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	~~{{Short description\|British television series}}~~
	~~{{About\|the TV show\|the short story by [[Damon Knight]]\|Not with a Bang (short story)\|the phrase\|The Hollow Men}}~~
	~~{{More citations needed\|date=June 2011}}~~
	~~{{Use British English\|date=May 2014}}~~
	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=December 2021}}~~
	{{Infobox television		{{Infobox television
	\| image =		\| image =
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	* [[Stephen Rea]] as Colin Garrity		* [[Stephen Rea]] as Colin Garrity
	* [[Judith Hann]] as herself		* [[Judith Hann]] as herself

	~~==See also==~~
	*''[[Woops]]'', a 1992 American sitcom with a similar theme.
	*''[[The Last Man on Earth (TV series)\|The Last Man on Earth]]'', a 2015 American comedy with a similar theme.

	==Reception==		==Reception==

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en>Carpenter117: /* Premise */ Reformatted to be more in tune with Wikipedia's style

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Premise: Reformatted to be more in tune with Wikipedia's style

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{{Short description|British television series}}
{{About|the TV show|the short story by [[Damon Knight]]|Not with a Bang (short story)|the phrase|The Hollow Men}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2011}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox television
| image =
| caption =
| alt_name =
| genre = [[Situation comedy]]
| creator =
| developer =
| writer = [[Tony Millan]] [[Mike Walling]]
| director = Robin Carr
| creative_director =
| starring = [[Mike Grady (actor)|Mike Grady]] [[Josie Lawrence]] [[Ronald Pickup]] [[Stephen Rea]]
| theme_music_composer = [[Rod Argent]] [[Peter Van Hooke]]
| opentheme =
| endtheme =
| composer =
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| num_series = 1
| num_episodes = 7
| list_episodes =
| executive_producer =
| producer = Robin Carr
| editor =
| location =
| cinematography =
| camera =
| runtime = 30 minutes
| company = [[London Weekend Television|LWT]]
| channel = [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]]
| first_aired = {{Start date|1990|3|25|df=yes}}
| last_aired = {{End date|1990|5|6|df=yes}}
| related =
}}

'''''Not with a Bang''''' is a British [[television]] [[sitcom]] produced by [[London Weekend Television|LWT]] for [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] in 1990. It ran for seven episodes, each 30 minutes long.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comedy.org.uk/guide/tv/not_with_a_bang/ |title=Not with a Bang – Sitcom – British Comedy Guide |publisher=Comedy.org.uk |accessdate=2009-07-19}}</ref> The show was a dark [[science fiction]] [[comedy]], focusing on the end of the [[human]] race on [[Earth]].<ref name="Post1990-04-06">{{cite news |date=1990-04-06 |title=Surviving a comedy series |url=https://britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002471/19900406/483/0040 |url-access=subscription |newspaper=[[Reading Evening Post]] |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] |accessdate=2024-03-07 }}</ref><ref name="Leader1990-03-23">{{cite news |date=1990-03-23 |title=Survival of the funniest |url=https://britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002493/19900323/033/0007 |url-access=subscription |newspaper=[[Harrow Leader]] |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] |accessdate=2024-03-07 }}</ref> The title comes from the last line of [[T. S. Eliot]]'s poem "[[The Hollow Men]]" "not with a bang, but a whimper"; The concept for the series originates from a self-contained 1986 [[BBC Radio 4|Radio 4]] afternoon play of the same title, from which [[Mike Grady (actor)|Mike Grady]] was the only cast member to reprise his role in the television series.

==Premise==
The pilot episode of ''Not with a Bang'' begins with a spoof episode of the iconic [[BBC]] show ''[[Tomorrow's World]]'', (which is also a nod to the opening titles of apocalyptic drama series [[Survivors (1975 TV series)|''Survivors'']]) where [[Judith Hann]] is presenting a story on how scientists have apparently isolated the hormone that causes aging in humans. The chemical is then accidentally released from a vial and the effect spreads almost instantly, annihilating virtually all human life on Earth, turning people into little piles of an ash-like compound, before dissipating harmlessly.

The show then follows the plight of the four human survivors – three male, one female – who survive due to various far-fetched reasons – for example being sealed in a sound-proof booth during a [[pub]] quiz when the agent strikes the vicinity. The four characters are united by chance about one year after the event, and set up a base of operations in a country [[cottage]]. They then spend the next six episodes looking for other survivors, adjusting to life after the end of the world, and deliberating over the repopulation of the human race.

The show relies heavily on a small cast of esoteric characters, including: [[rugby league]] fanatic Colin; everyman Brian, who comes closest to being the group's leader; and Graham and Janet, a bland couple who struggle over the issue of having children. Conversation between Graham and Janet frequently features Graham's reluctance and Janet's determination to have children, as well as Graham's extraordinarily low [[spermatozoon|sperm]] count.

The pub name is never mentioned in the show. Although an interior quiz advert references the Red Lion in Episode 1, there is also a V for Versus above, as well as a faint H, suggesting they did not attempt to rename the pub, as in an earlier shot of the outside, the White Hart sign is visible. These shots are of the White Hart in the village of [[Bouth]], [[Cumbria]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.google.com/maps/@54.2616493,-3.0322028,3a,60y,338.33h,80.16t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s86excFS_LUBE1Zovt8SRaw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192|title=Google Maps|website=Google Maps}}</ref>

==Cast==
* [[Mike Grady (actor)|Mike Grady]] as Graham Wilkins
* [[Josie Lawrence]] as Janet Wilkins
* [[Ronald Pickup]] as Brian Appleyard
* [[Stephen Rea]] as Colin Garrity
* [[Judith Hann]] as herself

==See also==
*''[[Woops]]'', a 1992 American sitcom with a similar theme.
*''[[The Last Man on Earth (TV series)|The Last Man on Earth]]'', a 2015 American comedy with a similar theme.

==Reception==
The ''[[Daily Mirror]]'' television critic Hilary Kingsley criticised the television series, writing, "Not to mince words, ''Not With A Bang'' is awful. It certainly comes with a whimper—mine—and four wimps, the nerdish characters who sit around misunderstanding each other each week. We're supposed to find it droll that the continuance of the human race rests with Janet, a prissy housewife and pot-holer (Josie Lawrence) and either her gormless loft-converter husband (Mike Grady) or one of the two other fluke survivors getting on each others' nerves. ... Josie-Lawrence can do 20 things funnier in one episode of ''Whose Line Is It Anyway''."<ref name="Kingsley1990-04-07">{{cite news |last=Kingsley |first=Hilary |date=1990-04-07 |title=This Is the End |url=https://britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19900407/121/0016 |url-access=subscription |newspaper=[[Daily Mirror]] |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] |accessdate=2024-03-07 }}</ref>

In a positive review, James Green of ''[[The Stage]]'' stated, "It is funny, very funny at times, which is a help and as a saucy show with adult innuendoes has been given a 10. 5 pm network slot. ... Now that is an entirely novel kind of sit-com and for that thanks are due to writers Mike Walling and Tony Millan, and director-producer Robin Carr. In their own style of innuendo may they keep it up."<ref name="Green1990-04-05">{{cite news |last=Green |first=James |date=1990-04-05 |title=Not With A Bang |url=https://britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001180/19900405/114/0023 |url-access=subscription |newspaper=[[The Stage]] |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] |id={{ProQuest|1040659927}} |accessdate=2024-03-07 }}</ref> The ''[[Evening Standard]]''{{'s}} Geoffrey Phillips wrote, "It's a doomsday comedy, faintly reminiscent of a funny version of the Seventies series ''Survivors'', benefiting very considerably from the casting of Ronald Pickup and Stephen Rea. The arrival of Mike Grady and Josie Lawrence promises even better things to come."<ref name="Phillips199-03-23">{{cite news |last=Phillips |first=Geoffrey |date=1990-03-23 |title=Sunday Choice |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-standard/142859018/ |newspaper=[[Evening Standard]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-03-07 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240307105959/https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-standard/142859018/ |archivedate=2024-03-07 }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098879/ Internet Movie Database]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121016134824/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/series/18623 Episode guide at the BFI website]

[[Category:1990 British television series debuts]]
[[Category:1990 British television series endings]]
[[Category:1990s British comic science fiction television series]]
[[Category:ITV sitcoms]]
[[Category:Post-apocalyptic television series]]
[[Category:London Weekend Television shows]]
[[Category:Apocalyptic television series]]
[[Category:British English-language television shows]]
[[Category:Television series by ITV Studios]]
[[Category:1990s British sitcoms]]

Not with a Bang - Revision history

Kurt at 01:14, 17 August 2024

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>Carpenter117: /* Premise */ Reformatted to be more in tune with Wikipedia's style