Black Books: Cooking the Books


12:00 am - 12:30 am, Tuesday, June 30 on E4 Extra (31)

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About this Broadcast

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Cooking the Books
Season 1, Episode 1

First episode of the sitcom, starring Dylan Moran as hard-drinking, foul-tempered bookshop owner Bernard Black. Bernard goes to any lengths possible to get out of doing his own tax returns after his crooked accountant goes on the run - even if it means permanently injuring himself. With Tamsin Grieg and Bill Bailey, and guest starring Martin Freeman


Movie/Drama Sitcom

Cast & Crew

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Dylan Moran (Actor) .. Bernard Black
Bill Bailey (Actor) .. Manny Bianco
Tamsin Greig (Actor) .. Fran Katzenjammer
Martin Freeman (Actor) .. Doctor
Nick Wood (Director)
Graham Linehan (Director)
Julian Meers (Producer)
Nira Park (Producer)
William Burdett-Coutts (Executive producer)

More Information

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Did You Know..

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Dylan Moran (Actor) .. Bernard Black
Born: November 03, 1971 in Navan, Co Meath, Ireland
Best Known For: Black Books and his award-winning stand-up comedy.
Early-life: Dylan Moran was born in Navan, Co Meath, Ireland, on November 3, 1971. He attended St Patrick's Classical School in Navan, where he experimented early on with stand-up, with fellow comedians Tommy Tiernan and Hector Ó hEochagáin. After leaving school, he spent the next four years unemployed 'drinking and writing bad poetry'. After watching Ardal O'Hanlon and other comedians perform at Dublin's Comedy Cellar, he began his stand-up there in 1992.
Career: In 1993, Moran won the So You Think You're Funny award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He went on to become the youngest person to win the Perrier Comedy Award in 1996 at the Edinburgh Festival when he was 24. In 2000, he starred in Black Books, a Channel 4 sitcom about a miserable, unsociable, drunken, chain-smoking, and disorganized book shop owner called Bernard Black. Based on Moran's original idea, the series was brought to life by co-writer and fellow Irishman Graham Linehan. Two more series followed, and his stand-up tours and DVDs remain best-sellers, while his movie career continues to blossom. On the big screen, he has appeared in Shaun of the Dead, A Cock and Bull Story, and Run, Fatboy, Run.
Quote: 'I can't swim. I can't drive, either. I was going to learn to drive but then I thought, well, what if I crash into a lake?'
Trivia: He once worked for a week as a florist.
Bill Bailey (Actor) .. Manny Bianco
Born: January 13, 1964 in Bath
Best Known For: His role as team captain on Never Mind the Buzzcocks.
Early-life: Born Mark Bailey in Bath on January 13, 1964, he gained the nickname Bill at King Edward's School in Bath, where he surprised his teachers by excelling at sport. In his youth, he spent a lot of time listening to Monty Python records, and formed a band called the Famous Five. After landing an associateship at the London College of Music, and working with a theatre troupe, he accidentally wandered into a John Hegley gig, where he decided to become a stand-up comedian.
Career: Bill started touring with the likes of Phill Jupitus and Mark Lamarr, before forming a double-act in 1989 with Martin Stubbs. His big break came in 1995 with the show Bill Bailey's Cosmic Jam, a performance of which was filmed and broadcast on Channel 4. In 1998, he scooped his own comedy show on the BBC, Is It Bill Bailey?, and enjoyed a series of successful guest slots on shows such as Have I Got News for You. Bill also starred in Dylan Moran's Channel 4 sitcom Black Books, before taking over from Sean Hughes as a captain on Never Mind the Buzzcocks in 2002. He's a regular on quiz show QI, and has also enjoyed other acting roles in the likes of Jonathan Creek and Fifteen Storeys High. His big-screen CV includes the movies Saving Grace and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, while his cameo in Hot Fuzz was very well-received. He also continues to tour with his stand-up, selling out arenas all over the world, and has begun a separate career as a presenter of wildlife shows, including the ITV series Baboons with Bill Bailey.
Quote: 'I'm not a hardcore vegetarian. I'll eat fish. And duck. They're almost a fish.'
Trivia: Bailey supports Queens Park Rangers.
Tamsin Greig (Actor) .. Fran Katzenjammer
Born: June 12, 1966 in Kent
Best Known For: Green Wing, Love Soup and Episodes.
Early-life: Born on July 12, 1966, in Kent. She is descended from a Scottish grandfather on her dad's side and a Jewish great-grandfather from Poland on her mum's side. She grew up in Kilburn, north London, and showed a talent for acting at an early age - she claims, as a middle child, it was her way of getting attention. Tamsin graduated from the University of Birmingham with a degree in drama. Before breaking into showbusiness, she was an administrator for the Family Planning Association.
Career: Greig achieved a cult following playing Debbie Aldridge in The Archers on Radio 4 and had early TV roles in Blue Heaven, Neverwhere, Faith in the Future and Wycliffe. In 2000, the sitcom Black Books helped boost her profile. She had a cameo in 2004 movie Shaun of the Dead, and in the same year appeared in the first series of cult medical sitcom Green Wing, for which she received a Royal Television Society award and a Bafta nomination. She's also featured in Doctor Who and took a key role in romantic comedy- drama Love Soup. Stage credits include the Royal Shakespeare Company's Complete Works Festival. Greig won a Laurence Olivier Award for her role in Much Ado About Nothing. Recent TV work includes the sitcoms Friday Night Dinner and Episodes, and black comedy series Inside No 9.
Quote: 'The Archers fans touch you much more than the TV fans. They come up to you and hug you because they think you're a part of their family.'
Martin Freeman (Actor) .. Doctor
Born: September 08, 1971 in Aldershot
Best Known For: Playing Tim in The Office
Early-life: Martin John C Freeman was born on September 8, 1971, in Aldershot, Hampshire. He has three older brothers and a sister. Although he considered a career as a professional squash player, Freeman developed his love of acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama. While studying, he also started participating in amateur productions with the Youth Action Theatre in Teddington, and began to pick up work providing voice-overs for documentaries.
Career: Freeman's TV debut came in 1997 with a bit-part in This Life. His first starring role arrived the following year in the short film I Just Want to Kiss You. Notching up a string of appearances in the TV series Lock, Stock..., Casualty and Black Books, he really came to the public's attention in 2001 as lovelorn Tim Canterbury in The Office. He's since become a major player in the British comedy and drama scene, appearing in Charles II: The Power and the Passion, Hardware, Love Actually, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Robinsons, Confetti, Hot Fuzz, and Nativity. He returned to TV in 2010, playing Dr John Watson in the acclaimed Sherlock. He played the lead role of Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's three-part adaptation of The Hobbit.
Quote: 'Part of me is a grumpy old man way before my time and part of me is very open and optimistic and a big believer in love - that underpins everything for me.'
Trivia: Freeman is married to fellow actor Amanda Abbington. They have two children, Joe and Grace.
Nick Wood (Director)
Graham Linehan (Director)
Julian Meers (Producer)
Nira Park (Producer)
William Burdett-Coutts (Executive producer)

Before / After

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Father Ted
11:30 pm
Black Books
12:30 am