Dead Man Weds

7.0

2005•30m

Dead Man Weds is a 6-part comedy series shown on ITV on British TV in January and early February 2005. The series was written by Dave Spikey who played the part of Jerry St Clair in Phoenix Nights. It was produced for ITV by the independent producers Red Production Company. There are two lead parts, one being Dave Spikey and the other being Johnny Vegas. The series is based on the fictional newspaper, The Fogburrow Advertiser. New editor, Gordon Garden, is determined to shake up the small rural newspaper office. Acting editor and all-round lazy slob Lewis Donat is furious at Gordon's appointment, convinced that the job should be his. Lewis's school of journalism involves going on a break as soon as he gets in, stealing stories from old piles of newspapers and getting the rest of the news from Joan at the cake shop, Cake That. The show's title was inspired by a headline from the Bolton Evening News. The series was filmed in Castleton in Derbyshire. The theme music, also used as incidental music and stings throughout the series, was a version of the Jonathan King composition "It's Good News Week", a 1965 hit for Hedgehoppers Anonymous.

Seasons

6 Episodes • Premiered 2005

1. Episode 1

Comedy, starring Dave Spikey as a washed-up Fleet Street journalist who takes a job as editor of provincial newspaper the Fogburrow Advertiser and News, and Johnny Vegas as his seedy second-in-command. The duo's first scoop sees them investigating powerful American conglomerate GeneUS - and making an enemy of its inscrutable chief executive. Janice Connolly and Michael Brandon also star, with cameos by Tim Healy, Keith Barron and Nicola Stephenson

2. Episode 2

Gordon convinces himself a mystery predator has eaten all the animals in the local zoo, and sets out to confront GeneUS executive Chuck with a tape of weird howling noises recorded near the company's headquarters. Sceptical of his boss's wild conspiracy theories, Lewis decides to look for news elsewhere - and stumbles across a scoop at the local cake shop. Comedy, starring Dave Spikey and Johnny Vegas

3. Episode 3

Fame goes to Lewis's head following the success of the Elvis Found in Cake story, but Gordon cuts him down to size with an assignment to report on the Chithole fruit and vegetable show. Meanwhile, the rest of the team feel inspired by their new leader, who undertakes a trip round Fogburrow's tourist triangle. Comedy, starring Dave Spikey and Johnny Vegas

4. Episode 4

Smarmy executive Chuck organises an Open Day at GeneUS, desperate to prove that the company's genetic engineering of enormous vegetables is nothing for local people to be scared of. As events get under way, Gordon and Lewis take advantage of the general confusion to sneak off and do a little investigating behind the scenes, discovering evidence of unorthodox experiments on animals - and a giant empty cage. Comedy, starring Johnny Vegas and Dave Spikey

5. Episode 5

Sandy Ball cancels the GeneUS expose and replaces it with an article on sausages, prompting Gordon to resign in protest - and leaving Lewis struggling to run the FAN alone. Before long the newsdesk is swamped with reports of missing animals and mystery helicopters - to say nothing of elderly villager Myrtle Turtle's abduction by a bizarre flying beast. Comedy, starring Dave Spikey and Johnny Vegas

6. Episode 6

Inspired by his horoscope in the FAN, Lewis sets out to expose GeneUS once and for all. Taking a small pig as bait, and Donna for moral support, he scours the moorlands in search of missing pensioner Myrtle Turtle - and stumbles on the true nature of Project X. Last in series of the comedy, starring Johnny Vegas, Dave Spikey and Nicola Stephenson