“★★★★★”
Mark Wareham, The Mail on Sunday
GREG DAVIES’ (acclaimed stand-up comedian, Mr Gilbert in the hit TV series and film The Inbetweeners, and BAFTA-nominated star of Cuckoo) critically acclaimed Channel 4 series, Man Down is released for the first time on DVD, courtesy of 4DVD. The series also features 2010 Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer winner, ROISIN CONATY (Impractical Jokers), RIK MAYALL (The Young Ones), DEIRDRE MULLINS (Whitechapel), 2013 Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee, MIKE WOZNIAK (Live At The Electric), GWYNETH POWELL (Grange Hill) and JEANY SPARK (Wallander). This DVD contains the complete six-part first series, the 2014 Christmas Special and also includes a must-have extra for über-fans with an exclusive behind the scenes featurette.
Man Down introduces Dan (GREG DAVIES), a childish idiot trapped in an adult’s life. Crushing character flaws, an unwanted teaching job, uniquely dysfunctional friends and a willfully insane Dad conspire to keep this Man Down. Dan’s world is at near collapse, his girlfriend Naomi (DEIRDRE MULLINS) is fast running out of patience with his inability to navigate the simplest of life tasks, while his best friends are Jo (ROISIN CONATY) who has, what can only be described as, the loosest of grasp on reality and Brian (MIKE WOZNIAK), a straight-laced financial adviser who is regularly dumbfounded by the complete idiocy of his two friends. To compound matters Dan’s listless teaching career sees him begrudgingly teach a version of the same lesson every day, inexplicably popular with all but one of the pupils, with his only highlight coming in the form of Miss Lipsey (JEANY SPARK), a head mistress who views Dan with a mixture of pity and despair. Tormented daily by his father (RIK MAYALL) whose driving motivation in life seems to be to ensure his son is humiliated at every turn, not to mention regularly physically attacked, does so while keeping it almost completely under the radar of his wife and Dan’s mum (GWYNETH POWELL).
Man Down will return to Channel 4 with a Christmas Special on the 23rd December and a second series in early 2015.
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What the press said about Man Down series one:
“Greg Davies’s madcap sitcom scales new heights of brilliance.”
Joe Clay, The Times
“Peal the bells, crack open the bubbly, do whatever you do to mark unexpectedly good news. Because at last a new British sitcom has landed and it is actually, you know, quite good… mucking about is something Davies is exceptionally good at, deploying the full range of his enormous physicality alongside the excellent comic timing you’d expect from a seasoned stand-up.”
Ben Dowell, The Radio Times
“Thanks to Greg Davies’s towering energetic idiocy, Man Down offers reliable silliness that’s absolutely perfect for a Friday night… he doesn’t save all the best gags for himself and the support from Roisin Conaty and Mike Wozniak as his best mates Jo and Brian are outstanding.”
Jane Simon, Daily Mirror
“Extremely Funny”
Polly Vernon, Grazia
“This is big, bold comedy that really packs in the laughs”
TV Times
“At heart, it’s a brilliant example of a mainstream sitcom… but with a twist and heart of its own. Channel 4 – and Greg Davies – deserve to have a monster hit on their hands”
Steve Bennett, Chortle
“Very Funny”
Mike Bradley, The Observer
“laugh-out-loud funny”
Veronica Lee, The Independent on Sunday
For further information contact: Dan Lloyd at Avalon on 020 7598 7222 / danl@avalonuk.com
Episode 1
Dan (GREG DAVIES) has lost his trousers and is in danger of losing his girlfriend. He hates his job, his dad (RIK MAYALL) is out to get him, his friends can’t help him and there’s a tailor on the war path.
Events conspire to keep this Man Down.
Episode 2
Dan (GREG DAVIES) has lost his girlfriend but, assisted by his two best friends, he has a plan to get her back involving two bags of mince and a welder called Mad Nobby… what could possibly go wrong? Meanwhile his dad (RIK MAYALL) hits him with his most devious and sick prank yet.
Episode 3
Dan (GREG DAVIES), unlike his ex-girlfriend Naomi (DEIRDRE MULLINS), isn’t invited to his niece’s birthday party. Desperate to impress her he manages to persuade the family that he can be trusted with one of the big jobs to get the party ready. Will his dad (RIK MAYALL) get to joyfully bathe in the failure of his son yet again, or will he actually pull it off?
Episode 4
Brian (MIKE WOZNIAK) introduces Dan (GREG DAVIES) to a guru with a secret, so unbelievably powerful, that he can only tell it to one person at a time – although it’s another incredible attribute that keeps Dan completely mesmerised. Unexpected visitors in the classroom and the most extreme of wake-up-calls from his dad (RIK MAYALL) also stand in the way of this man getting his life back on track.
Episode 5
Although still haunted, literally, by the ghost of his ex girlfriend, Dan (GREG DAVIES) ends up unexpectedly preparing for a date, with a little help from Brian (MIKE WOZNIAK). Meanwhile his dad (RIK MAYALL) offers him a terrifying insight into his own romantic past.
Episode 6
Brian (MIKE WOZNIAK) finds himself nominated for a Small Business Award and Dan (GREG DAVIES) must quickly find a tuxedo and a date to impress his ex. Will Dan’s dad (RIK MAYALL), or his mate Jo (ROISIN CONATY) help him in his hour of need? There’s also unrest at school when the class realise it could be the end of Space Mission.
Xmas special 2013
‘Scrooge 3000’, a festive school play set in space, and a terrifying yuletide tradition, unsurprisingly courtesy of his psychotic dad (RIK MAYALL), are just two of the Christmas challenges which risk reducing Dan’s (GREG DAVIES) life to a crumbling mess.
