Crapston Villas

*Crapston Villas*
Crapston Villas
Genre	Sitcom; Animation; Black comedy; Surreal humour; Soap opera
Created by	Sarah Ann Kennedy
Developed by	Sarah Ann Kennedy; Mike Davis
Written by	Sarah Ann Kennedy
Directed by	Sarah Ann Kennedy
Starring	Morwenna Banks; Felix Dexter; Jane Horrocks; Claire Jennings; Polly Kemp; Alistair McGowan; Lesley Sharp; Alison Steadman; Steve Steen; John Thomson
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	20 (over 2 series)
Production
Executive producers	Sarah Ann Kennedy (Season 2); Joanna Beresford (Season 1)
Running time	10 minutes per episode
Production company	Spitting Image Productions
Original release
Network	Channel 4
Release	October 27, 1995 –; January 19, 1998

Crapston Villas is a British adult animated television series, written, created and directed by Sarah Ann Kennedy, in which the characters were made from plasticine and filmed with stop motion clay animation. It was a comedy satire on inner-city London life, directed at a mature audience. It featured a set of characters, living in a grim apartment building in the fictional postcode of SE69, who were plagued by various dilemmas. Foul language, sex and violence are present.^[1]

Production

It was made by the Spitting Image Productions company and was originally broadcast on the UK's Channel 4 from 1995 to 1998. It was written by Sarah Ann Kennedy, who was also director (series 1) along with Peter Boyd Maclean (series 2). The music for the show was composed by Rowland Lee.

Voices were provided by a range of British actors and comedians.

The show was cancelled after its second series by the incoming new head of Channel 4 Television, Michael Jackson, who then bought US import South Park to fill the late Friday night slot vacated by Crapston Villas.

The show would be one of the first animated series on British television to present openly gay characters, specifically Robbie and Larry.^[2]^[3]

Availability

Each series comprised ten episodes. Series 1 was subsequently issued on video, edited together as a single 100 minute piece ("Crapston Villas – City of Slummington"), while Series 2 was similarly released, but on two videos ("Health Hazard" and "Culture Shock"). In the USA five episodes from Series 1 were released on DVD by the independent production/distribution company Troma Entertainment, but so far no DVD releases of either series have occurred in the UK.

As of January 2012, all 20 episodes of Crapston Villas are available to watch on Channel 4's digital on-demand service 4oD (now called All 4). Reruns of the Series are also available to watch on G.O.L.D. late at night.

Awards

1996 Broadcast Awards: Best New Program

References

^ Jasper Rees (28 October 1995). "TELEVISION Crapston Villas (Channel 4) - Arts & Entertainment". The Independent. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
^ Norris, Van (1 August 2014). British Television Animation 1997–2010: Drawing Comic Tradition. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 221–. ISBN 9781137330949. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
^ Tilke, Matt (January 29, 2005). "Take A Trip Back To Channel 4's Crapston Villas". Retroheadz. Archived from the original on March 26, 2020. Retrieved January 19, 2020.

External links

Crapston Villas at IMDb

This article relating to a comedy television series in the United Kingdom is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Jasper Rees (28 October 1995). "TELEVISION Crapston Villas (Channel 4) - Arts & Entertainment". The Independent. Retrieved 25 August 2013.

[Norris2014-2] Norris, Van (1 August 2014). British Television Animation 1997–2010: Drawing Comic Tradition. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 221–. ISBN 9781137330949. Retrieved 31 December 2014.

[3] Tilke, Matt (January 29, 2005). "Take A Trip Back To Channel 4's Crapston Villas". Retroheadz. Archived from the original on March 26, 2020. Retrieved January 19, 2020.

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