Huge thanks to Paddy.
CONTENTS
Title Page
Dedication
1 THE QUEEN OF COMEDY
2 THE EARLY YEARS
3 GROWING PAINS
4 HERE COME THE GIRLS
5 FRINGE BENEFITS
6 RADIO DAYS
7 OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
8 GOING INTO HYPERDRIVE
9 NOT GOING OUT
10 THE WRITER’S JOURNEY
11 MIRANDA ARRIVES AT THE BEEB
12 ADVENTURES IN A JOKE SHOP
13 REALITY BLURS
14 THE BOY NEXT DOOR
15 YOU HAVE BEEN WATCHING
16 CLASS DISMISSED
17 THE ART OF THE PRATFALL
18 THE DIFFICULT SECOND ALBUM
19 THE RISE OF THE OFFICE TEMP
20 DOING SOMETHING FUNNY FOR MONEY
21 WHAT’S NEXT?
Plates
Copyright
‘Hart, 37, has arrived as the statuesque darling of BBC light entertainment, arguably even its saviour.’
– Dominic Cavendish, The Times
All hail Queen Miranda! A sudden hit in British comedy, she is our sweetheart of light entertainment. At first glance, it seems her success happened overnight. At the 2010 British Comedy Awards, she won a hat-trick (or ‘Hart-trick’, thanks Daily Mail). The following year she topped it up with another win for Best TV Comedy Actress and secured her place in the comedy spotlight. Before this barrage of awards, most would not have known who Miranda Hart was, let alone recognise her by her first name alone. Now, she is one of our best-loved comedians, slowly nudging herself towards national treasure-dom. Her self-titled sitcom propelled Miranda to fame and into the nation’s hearts and has itself achieved cult TV status. The show is based on a persona she developed in her stand-up, an immature singleton who giggles at the word ‘bottom’. Her cosy comedy receives ratings of over 4.4 million thanks to furious word-of-mouth and glowing reviews – and her appeal may yet broaden still further.
On why she thinks she has become such a sensation, Miranda has suggested it might have something to do with a British love of failure: ‘My aim was to tap into that universal truth that we all feel awkward in life, but hide it to varying degrees. Everyone feels like a dick at some point in their life – probably every day.’ But she seems almost oblivious to how successful she has become. Talking to Stylist magazine, she said that she doesn’t feel like a role model, or that she has become ‘one of the most popular female figures in comedy’. When asked how she felt about suggestions that people are inspired by her comedy, she responded humbly, ‘I find it hard to believe really. If it is true, it’s amazing.’
Miranda’s self-titled sitcom arrived in 2009 during an era when comedy was becoming popular again, taking over the TV listings. A sea change of sorts had begun with Live at the Apollo, which has spun off into Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow: a stand-up comedy vehicle that introduces the nation to acts working the gig circuit around the UK. Panel shows are abundant: if Have I Got News For You and Never Mind The Buzzcocks were once the big boys in town, they’ve now been joined by Mock The Week, Would I Lie To You?, QI, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Shooting Stars, Celebrity Juice, Ask Rhod Gilbert and many more, all jostling for our attention. Ricky Gervais is in America, spreading the good word of British comedy, and Matt Lucas and David Walliams have become international stars. Miranda is waving the flag for sitcoms, harking back to our tradition of Are You Being Served?, Dad’s Army and Keeping Up Appearances.
Her journey to becoming a multi-award-winning comic started with three nominations at the Royal Television Society (RTS) awards in March 2010. She won Best Comedy Performance but in her other categories others took the trophies home – Best Comedy Writer, where her co-writers James Cary and Richard Hurst were co-nominated, was awarded to Iain Morris and Damon Beesley for The Inbetweeners, and Best Scripted Comedy went to single-camera show The Thick of It. Speaking to Davina McCall on Twitter, who she made friends with on the Sport Relief cycle from Land’s End to John O’Groats, she shrugged, ‘Genuinely not bothered about winning. Just lovely to be there. In fact, don’t want to win – terrified of speeches!’ Speaking in a later interview, she said that she found it a surreal and nerve-racking experience. ‘I don’t really remember it but I got up and said, “I haven’t won a prize since junior high jump in 1980” and I ran off. Everyone kind of went “Oh”.’
Soon after the RTS bash, in May 2010, came two BAFTA nominations – Female Performance in a Comedy Role and Situation Comedy. In the end, the accolades went to Rebecca Front and The Thick of It, respectively, but Miranda was just excited to be there. She told one red-carpet interviewer that she had only recently learned of the nominations and couldn’t believe her luck, ‘I literally can’t quite believe it. It’s like I’m looking down on myself. It’s very, very exciting… 12-year-old me would be going mental right now… It’s just amazing to be in the company of people I admire.’ In the category of best female comedy performance, she was nominated alongside Rebecca Front (from The Thick of It), Jo Brand and Joanna Scanlan (both from Getting On). Miranda imagined an all-girls-together revolution. ‘I think it would be rather marvellous if all four nominees could get up together and make some screamy, girlie-based speech. You never know. The joint winners are…’
Alas, such a spectacle did not arise, and Rebecca Front took the award for her portrayal of Nicola Murray. Front claimed she was staggered, assuming she hadn’t won because she was sat in the middle of a row. For the Situation Comedy category, Miranda was contending with Peep Show, The Inbetweeners and The Thick of It. As well as winning this category, The Thick of It team owned the night, with Peter Capaldi taking the prize for Male Performance in a Comedy Role.
After the BAFTAs, Miranda had time for a quick dress change before heading off with her ‘telly mum’, Patricia Hodge, to the Monte Carlo TV Festival in Monaco a few days later, where they were both nominated for Best Comedy Actress. But Miranda’s big night was to come early next year. The British Comedy Awards 2010 were on their way and Miranda was up for four gongs – Best Comedy Actress, the People’s Choice Award (for the King or Queen of Comedy), Best New British TV Comedy and Best Sitcom. The ceremony was held at the Indigo2 at The O2 Arena and was broadcast for the first time on Channel 4, formerly shown on ITV. Prior to the event, talk was all around regular host Jonathan Ross, who returned in 2009.
After the row over prank calls he made with Russell Brand, now commonly known as Sachsgate, Wossy announced that he would not be presenting the 2008 show and Angus Deayton took his place as host. Apart from this and the inaugural ceremony (presented by Michael Parkinson), Ross has hosted every ceremony. Every year, there is anticipation about the show, the host and the controversy he has brought with him. In 2006, he made a joke about Heather Mills and her prosthetic leg and was heavily criticised by the press. A year later, he wound up news journalists by suggesting he was worth ‘a thousand BBC journalists’, just as many redundancies were being made. This year, Jonathan and the show had a new home, a channel with a reputation for being more lenient towards ‘challenging’ comedy. After all, this was the channel that stood up for Frankie Boyle when he made a sexual joke about