not quite what they anticipated, leaving everyone with a new set of ever more complicated problems to unpick.
BIOGRAPHIES
ANDY NYMAN (Jonty de Wolfe)
Actor and magician Andy Nyman directed and co-wrote all of Derren Brown’s stage shows – all of which enjoyed hugely successful West End runs and national tours – including the Olivier award-winning sell-out production, Something Wicked This Way Comes. Their fourth show, Enigma, was also Olivier-nominated.
He also co-writes and is Consultant Producer on Derren Brown’s series and specials for Channel 4, including Russian Roulette Live, Messiah, The Gathering and The Heist. His work on these shows won him a Silver Rose at the 2003 Montreux Television Festival. He was also Consultant Producer on Channel 4’s Magick and Dirty Tricks. More recently he starred in Crooked House and Charlie Brooker’s E4 BAFTA-nominated horror satire, Dead Set.
His numerous feature film credits include Dead Babies, Shut Up and Shoot Me, Severance, Wild Romance, Death at a Funeral and the forthcoming thriller, The Glass Man.
This week Andy’s sell-out stage show Ghost Stories, which he co-wrote and co-directed, and in which he also stars, transfers from the Lyric to the West End (Duke of York’s).
JOSEPH MILLSON (Matt Beer)
Joseph Millson’s numerous theatre credits include appearances for the RSC in Peter Hall’s As You Like It (for which he was nominated for the Ian Charleson Award for best classical actor under 30), The Spanish Golden Age season and Much Ado About Nothing, as well as appearing alongside Steven Berkoff in his production of Richard II. He first came to TV prominence in Peak Practice followed by EastEnders, Macbeth, The Romantics and Channel 4’s Ghost Squad. More recently he guested in Talk to Me, Survivors and Ashes to Ashes before returning to the stage with Tom Stoppard’s Every Good Boy Deserves Favour at the National Theatre. Last year’s TV appearances included BBC Four’s acclaimed drama Enid and Mike Bullen’s comedy drama, Reunited.
SARA PASCOE (Nicole Huggins)
Writer, stand-up and comedy actress Sara Pascoe debuted her solo stand-up show in Edinburgh last year to wide acclaim and was voted one of Time Out’s Rising Stars of Comedy. Her many TV credits include Being Human, The Thick of It and, for Channel 4, Girl Friday, Free Agents and The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret.
DOLLY WELLS (Lydia Tennant)
Dolly Wells’ numerous previous Channel 4 comedy appearances include Peep Show, Star Stories, The IT Crowd and Free Agents. In addition her TV credits range from The Gathering Storm and Bertie and Elizabeth to, more recently, The Mighty Boosh and Whites. Feature films include I Capture the Castle, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Magicians and Film Four’s Morvern Callar.
WILLIAM ADAMSDALE (Jason Armitage)
Will Adamsdale won the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival Perrier Award for Comedy for his one-man show, Jackson’s Way, in 2004. Numerous theatre credits include Faster, The Winslow Boy, Arcadia, Notes from Underground, Bent, Bloody Poetry and No Man’s Land. On television, appearances include two series of Manchild, Sword of Honour, Bomber and Warriors.
KATHERINE RYAN (George)
Writer, performer and actress Katherine Ryan was the 2008 Winner of the Nivea Funny Women Awards and is one of the most recent additions to UK stand-up. She recently appeared in Channel 4’s Routes, which was both Writer’s Guild and BAFTA-nominated.
LISA JACKSON (Imogen Moffat)
Lisa Jackson’s numerous theatre appearances include As You Like It, The 39 Steps, All My Sons and Time and the Conways at the National Theatre. On television she has appeared in Daniel Deronda, Waking the Dead and Dirk Gently, and film credits include Stephen Fry’s Bright Young Things.
JONATHAN BAILEY (Flatpack)
Jonathan Bailey’s previous TV credits include Channel 4’s Alice through the Looking Glass, Bramwell, Bright Hair, Golden Hour, Off the Hook and Lewis. Feature films include Five Children and It and St. Trinians.
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Monicker Pictures
Is a newly formed production company set up by Victoria Pile and Robert Harley. Disguised as a curiosity shop on Brick Lane, this is their first production. Other projects are in development.
VICTORIA PILE – Writer, Producer, Director
Victoria started out writing comedy for television and radio, before going on to develop her passion for producing and directing. She spent her early career at the BBC, before honing her skills at a variety of leading independent companies.
She devised and produced the double Emmy award-winning sketch show Smack the Pony for Channel 4, as well as the surreal two-hander Los Dos Bros (winner of the Silver Rose at Montreux). Taking elements from the style of these two shows, Victoria then devised, produced and co-wrote the hugely popular BAFTA-winning comedy Green Wing. More recently she has spent some time in the US, writing and producing a sitcom pilot for ABC/Paramount and developing another with NBC. Back in the UK, as well as directing a number of commercials, Victoria is the co-founder of Monicker Pictures, the Brick Lane based company behind Campus. She is currently developing a comedy drama for Channel 4, a screenplay, and sitcom scripts for the BBC.