Man Down
- TV sitcom
- Channel 4
- 2013 - 2017
- 26 episodes (4 series)
Sitcom starring Greg Davies as Dan, a teacher with crushing character flaws. Also features Roisin Conaty, Mike Wozniak, Gwyneth Powell, Stephanie Cole, Jeany Spark and more.
Episode menu
Series 3, Episode 1 - The Heist
Further details
We rejoin Dan at a crossroads in his life - he knows he can't go on, he must do something.
The Head Teacher sees right through Dan's incompetence in the classroom and, as such, he is facing a disciplinary and may lose the only thing he has left in life: his teaching job. This is compounded by the terrifying Eastern European caretaker who makes covering his mistakes even more complicated.
Should he ditch the teaching job he despises and follow his heart to a new adventure?
Meanwhile his always-kind mother has a new man on the scene, Deadalus "Everyone calls me Daddy", who is most certainly up to no good, but Dan just can't prove it.
If he's looking for support from his two friends he won't have much luck, as Jo is still happily chasing one obviously-doomed, not to mention completely harebrained project after another, whilst straight-laced Brian, increasingly frustrated by his idiot friends, is also coming to terms with life as a single man.
Still around to offer a firm guiding hand, as well as regularly putting the cat amongst the pigeons, is Aunt Nesta... but will this be enough to ease Dan onto the right path and help him avoid complete humiliation? Probably not, no.
Broadcast details
- Date
- Wednesday 13th July 2016
- Time
- 10pm
- Channel
- Channel 4
- Length
- 30 minutes
Cast & crew
| Greg Davies | Dan |
| Roisin Conaty | Jo |
| Mike Wozniak | Brian |
| Gwyneth Powell | Mum |
| Stephanie Cole | Nesta |
| Jeany Spark | Emma |
| Ashley McGuire | Shakira |
| Elliot Levey | Mr. Hogan |
| Tony Robinson | Deadalus |
| Madeleine Harris | Karen |
| Alfie Davis | Dennis |
| Frankie Akhurst | Robin |
| Steven Berkoff | Mr Klackov |
| Hayley Jayne Standing | Miss Charman |
| Greg Davies | Writer |
| Stephen Morrison | Writer (Additional Material) |
| Sian Harries | Writer (Additional Material) |
| Ed Gamble | Writer (Additional Material) |
| Mike Wozniak | Writer |
| Al Campbell | Director |
| Toby Welch | Producer |
| James Taylor | Executive Producer |
| Richard Allen-Turner | Executive Producer |
| Jon Thoday | Executive Producer |
| Christopher Watson | Editor |
| Sam Harley (as Samantha Harley) | Production Designer |
| Chris Egan | Composer |
| Bob Bradley | Composer |
| Trystan Francis | Composer |
Video
Dan goes over a fence
In this clip from Series 3 of Man Down, Dan's attempt to go over a fence doesn't go very well.
Featuring: Greg Davies (Dan).
Press
Man Down catches up with sad sack teacher Dan (Greg Davies) as he finally comes to the realisation that maybe he's chosen the wrong profession. By the end of the first episode, which saw Dan try to break into the school to destroy his personal file, he'd handed in his resignation which suggested to me that the sitcom may be covering new ground. This can only be a good thing as I'd found Man Down had been stuck in a rut for a while now so seeing Dan trying to pursue alternate career opportunities will at least give Davies and co-writer Mike Wozniak something new to work with. Tony Robinson as Dan's mum's new beau Daddy, short for Deadalus, who has already made it known that he isn't a fan of the protagonist's attitude towards the older ladies in his life.
Matt, The Custard TV, 24th July 2016Third series of misadventures for Greg Davies's shambolic teacher. A disciplinary carpeting from the authorities is on the cards due to a simple misjudgment over a wine box and Dan's drama class. The route to avoid being ostracised by Ofsted lies with the school's tempestuously eccentric caretaker (played, in keeping with the show's knack for grabbing big names, by Steven Berkoff). What could possibly go wrong? Regular viewers of Man Down might well guess.
Mark Gibbings-Jones, The Guardian, 13th July 2016Greg Davies on Man Down Series 3
This series, Davies says Dan will be "forced into more decisions".
Ben Dowell, Radio Times, 13th July 2016That dreadful series of Top Gear was good for one thing at least: it featured the gigantic Greg Davies one week as the Star In A Reasonably Priced And Frankly Humiliating Cheap Copy Of Clarkson's Ideas. I jumped for joy at Davies's appearance as this surely meant his brilliant sitcom, Man Down, was coming back. I love the show. Even my dog loves it.
Davies plays Dan, a pathetic, lovelorn, middle-aged man who hates his job and lives with his mum, "Old Woman" who, this week, brings a new boyfriend home - a brash Yorkshireman played by Tony Robinson who takes a furious dislike to Dan. Things are tough at school when Dan is summoned to a disciplinary hearing. He must try and destroy his HR file but a new janitor, a mentally unstable Serbian played by Steven Berkoff, stands in the way.
Julie McDowall, The National (Scotland), 13th July 2016Man Down Series 3 review
For the classroom scenes provide so many of the best lines in the sharp script, often from the kids in Dan's drama class.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 13th July 2016TV preview: Man Down, C4
Good to see Greg Davies back as helpless, hapless, hopeless giant man-child teacher Dan. There are some nice new treats in the supporting cast too, but they have to have pretty big personalities to stand a chance of competing with Davies. Luckily they are.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 11th July 2016