Latest news with #TwoDoorsDown
Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Times
Kieran Hodgson review — a Yorkshireman gets lost in the USA
You may know Kieran Hodgson for his four Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominated shows, his YouTube TV parodies, his role on the sitcom Two Doors Down or just for his bit part in the superhero film flop The Flash. It's that troublesome role — 'Sandwich Guy' — that provides the pivot for Voice of America, his latest gag-rich yet erudite mix of satire, confessional and funny voices. If you've never seen the smoothly self-doubting Yorkshireman perform, you might be deceived by the beaming figure in double denim who strides to the stage at the Soho Theatre to the strains of Born in the USA. He contrasts the big-game glamour of American elections with the dowdiness of Keir Starmer. Yet is Hodgson wowed by America or duped by it? Is his idea of America lost in the greater optimism of his Nineties childhood? Or does his Europhile English teacher father have a point when he derides a country whose sheen has above all always concealed a passion for power? Any heavy stuff, though, is safely lodged in a far larger dose of fun stuff. Hodgson first lets us into the thrill of being offered The Flash after the viral success of his TV parodies briefly gave him showbiz currency during lockdown. Then he opens up about the challenge it posed him. He is 'a voices guy' yet, after a day of filming, his perkily ruthless new US agent informs him that his voice needs work. He gets the mechanics of accents but does he get the modern American mentality? Is he as off the pace as the Anglophile who is amazed that Hodgson is visiting his English pub in Portland, Oregon, rather than staying home in Britain to celebrate the Queen's birthday? You couldn't say the stakes are sky-high: it's a bit part and we know he keeps it. But The Flash gives a spine to strong stories and sharp observations as he talks about, and impersonates, several American presidents. He makes merry with his nerdishness, his upbringing, the disparity between the 'stupid America' of modern myth and the cultural elite he sits among at the opera in New York. Can he keep Donald J Trump out of it like he wants to? Good luck keeping Trump out of anything, buddy. It's another richly entertaining hour from a consistently captivating comedian. ★★★★☆
Glasgow Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Glasgow Times
Two Doors Down news, interviews and updates on the popular series
The show was created by Simon Carlyle and Gregor Sharp and produced by BBC Studios. Following positive reception, a full series was commissioned and later debuted on BBC Two in April 2016. Two Doors Down actors (Image: Newsquest) The show ran for seven series until 2023. Read on for all the latest Two Doors Down news, interviews and updates. Latest Two Doors Down news As reported by the Glasgow Times, here is a selection of the latest Two Doors Down news stories. River City and Two Doors Down stars embark on comedy tour Two Doors Down star teased popular show's shock comeback Star of Two Doors Down confirms shows shock comeback Cast of Two Doors Down The popular show's cast includes Arabella Weir (Beth), Elaine C. Smith (Christine), Alex Norton (Eric), Jonathan Watson (Colin), Doon Mackichan (Cathy), Jamie Quinn (Ian), Kieran Hodgson (Gordon), and Joy McAvoy (Michelle). (Image: BBC Studios/Mark Mainz/Matt Burlem) Where was Two Doors Down filmed? The show is mainly filmed at the BBC's Dumbarton Studios in Glasgow, with parts of it also filmed in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire. Other on-location streets around Glasgow include Bowmont Hill, Bishopbriggs, and Avonbrae Crescent in Silvertonhill. Will there be a new series of Two Doors Down? The much-loved show, which was shelved after the seventh series following Simon Carlyle's death, will make a comeback. Gordon played by Kieran Hodgson (left), Ian played by Jamie Quinn (right) (Image: Mark Mainz/BBC Studios) We previously reported a one-off special will be filmed this summer and screened over the Christmas period. Which Two Doors Down actor died? Simon Carlyle, co-creator of Two Doors Down, died at the age of 48 in 2023. His manager, Amanda Davis, confirmed the news in a statement. She said: 'I am immensely sorry to confirm that Simon Carlyle has died at the age of 48. Simon Carlyle (Image: Newsquest) 'Simon was a wonderful person and a major comedic talent. He was much respected across the industry both for the quality of his writing and for being a kind, funny, supportive and nurturing collaborator. 'Our thoughts and deepest sympathies go to his family, friends and colleagues.' Following his death in 2023 co-writer Gregor Sharp announced he couldn't carry on the programme without Simon and the show ended on seven seasons. Where to watch Two Doors Down All seven series can be watched on BBC iPlayer. The theme tune to Two Doors Down S.O.B. is the theme song for Two Doors Down, performed by American rock band Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats.
Scotsman
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Just helping funny people create magic is such a privilege
Gordon (Kieran Hodgson) enrages Cathy (Doon Mackichan) with his impression on her in Two Doors Down Things are ramping up for the Fringe with meetings, calls and various encounters with artists filling my diary this month. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... I was delighted to be on a call this week with the incredible talents involved in Smack the Pony. As part of our 40th year at the Fringe celebrations Fiona Allen, Doon Mackichan and Sally Phillips get 'Back in the Saddle' and are joined by broadcaster Kirsty Wark to take a deep dive into the Emmy award winning show. This week's meeting with Sally, Doon, Fiona and Kirsty will go over the structure and plans for what will be an intimate insight into all things sketch comedy in the 90s and early noughties. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Doon will also be doing an 'in conversation' with her Two Doors Down co-star Kieran Hodgeson as part of our 40th celebrations. Doon Mackichan won the BAFTA Scotland Award for Actress: Television in November last year for her returning role as Cathy in the show. It's so exciting to be part of the creative process for both of these live shows with such talented performers. It's a process that never gets old over the 40 years that I've been running the Gilded Balloon and producing individual shows as part of our programme. Facilitating funny people to get together to create magic is such a privilege. Also, coming out of the Gilded Balloon archives this year is a show Women in Comedy, that I started in the 90s to help women, who were fairly rare in the comedy world, have a platform. I've been booking the acts for this show, which will feature the very best women and marginalised gender comedians from across the Fringe, this week and it's so exciting to see so much talent these days compared to three decades ago. The huge number and different styles of comedy on offer now is so exciting to see and I continue to enjoy designing diverse comedy line-ups as part of our Women in Comedy shows this Fringe as well as our other comedy line-up shows.
Glasgow Times
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Glasgow Times
Iconic Glasgow actress spotted filming 'new Paul Black film'
Elaine C. Smith, known for her role in Two Doors Down and for playing Mary Doll in Rab C. Nesbitt, was seen being filmed in the Southside. Locals have hinted that the actress is in a new short film written and directed by Glasgow comedian Paul Black. They also say that the film will be centred around the historic Govan Fair Queen. Govan Fair is a centuries-old tradition, held on the first Friday of June, where parades take to the streets. Iconic Glasgow actress spotted filming 'new Paul Black film' (Image: Facebook/acumfaegovan) Paul, who shot to fame after filming funny sketches on TikTok, will be crowning the fair's Queen this year. Excited locals snapped the pictures and shared their joy at the filming. READ MORE: The Govan Fair returns to Glasgow's Southside this weekend They said in a social media post: "Spotted them filming Elaine C. Smith and a little girl dressed as Govan Fair Queen outside Fairfield Heritage a few weeks ago. "Just found out that it is a BBC and Screen Scotland short film named Govan Fair Queen - written and directed by Paul Black and coming to BBC iPlayer this summer. "Very fitting that comedian, writer, and director Paul will be crowning this year's Queen. "Thanks to The Old Govan Fair for the information." A group of young children at the Govan fair in 1960 (Image: Archive) Other locals flocked to the comments on the post to share the excitement. One said: "We lived in Govan in our early childhood. I still remember the Govan Fair Parade. Happy memories." Another said: "Govan Fair parade this Friday. There is always a good crowd. I hope it stays dry." The Fair announced Paul as the person who will crown the Queen this year and gushed over his new project - they described it as the comedian's "love letter to the Govan Fair." READ MORE: Memories: Govan Fair in 1958 The Glasgow Times reported on the 2022 Govan Fair, which was the first to take place since the Covid lockdown thwarted previous years. Honorary chairperson, Dorothy Courtney, spoke then and said: "I've been on the committee for almost 33 years now and chairperson for around 31. 'It's a real passion for me. 'I'll probably cry on the night. READ NEXT: Stranger saved my life by noticing deadly cancer growing in my neck, says mum 'It's been two years since we've been able to hold the event fully because of Covid. "This year feels like the first time that everything has been allowed to open back up properly. 'It's a great thing for the people of Govan.'
The Herald Scotland
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Scotland's suburban Pride and Prejudice is back on TV - we can't wait
And do we wish to see a show in which nothing ever happens, the central characters rarely move except to eat, regularly featuring plot lines thinner than Cathy's G-string? Well, we do actually because this is Comedy of Manners at its best. It's Pride and Prejudice set in a suburban Scottish street. It's a modern-day Moliere, a satirical take on events which looks closely – but without being too obvious – at the social conventions and mores of the world we're all part of. Read more As Jane Austen dived deep into layers of social class so too does Two Doors Down. Yes, the inhabitants of Latimer Street aren't separated by great financial gulfs, but their dreams are quite different; they are Aldi versus Waitrose, they are Primark and Princes Square. They are fancy new home extension and can't-be-ar***d-throw-some-Dulux-at-it later. The characters are kindness personified, yet can be city banker greedy. They are Labour, Conservative and nationalist. Sure, TDD doesn't highlight the clear class divide of a Pygmalion, but we do have rampant snobbery and judgementalism. In the previous seven series, Simon Carlyle and Gregor Sharp beautifully managed to find the dry laughs from acute observations of ordinary Scottish lives, blessed by the fact that Scotland has suffered for years from an ailing health service and tragically poor transport systems. They made much (by way of passing comment) of our overblown sense of self-importance, to hold a mirror up to the unfairness in our little world, our inability to get things done. Properly. The writers have also noted cleverly that the stain of bigotry can't be removed, even with by a deep soak in Beth's deepest sink. And they have created a series of wonderful characters to reflect what makes Scotland Scotland; our innate kindness, dark sense of fun, cutting cruelty and a technique for being pass remarkable that is international class. And it's from this disparate, but highly relatable bunch that the dark laughs emerge - and the pathos permeates. Two Doors Down is full of wonderful characters who reflect what makes Scotland Scotland (Image: free)We all know a Christine, with skin thicker than a trainee butcher's sausage and a neck redder than an Aberdeen football shirt, the self-obsessed, attention-desperate with a searing sense of ingratitude, who makes the likes of Inferno's Dante, Sex in the City's Carrie Bradshaw and Abigail from the Crucible seem like warm appreciative human beings. We all know a Colin, a man so hen-pecked you can see the pock marks on his face, yet so much of a social climber he wears crampons indoors, a creature so deliciously oleaginous the freckles simply slide off his face. But like Mr Collins in Pride and Prejudice he's easily influenced by the bigger personalities around him. Such as his wife Cathy, an international class narcissist who drinks to convince herself the mirror on the wall has got it all wrong, that she really is the fairest of them all, the mutton-dressed-as- mutton creature with the tongue as sharp as her Manolo Blahnik stilettos. She's a dead ringer for Austen's Lady Catherine de Bourgh. There's Eric, a man who suggests inordinate decency in a comfy chair, the slightly put upon but genial bloke who's happy to watch the world go by and manages to avoid profanity even though his doorbell rings more often than Beth fills the kettle. Eric is a Stoic philosopher who preaches calm amidst crises; he's Mr Knightley with a Seventies cardy. Beth is of course Jane Bennett with a pinnie, a woman in love with Eric, despite his keenness to avoid exertion. She's a put-upon peacekeeper and a tea-cup-filling, sandwich and soup-making machine, a woman who cares and worries deeply about everyone. Even Cathy. Read more Ian and Gordon are the perfect double act, Tartuffe's Dorine and Elmire who can speak freely and sharply and thus expose the daftness all around. And allow the platform for Christine to (sort of) come to terms with the fact that a gay couple can be open with their lives. The Comedy of Manners motif is also clearly evident with the rough spoken, f*rt-dropping Alan, who is Eliza Dolittle with a tattoo, being worked upon constantly by his Professor Higgins of a wife, Michelle. So, yes, we need a show which reminds us how silly we can become. These neighbours represent modern day Scotland, and we need/deserve to see that reflected back at us. Can Two Doors Down survive without the searing, Wildean wit of Simon Carlyle? Hopefully, because Gregor Sharp knows the characters voices so well, each of them so distinct. And Two Doors Down won't appear dated; it transcends time because the characters are always in the moment. And that's when the doorbell rings. And Still Game enjoyed a happy revival, didn't it?
