The Catherine Tate Show

Did You Know?

• Tate performed a live tour of her characters in theatres across the UK from 31 October to 4 December 2016, joined by Niky Wardley, Mathew Horne, and Brett Goldstein.
• The live show ran in London's West End at Wyndham's Theatre for one week from 7 to 12 January 2019.

Characters and sketches

Joanie 'Nan' Taylor is a foul-mouthed grandmother who constantly swears at and criticises other people, especially when they are not present. These sketches always include her grandson Jamie, played by Mathew Horne. She often uses phrases such as, 'What a load of ol' shit!' and, after visitors depart, says, 'What a fuckin' liberty!' Paul and Sam are a Thames Estuary/Essex couple played by Tate and Lee Ross; Sam comes home with mundane tales from work and Paul gets as excited as she does. Their catchphrases include, 'What am I like, What are you like' and 'I dunno'. Lauren Cooper is an argumentative teenage schoolgirl who repeats, 'Am I bovvered?' In 2006, this catchphrase was named Word of the Year and entered the Oxford English Dictionary. In 'How Many, How Much', office workers Kate and Ellen sit next to each other; Ellen is keen to work but is interrupted by Kate, who asks her to guess answers and becomes angry when Ellen answers incorrectly. The Aga Saga Woman is an upper middle class English woman who goes into shock when confronted with people or products lower than her social class.

Television series

The first series of six episodes aired from 16 February to 22 March 2004. Its theme tune was 'In These Shoes?' by Kirsty MacColl. Before the second series, BBC Two aired three 'best of' episodes, and repeats of the first series aired on UKTV G2. In 2004, Catherine Tate won a British Comedy Award for Best Comedy Newcomer for the first series. The second series aired from 21 July to 25 August 2005, receiving more publicity than the first, partly due to Tate's Comic Relief appearance with McFly. Viewing figures ranged from 2.89 to 3.92 million, with the final episode outperforming an episode of Extras. Celebrities such as Peter Kay and Jill Halfpenny made guest appearances. A new theme tune by Howard Goodall was introduced, with an opening sequence showing various characters in a field. The second series began airing in Australia on 4 April 2007 on ABC TV.

Spin-offs

A Christmas special titled Nan's Christmas Carol aired in December 2009, featuring Tate's Nan character as Scrooge, with Mathew Horne, Ben Miller, David Tennant, and Roger Lloyd-Pack. In 2013, a New Year's special broadcast on 4 January 2014 followed Nan with a school girl named Alice. Two new Nan specials aired in December 2015. In early 2019, a feature film adaptation of Nan was announced, released on 18 March 2022 to overwhelmingly negative reviews. Josie Rourke, initially confirmed as director, was not credited.

Home media

The entire series has been released in the United Kingdom by 2Entertain and in Australia by Roadshow Entertainment. Series one, two, and three are available individually, along with a set containing the first two series and a box set of all three. The 2005 Christmas special was released with the second series set in both UK and Australia; the 2007 Christmas special was released as a standalone DVD in the UK and included with the third series DVD in Australia. In the United States, series one, two, and the 2005 Christmas special are available individually via SRO/Kulter. The DVD for series one has a 16:9 aspect ratio in regions 2 and 4, and 4:3 in region 1, with English stereo 2.0 and English subtitles for the hearing impaired; it is rated 15 by the BBFC and M by the ACB. Special features include the 2005 Comic Relief appearance and an interview with Catherine Tate, though no subtitles or special features are on region 1 and 4 releases.