The Last Chancers
The Last Chancers was a originally a one-off sitcom and screened under the Comedy Lab banner at 11:40pm on Thursday 21 November 2002. This show was later developed into a five part series which was broadcast on E4 in December 2002. The show's main tenet was embarrassment and as such, it strongly echoed The Office. Johnny, played by Adam Buxton (Adam & Joe), was very much a David Brent-like character, and with Stephen Merchant as director the same feeling of awkwardness pervaded the show.
Synopsis
Johnny is a singer/guitarist with struggling Brighton-based rock band the Chocolate Factory. More straight and together than bandmates Paul, Dan and Brian, he holds down a daytime suit-and-tie office job. The others do not; they live out the rock ethos, and they don't like Johnny very much. Thick-skinned, he fails to heed their hints about getting a replacement, even when they turn up at his house with Tom, a hot young guitar prodigy. As it happens, Johnny's house-mate Alex - an egocentric young novelist who rubs his perceived superiority in Johnny's face - is having an affair with Claire, a record company A&R exec, a situation on which Johnny attempts to capitalise.
Cast
- Adam Buxton - Johnny
- Steve John Shepherd - Paul
- Kevin Bishop - Dan
- Patrick Driver - Brian
- Tony MacMurray - Alex
- Alice Lowe - Claire
- Joe van Moyland - Tom
Crew
- Tony MacMurray - Writer
- Stephen Merchant - Director
- James Harding - Executive Producer
- Richard Osborne - Executive Producer
- Sally Martin - Producer