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HIGHLIGHTS
HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU: SERIES 51 BBC One, Fri 8 Apr, 9pm Paul Merton and Ian Hislop continue to captain their teams in this satirical panel game that is still brilliantly funny after 26 years on air.
11.22.63 FOX, Sun 10 Apr, 9pm Annoying American dates style aside, James Franco stars in this time-travelling thriller as he tries to prevent the assassination of JFK. Based on a book by Stephen King.
OUTLANDER: SEASON 2 Amazon Instant Prime, Sun 10 Apr More time-travel shenanigans with the return of the much-loved historical romance set in ye olde Scotland. The action picks up after the harrowing events that ended season one.
UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT: SEASON 2
Netflix, Fri 15 Apr Kimmy (Ellie Kemper) continues to readjust to the real world in this sparky sitcom created by Robert Carlock (Friends / 30 Rock) and Tina Fey. See preview, page 102.
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS DVD / Blu-ray, Mon 18 Apr You might have heard of this little movie, something about a galaxy far, far away . . . JJ Abrams’ magnificent sequel reinvigorates the entire Star Wars universe.
GAME OF THRONES: SEASON 6 Sky Atlantic, Mon 25 Apr, 9pm The world’s greatest fantasy epic is back. So many (spoilerific) questions: is Jon Snow dead? What happened to Sansa after she leapt from the walls of Winterfell? Will Cersei get her revenge on High Sparrow?
GRACE AND FRANKIE: SEASON 2 Netflix, Fri 6 May Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin return as two former rivals who discover their husbands are gay and have been in a relationship with each other for 20 years.
THE HATEFUL EIGHT DVD/ Blu-ray, Mon 9 May Kurt Russell and Jennifer Jason Leigh excel in Quentin Tarantino’s magnificently bloody western / murder mystery.
UNCHARTED 4: A THIEF’S END PS4, Tue 10 May The fourth and final instalment in Naughty Dog’s action adventure series following treasure hunter Nathan Drake (voiced by Nolan North).
7 Apr–2 Jun 2016 THE LIST 103
CARRY ON CAMPING
Julia Davis has made a career out of playing grotesque characters. As her new seaside sitcom gets set to air, she tells Henry Northmore that her latest creation is actually quite nice. Sort of . . .
N ew sitcom Camping marks the directorial debut of Julia Davis as she turns her withering gaze onto the British seaside vacation. This six-part comedy stars fellow Hunderby alumni Rufus Jones, Vicki Pepperdine and Jonathan Cake, as well as League of Gentlemen’s Steve Pemberton, as they pack their bags and head for a holiday from hell. ‘It’s about a group of couples going away for someone’s 50th birthday,’ says Davis. ‘One guy unexpectedly arrives with his new girlfriend, which messes up the whole holiday and it descends into a nightmare by the end.’
For once, Davis plays a fairly likeable character. ‘She’s called Fay and she’s very l aky,’ she notes. ‘She just wants to have a good time, really, with whoever. She turns up with one guy, but if that’s not working out she’ll just move on to another. She’s neither horrendous nor particularly moral.’
Davis has made a name for herself with a singular brand of edgy comedy. Regularly working alongside Steve Coogan, Chris Morris and Charlie Brooker, she's starred in Jam, Brass Eye, Black Mirror, I’m Alan Partridge and Nathan Barley. However it’s her self-penned projects that have best showcased her wonderfully twisted talent. Early writing credits include much-loved sketch show Big Train and fake documentary series Human Remains, but it was 2004 when Davis unleashed her dark masterpiece of awkward comedy: Nighty Night. A thoroughly offbeat sitcom that boldly waded into areas most feared to tread, it tackled disease, disability and death with a daring sense of humour. Davis also took the starring role (alongside Kevin Eldon, Ruth Jones, Angus Deayton and Rebecca Front) as self-centred Jill Tyrell whose i rst response to learning her husband has cancer is to join a dating agency. ‘I think you can i nd things to like in extreme people’
Davis’ next major project went back in time to the 1830s for Hunderby, a black comedy that tore apart the clichés of period drama and helped her win a BAFTA and two British Comedy Awards. Davis played Dorothy, another cruel and bitter character. ‘I sort of hope that as long as the character’s funny then the likeability aspect doesn’t matter,’ she explains. ‘Also, I sometimes think you can i nd things to like in extreme people.’ Davis created, wrote, directed and stars in Camping. ‘I was very lucky with the crew. They were non-macho, really nice blokes who helped the whole thing. This makes it all sound like a love-in, but it was really good being with actors who are friends. It was not a horrii cally daunting thing to do and I imagine if your debut as a director was with some huge stars, it would be quite scary.’
Camping starts on Sky Atlantic, Tue 12 Apr, 10pm, with all episodes available the same night via Sky Box Sets.