Home (lost scripts of unproduced BBC sitcom; 2003-2008)

Television listing for The Two Ronnies Sketchbook, which stated Home would be aired later in 2005 (found in the 31st March 2005 issue of Wicklow People).

Status: Lost

Home was an unproduced BBC sitcom. Written by and featuring David Walliams and Rob Brydon, it starred Ronnie Corbett as the sole and randy male retirement home resident. Script-writing had been initiated in July 2003, with at least four episode scripts being penned by 2005. However, scheduling conflicts and concerns over the scripts' quality led to the sitcom ending up indefinitely shelved by 2008.

Background

Ronnie Corbett, David Walliams and Rob Brydon had all previously risen to prominence in British comedy television. Corbett was synonymous for his starring roles in various BBC sitcoms, including as Timothy Lumsden in Sorry!. However, his association with Ronnie Barker made the duo icons, primarily thanks to their BBC comedy sketch programme The Two Ronnies. One sketch, which saw Corbett as a hardware shopkeeper who mistakes Barker's demand for "fork handles" as "four candles" among other overly vague item requests, is generally regarded as among the revered British sketches. Meanwhile, David Walliams rose to national recognition by writing and starring in the BBC sketch comedy show Little Britain alongside Matt Lucas, for which he won the 2003 British Comedy Awards' Best Newcomer award. Finally, Rob Brydon achieved success by writing and appearing in the comedy series Human Remains and Marion And Geoff, both produced by Steve Coogan's Baby Cow Productions. Coogan also worked with Brydon and Walliams in the 2002 comedy-drama film Cruise of the Gods.

Walliams and Brydon's prior connections with Coogan helped spearhead a new BBC sitcom project. On 12th December 2003, the BBC announced that Baby Cow Productions, alongside Brydon's independent organisation Jones The Film, had linked up to produce scripts for the sitcom Home featuring Corbett. In a television listing for The Two Ronnies Sketchbook, Home was specifically written for Corbett. It aimed to star him as the sole male resident in a retirement home, who despite his advancing age, remains fixated on satisfying his enormous libido by seducing the old ladies around him. Corbett, Walliams and Brydon all compared the character to Playboy founder and notorious womaniser Hugh Hefner. Walliams and Brydon would feature as brothers and the retirement home's owners. The pair did not get on; in a December 2003 interview with Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Walliams explained his character donated a kidney to Brydon's growing up, but now demands its return.

Development and Cancellation

Home was set to air on BBC Two and BBC Three. If successful, it would mark Corbett's return to a prominent sitcom role since Sorry!. Script-writing had already begun in July 2003. During the 28th January 2004 edition of This Morning, Brydon stated he and Walliams had completed Episode 1's initial draft. He had shown the draft to an enthusiastic Corbett, which contained a scene where two women leave the bedroom after having sex with the latter's character. Brydon had hoped to begin filming the show later that year. But months later, he and Walliams were side-tracked with the development of Little Britain. As confirmed by Brydon in a June 2004 interview with Heat, only the pilot's script had been completed before attention turned elsewhere. In December 2004, Walliams stated on This Morning that a third series of Little Britain was now a bigger priority and that Home's filming would be pushed back by at least a year.

Nevertheless, script-writing was restarted in early 2005. Television listings of the 1st April 2005 broadcast of The Two Ronnies Sketchbook claimed Home would be aired sometime that year. During a meet-and-greet in June 2005, David Walliams Fans member Lisa managed to chat with Brydon. He confirmed that four-episode scripts had now been initiated, with Corbett having also provided input for the pilot. Alas, scheduling conflicts forced him and Walliams to delay Home once more, to the end of 2006. In the meantime, Corbett kept busy by filming sketches for "trendy TV", including Extras and even Little Britain Abroad. Throughout 2007 and 2008, Corbett continued teasing the eventual release of Home during television interviews and festivals. Based on a search of The British Newspaper Archive, the very last mention of Home's development arose during Corbett's 3rd October 2008 interview on The South Bank Show.

Ultimately, Home never came to fruition. By 2008, the British Comedy Guide added a section for Home which confirmed the pilot script was still unfinished because of Walliams and Brydon's extensive schedules. Consequently, its production had been indefinitely postponed. It is also possible quality issues played a factor. During the 2008 TV Comedy Forum, Brydon admitted that while the scripts contained "some cracking lines", he felt unable to fully harness his writing prowess. Any chance of the project's resumption ended following Corbett's passing on 31st March 2016, aged 85. Brydon and Walliams were among those to attend his funeral. Walliams also declared Corbett as his "comedy idol". The British Comedy Guide has since listed Home as a cancelled project.

Availability

Home has since fallen into obscurity, with it occasionally mentioned in online forum discussions surrounding abandoned British television programmes. By the project's shelving, at least four scripts were partially completed by June 2005 though nothing was considered finalised. It is possible the likes of Brydon, Walliams or Coogan may still possess the unfinished scripts. However, none have currently been made publicly available.