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.
Press clippings Page 4
TV preview: Brian Pern: A Life In Rock, BBC2, episode 2
And so the BBC saves the best until last. This second series for Brian Pern is shaping up to be one of the undisputed TV comedy highlights of 2014.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 13th December 2014Brian Pern review
If there's a funnier show than Brian Pern: a Life in Rock, I'll be staggered.
Stuart Heritage, The Guardian, 10th December 2014Follow-up to BBC Four's spoof rockumentary, starring Simon Day as Peter Gabriel. Sorry, as Brian Pern, the ex-frontman of progressive rock band Thotch. Brian has been persuaded by his manager (Michael Kitchen) that a bankable way forward for him and his former bandmates is a new "jukebox musical" of Thotch music, in the vein of We Will Rock You. Paul Whitehouse and Nigel Havers are great as Brian's colleagues, but it's surely Gabriel who comes out of this best, for not trying to sue.
John Robinson, The Guardian, 9th December 2014Radio Times review
The gloriously silly spoof documentary from Down the Line star Rhys Thomas may have grown up with a move from BBC Four to BBC Two - even if its lead character, played by Fast Show alumnus Simon Day, certainly has not. There's also a slight format change. Pern, former front man of fictional prog rock band Thotch, no longer narrates and this opener is more of a spoof arts doc fronted by Thomas and focusing on Stowe Boys, a West End rock musical about the band directed by Kathy Burke. What could go wrong? Well, everything of course.
Yes, it clearly owes a debt to Spinal Tap, Christopher Guest's 1984 masterpiece, but Thomas (who won a Rose d'Or for a Freddie Mercury documentary) has a scalpel-sharp eye for rock-star foibles. And there are joyous contributions once again from Michael Kitchen as Pern's fantastically arrogant and unpleasant manager John Farrow, Paul Whitehouse as the band's guitarist Pat Quid and Nigel Havers's priapic Tony Pebblé (pronounced "Peblay").
Radio Times, 9th December 2014Simon Day & Rhys Thomas on life with Brian Pern
This week sees the launch of Brian Pern: A Life in Rock on BBC Two. The mockumentary focuses on prog-rock singer Brian Pern, as he attempts to adapt to life after fronting one of rock's biggest bands. Featuring a host of big name guest stars, the show is an absolute treasure, and TVO was lucky enough to talk to its creators, writers and stars, Simon Day and Rhys Thomas about the life of Brian.
The Velvet Onion, 9th December 2014Brian Pern: a Life in Rock, BBC2 - TV review
Brian Pern: a Life in Rock (BBC Two) also had the feel of a reunion, or perhaps the office Christmas party for British comedy's hardest workers - Martin Freeman, Jack Whitehall, Kathy Burke, Paul Whitehouse and Phil Cornwell all popped up in various roles.
Ellen E. Jones, The Independent, 9th December 2014Brian Pern: a Life in Rock review
Despite a strong start this rock-mockumentary ended up less than the sum of its parts.
Michael Hogan, The Telegraph, 9th December 2014Onion talking: Brian Pern
We were lucky enough to be put into contact with Brian through the good folk at the BBC, and he agreed to answer some questions via email. This is how it went down.
The Velvet Onion, 8th December 2014Rhys Thomas and Simon Day interview
Jay Richardson, The List, 8th December 2014TV preview: The Life Of Rock With Brian Pern, BBC Two
You don't often get surprises in TV comedy. But it was a genuinely brilliant surprise when Peter Gabriel pitched up on a segway in the final episode of Brian Pern: A Life in Rock on BBC Four earlier this year. All the critics had been suggesting during the series that Gabriel might be livid if he thought that Simon Day's spoof prog rocker was based on him. In fact he clearly wasn't livid, he loved it.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 2nd December 2014