Brian Pern
- TV sitcom
- BBC Four / BBC Two
- 2014 - 2017
- 10 episodes (3 series)
Spoof music documentary series fronted by Simon Day in character as art rocker Brian Pern. Also features Paul Whitehouse, Nigel Havers, Michael Kitchen, David Cummings, Philip Pope and more.
Episode menu
Brian Pern: 45 Years Of Prog And Roll, Episode 2
Further details
Rhys Thomas explores how Brian broke America with the success of his classic album Shelf Life. He goes behind the scenes of the album's creation and looks at the real events in Brian's life that inspired the hit songs, both good and bad.
He also follows Brian back to Los Angeles where he is reunited with his family and ex-wife after more than a decade.
Broadcast details
- Date
- Thursday 21st January 2016
- Time
- 10pm
- Channel
- BBC Four
- Length
- 30 minutes
Cast & crew
| Simon Day | Brian Pern |
| Paul Whitehouse | Pat Quid |
| Nigel Havers | Tony Pebblé |
| Michael Kitchen | John Farrow |
| David Cummings | John |
| Philip Pope | Mike Phillips |
| Rhys Thomas | Self |
| Lucy Montgomery | Pepita Sanchez |
| Christopher Eccleston | Luke Dunmore (Sound Engineer) |
| Lucy Montgomery | Lyndsie Symon |
| Shelley Longworth | Ripple Pegasus Pern |
| Adam Longworth | Tallow Agamemnon Pern |
| Jane Asher | Cindi |
| Stephen Holbrook | Band Member |
| Craig Christiaens | Band Member |
| Roger Taylor | Self |
| Paul Gambaccini | Self |
| Martin Kemp | Self |
| Ian Wright | Self |
| Dean Thomas | Ensemble Actor |
| Simon Day | Writer |
| Rhys Thomas | Writer |
| Rhys Thomas | Director |
| Rhys Thomas | Producer |
| Richard Webb | Executive Producer |
| Christopher Bird | Editor |
| Neil Barnes | Production Designer |
| Steven Burge (as Stephen Burge) | Composer |
| Tony Way | Composer |
Video
Pepita's hotel room
Brian is disturbed in his hotel room. When he goes to investigate he is in for a surprise.
Press
Some spot-on characterisations in the second part of the latest Pern mockumentary: from Thotch's replacement singer with a coke problem ("The night that my arse fell out was a low point") and Brian's Osbourne-alike kids ("His children have a funny accent, neither English nor American") to Christopher Eccleston's producer: "Without Brian there'd be no Beady Eye, no Shed Seven ... he's got a fucking lot to answer for." All this, and divorcing one's wife via Ceefax.
Ali Catterall, The Guardian, 21st January 2016Radio Times review
"In part two of this revealing but convoluted documentary," says narrator Rhys Thomas, our man Brian (Simon Day) enters the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This prompts a retrospective. In the 1970s and 80s, Brian enjoyed mainstream success, pitched here somewhere between Peter Gabriel and Dire Straits; meanwhile, Thotch carried on without their departed talisman, regrouping as an outfit very similar to Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac.
This is the funniest Pern yet. Every line of Thomas and Day's script brings a laugh, and even the editing and archive shots are carefully loaded with absurdity. Scorching guest turns come from Christopher Eccleston as the producer of Brian's awful Madchester LP, and Jane Asher as an apoplectic ex-wife.
Jack Seale, Radio Times, 12th January 2016