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Beautiful People. Image shows from L to R: Kyle (Layton Williams), Simon Doonan (Luke Ward-Wilkinson). Image credit: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

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Beautiful People

Sitcom based on the young family life of window-dresser Simon Doonan, written by Gimme Gimme Gimme writer Jonathan Harvey

Genre:
Sitcom
Broadcast:
2008  (BBC Two)
Episodes:
6 (1 series)
Starring:
Olivia Colman, Meera Syal, Aidan McArdle, Luke Ward-Wilkinson, Layton Williams, Sophie Ash, Sarah Niles, Samuel Barnett, Gary Amers, Tameka Empson
Writers:
Jonathan Harvey, Simon Doonan
Production:
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Sitcom based on the childhood memoirs of window-dresser extraordinaire, style arbiter and writer Simon Doonan. The story (transplanted to the 1997 - 2008 time period) follows Simon's childhood reminiscences of escaping the grey gloom of suburban Reading to live amongst the 'Beautiful People' - before coming to the realisation that true beauty, as ever, is closer than we think.

The comedy starts in the present day in Barneys window, New York. Soon though Simon begins to reminisce and we're transported back to 1997 where a thirteen-year-old Simon and his best friend Kyle can't open a fridge door without belting out a show tune. And his family is even more eccentric.

Mum Debbie is a whirlwind of matriarchal warmth in killer heels. Dad Andy is a lovable Irish softy and avid wine maker and older sister Ashlene is a wannabe ghetto queen.

Then there's family the lodgers, blind Aunty Hayley and lobotomised grandma Narg (gran backwards) who lost God and found a foul mouth.

Our Review: A sitcom with a lot of warmth and fun. It is based on two effeminate 13 year olds so, perhaps not surprisingly, is one of the campest sitcoms you're ever likely to see and thus may not suit all tastes.