Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps is a British television sitcom that ran from 26 February 2001 to 24 May 2011. First broadcast on BBC Two, it originally starred Sheridan Smith, Will Mellor, Natalie Casey, Ralf Little, Kathryn Drysdale and Beverley Callard. The show was created and written by Susan Nickson and set in her hometown of Runcorn, Cheshire, originally revolving around the lives of five twentysomethings. Little departed after the sixth series, and Smith and Drysdale left after the eighth series. The ninth and final series had major changes with new main cast members and new writers.

The core cast was augmented by various recurring characters throughout the series, portrayed by Beverley Callard, Lee Oakes, Hayley Bishop, Thomas Nelstrop, Freddie Hogan and Georgia Henshaw. The title was inspired by the 1980 song "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please" by punk rock band Splodgenessabounds. On 23 July 2011, it was confirmed that the series would not return due to the BBC making room for new comedies and feeling that the series had come to a natural end after the departures of most of the main cast members.

Production BBC Two announced the first series as one of the highlights of their autumn 2000 schedule, although the premiere was eventually held back to 2001. The first six series with the original cast including Ralf Little ran until 2006, with Jonny killed off-screen during the first episode of the seventh series.

An eighth series was confirmed by Mellor in an interview in the Metro on 21 April 2008, in which he said that they would be filming the series from November 2008 to January 2009. In January 2009, the BBC announced recording dates for the next series at BBC Television Centre from 1 February to 3 April. Natalie Casey, Kathryn Drysdale, Luke Gell, Will Mellor and Sheridan Smith all returned and the new character of Wesley was played by Thomas Nelstrop.

The outcome of the final episode of series 8 was decided by the public, who were asked to vote on whether Gaz should be with Donna or Janet. Following the finale of series 8, which was broadcast on 10 May 2009, the audience chose Donna with 76.9% of the vote. The final episode concluded with Donna at Gaz's bedside.

Two special episodes were filmed in 2009. The first was set a few minutes after the ending of the previous episode, its cast being limited to Janet, Wesley and Tim, and was recorded on 13 August 2009 at BBC Television Centre. It was a musical extravaganza set entirely inside the Archer and was broadcast on 15 December 2009. The second, "Sliding Gaz", was recorded on 18 August 2009 and shown on 22 December 2009. The cast consists of Donna and Gaz only and shows Donna in a "sliding doors" technique, imagining Gaz being healthy and also paralysed.

In April 2010, it was revealed that the show was to return, albeit 'refreshed' by the BBC, after the departure of the creator of the show, Susan Nickson. Original cast members Smith and Drysdale were written out of the series after deciding not to return for series 9, and their departures were mentioned in the first episode of series 9. On 25 July 2011, the BBC announced that the show would not return for a tenth series.

Episodes

SeriesEpisodesPremierFinale 1 6 2 6 3 10 4 8 5 14 6 10 7 8 8 8 9 6

Cast

Main Actor Character Duration Episodes Will Mellor Gaz Wilkinson 2001–2011 79 Natalie Casey Donna Wilkinson née Henshaw 2001–2011 78 Sheridan Smith Janet Keogh née Smith 2001–2009 73 Kathryn Drysdale Louise Brooks 2001–2009 70 Ralf Little Jonny Keogh 2001–2006 56 Luke Gell Tim Claypole 2008–2011 23 Georgia Henshaw Cassie Claypole2011 6 Freddie Hogan Billy McCormack2011 6

Supporting Actor Character Duration Episodes Beverley Callard Flo Henshaw 2001–2003 19 Oliver Boot Andy 2002–2003 3 Jonathon Dutton David Fish 2003–2004 12 Lee Oakes Munch Wilkinson 2003–2005,2008 24 Alison Mac Kate 2004 6 Hayley Bishop Kelly Crabtree 2004–2006 26 Thomas Nelstrop Wesley Presley 2009 7 Samuel Barnett Leonard 2011 2

Home releases SeasonDate released# of episodes# of discsSpecial featuresThe Complete First and Second Series 18 August 2003 12 2 The Complete Third and Fourth Series 6 September 2004 18 4 2003 Musical specialThe Complete Fifth Series 5 September 2005 14 2 The Complete Series 1–424 October 2005 30 6 The Complete Sixth Series 4 September 2006 10 2 Behind the scenesThe Complete Series 1–6 16 October 2006 54 10 The Complete Seventh Series21 April 2008 8 2 Behind the scenesThe Complete Eighth Series14 September 2009 9 2 Comic Relief SpecialThe Complete Ninth Series13 June 2011 6 2 2009 specialsThe Complete Collection8 September 2025 80 16 All Special features from all Nine Series DVD releases

References

External links

(Last updated March 2008) Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps at the British TV Comedy Guide