Life of Riley (TV series)

Not to be confused with The Life of Riley, a 1940s–1950s radio show or 1950s American television series which starred William Bendix as Chester A. Riley.

Life of Riley is a British comedy television series, shown on BBC One and BBC HD. The show stars Caroline Quentin and Neil Dudgeon, who are recently married, and is set around their dysfunctional family. The show also features the couple's four children, Danny (Taylor Fawcett), Katy (Lucinda Dryzek), Ted (Patrick Nolan), and Rosie (Ava and Neve Lamb). After three series it was confirmed that the show had been cancelled.

Airing

The first episode aired on 8 January 2009, and was shown on Thursdays at 8:00pm on BBC One. Each episode of Life of Riley also aired in high-definition on BBC HD. Series 2 was shown on Wednesdays at 7:30pm from 17 March 2010. Series 3 was shown on Wednesdays at 8:30pm from 13 April 2011.

Development

The six episode series was commissioned by Lucy Lumsden, BBC Controller, Comedy Commissioning. The show is produced by Catherine Bailey Productions Limited for BBC Scotland, and is distributed by Outright Distribution Ltd. The show is written by Georgia Pritchett, and it is filmed at Pacific Quay Studios in Glasgow, Scotland and on location (for example at Joppa, North-East of Edinburgh). Also briefly filmed on 75 Park Avenue South.

The theme music is a cover version of The Lightning Seeds' song, "The Life of Riley".

Plot

Jim (Dudgeon) and Maddy Riley are newly-weds, Jim has two children from a previous relationship, teenagers Katy and Danny, whilst Maddy also has a child of her own—primary schooler Ted from her previous marriage—and baby Rosie with Jim. Jim and Maddy also try to compete with their next-door neighbours, the Weavers; this basic plot is in most episodes and usually makes the Rileys look like The Addams Family. As well as the Riley family, the Weavers also play principal characters in the sitcom.

Series 1 was released on DVD on 29 March 2010. Series 2 was released on DVD on 18 April 2011 along with the transmission of the new series.

Cast

• Caroline Quentin as Maddy Riley
• Neil Dudgeon as Jim Riley
• Heather Craney as Alison Weaver
• Lucinda Dryzek as Katy Riley
• Taylor Fawcett as Danny Riley
• Patrick Nolan as Ted Jackson
• Ava and Neve Lamb as Rosie Riley
• Richard Linnell as Anthony Weaver (Series 3)
• John Bell as Anthony Weaver
• Jordan Clarke as Adam Weaver
• Marcia Warren as Maddy's Mum, Margaret
• Richard Lumsden as Roger Weaver
• Jessica Gunning as Babysitter

Characters

Main article: List of Life of Riley characters

Critical reception

Reviews for the first series were almost universally negative. The Herald described it as "a palpable flop" and "unfunny in any age". The Daily Telegraph noted that it was "another half-hour firmly on Planet Sitcom: that strange world where people behave not like anybody in real life, but merely like people in other sitcoms". The Daily Record called it a "lazy insult of a comedy". The Northern Echo observed that "there was something missing for a comedy – jokes"; The Daily Mirror comments that there are "some witty moments but these are drowned out by more regular unfunny happenings, so unimaginative and staid it's embarrassing". The Independent headlined its review of the opening episode by calling it "a marital comedy divorced from wit". Most vehemently the Sunday Mail called the show "about as funny as inflamed piles".

The second series of the show has been well received by audiences, with viewing figures reaching nearly 6 million, a much higher proportion of the viewing public than the BBC usually receives in this time slot. However, it has again received regular negative reviews from critics. The Sun called it bland and dull, whilst The Herald declared that 'it lacked any of the basic ingredients of good sitcom'. The Guardian described the show as a "tired effort" The Scotsman reviewed it by noting that it "feels like a parody, this time of the kind of bland, mechanical, family sitcom they supposedly don't make anymore".

Series overview

Series		Episodes	Original broadcast
			Series premiere	Series finale
	Series 1	6	8 January 2009	12 February 2009
	Series 2	6	17 March 2010	21 April 2010
	Series 3	8	13 April 2011	1 June 2011

Episodes

Series 1 (2009)

Life of Riley's first series comprises six episodes, each of which are thirty minutes long.

No.	#	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original airdate
1	1	"In the Family Way"	Georgia Pritchett	Georgia Pritchett	8 January 2009 (2009-01-08)
2	2	"New Beginnings"	Georgia Pritchett	Georgia Pritchett	15 January 2009 (2009-01-15)
3	3	"The Ex Factor"	Georgia Pritchett	Georgia Pritchett	22 January 2009 (2009-01-22)
4	4	"Beating the Bully"	Georgia Pritchett	Georgia Pritchett	29 January 2009 (2009-01-29)
5	5	"The Little White Lie"	Georgia Pritchett	Georgia Pritchett	5 February 2009 (2009-02-05)
6	6	"The Worst Best Man"	Georgia Pritchett	Georgia Pritchett	12 February 2009 (2009-02-12)

Series 2 (2010)

In May 2009, it was confirmed that the Life of Riley & The Old Guys will have a second series. It began airing on 17 March 2010 and The Old Guys returned on 9 July 2010.

No.	#	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original airdate
7	1	"Just The Two of Us"	Richard Boden	Georgia Pritchett, Paul Alexander	17 March 2010 (2010-03-17)
8	2	"Crowded House"	Richard Boden	Georgia Pritchett	24 March 2010 (2010-03-24)
9	3	"Nine to Five"	Richard Boden	Georgia Pritchett	31 March 2010 (2010-03-31)
10	4	"Is She Really Going Out With Him?"	Richard Boden	Georgia Pritchett, Dan Caster, Paul Howell	7 April 2010 (2010-04-07)
11	5	"School's Out"	Richard Boden	Georgia Pritchett	14 April 2010 (2010-04-14)
12	6	"Crazy"	Richard Boden	Georgia Pritchett	21 April 2010 (2010-04-21)

Series 3 (2011)

A third series had been in production from October 2010; it began airing on 13 April 2011.

No.	#	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original airdate
13	1	"The Boyfriend"	Richard Boden	Georgia Pritchett	13 April 2011 (2011-04-13)
14	2	"Letter of the Law"	Richard Boden	Georgia Pritchett	20 April 2011 (2011-04-20)
15	3	"Interference"	Richard Boden	Georgia Pritchett	27 April 2011 (2011-04-27)
16	4	"Snake"	Richard Boden	Georgia Pritchett	4 May 2011 (2011-05-04)
17	5	"Lost in Translation"	Richard Boden	Georgia Pritchett	11 May 2011 (2011-05-11)
18	6	"Absent Friends"	Richard Boden	Georgia Pritchett	18 May 2011 (2011-05-18)
19	7	"The Bug"	Richard Boden	Georgia Pritchett	25 May 2011 (2011-05-25)
20	8	"The Good Mother"	Richard Boden	Georgia Pritchett	1 June 2011 (2011-06-01)

Ratings

Episode No.	Airdate	Total Viewers	BBC Weekly Rank
1.1	8 January 2009	5,320,000	16
1.2	15 January 2009	4,930,000	26
1.3	22 January 2009	Under 4,650,000	N/A
1.4	29 January 2009	Under 4,780,000	N/A
1.5	5 February 2009	Under 5,160,000	N/A
1.6	12 February 2009	Under 4,620,000	N/A

Episode No.	Airdate	Total Viewers	BBC Weekly Rank
2.1	17 March 2010	5,930,000	8
2.2	24 March 2010	5,140,000	15
2.3	31 March 2010	5.010,000	15
2.4	7 April 2010	4,790,000	20
2.5	14 April 2010	4,580,000	19
2.6	21 April 2010	5,060,000	16

Episode No.	Airdate	Total Viewers	BBC Weekly Rank
3.1	13 April 2011	4,730,000	16
3.2	20 April 2011	3,010,000	N/A
3.3	27 April 2011	3,890,000	N/A
3.4	4 May 2011	3,280,000	N/A
3.5	11 May 2011	3,700,000	N/A
3.6	18 May 2011	3,010,000	N/A
3.7	25 May 2011	3,430,000	N/A
3.8	1 June 2011	Under 3,320,000	N/A

International broadcast

The series is currently airing on RTÉ One on Sundays in an early morning time slot.

External links

• Life of Riley at BBC Programmes
• Life of Riley at IMDb
• Life of Riley at British Comedy Guide
• Review, Leicester Mercury
• Neil Dudgeon website

• (2015) Filmed here - 2008 Life of Riley, Martin Denis Film Edinburgh, Retrieved 17 February 2015