Empty
Empty is a 2008 sitcom broadcast in BBC Two's Thursday's Are Funny strand. The comedy comes from the pens of Robert Florence and Iain Connell, the writers behind the Rose d'Or nominated Scottish sitcom Legit.
Empty opens the door on the weird and wonderful world of property maintenance and house clearance. The six episodes follow the daily exploits of unlikely chums Jacky and Tony, played by Gregor Fisher and Billy Boyd.
Jacky and Tony are two ordinary guys who work for GGBS, a property maintenance company that clears out empty or fire-damaged flats and makes simple repairs.
Despite being very different, these are two guys who have simply hit it off. For both men, work is an escape. When they are together, in an empty flat, they can go into their own little world - a place of wild flights of fancy and comic imaginings sparked off by items they find or problems they encounter in each new location.
Empty sees Jacky and Tony explore comic possibilities in the most mundane situations before the real world intrudes with its uncanny knack of bringing them comically back down to earth.
Writers Interview
A brief Q&A with the writers of Empty, Robert Florence and Iain Connell...
How did you research for the story?
Iain: We didn't do any research really. Robert had been speaking to workies a lot.
Robert: Aye, there's always building services guys popping into my tenement building. Chatty guys, funny guys. Singing, laughing. There wasn't any real research beyond that. The characters and stories and references are all quite personal to us.
Do you ever have particular actors in mind when you are writing a character?
Iain: Sometimes. Not in the case of Empty.
Robert: It doesn't really help to have people in mind, I don't think. It can get in the way of the characters.
Were you excited to have Billy Boyd and Gregor Fisher as your two main characters?
Iain: We were very pleased. It's great casting.
Robert: The script is only ever half the picture with a sitcom. The casting is so important - there has to be chemistry there. We couldn't be happier.
How do you write - do you have to lock yourselves away from the rest of the world?
Iain: No, but we probably should. YouTube is a curse for writers... too distracting...
Robert: But in the case of Empty, YouTube was a saviour. It helped us refresh our memories about stuff we remembered from our childhood. People should watch Empty with a laptop and YouTube at hand, just in case.
You're a dynamic writing team - how did you start out together?
Robert: We met at a local youth theatre in Glasgow, and it was clear from day one that we were on the same wavelength. A few years later we got together again and started writing. It was Niall Clark, our script editor on Empty, who got us a foot in the door at the BBC. None of this would have happened if it hadn't been for Niall.
What are your plans for the future?
Iain: I just want to keep working. Keep writing.
Robert: And I'm hoping someone lets me write a Doctor Who story one day. Then I can die a happy man.