Gimme Gimme Gimme

This outrageous flat share sitcom takes the 'odd couple' scenario and augments it with a hefty dash of camp (title and theme music courtesy of ABBA!).

Kathy Burke (who also has a hand in the scripts) plays Lynda La Hughes, who believes herself to be extremely attractive, stylish and irresistible, despite ocular evidence to the contrary.

Her wardrobe seems to have been purloined from Vivienne Westwood's worst nightmares, even Elton John would find her glasses a tad too garish and she has flamboyant red curly hair. Her appearance is almost as noisy as she is.

Lynda's flat mate is Tom Farrell, a gay (and ever so slightly queeny) out of work actor. He and Lynda share the same taste in men, so his homosexuality is a thorn in her side (as she can't believe that given the choice, a man would choose Tom over her).

Their upstairs neighbour is a retired lady of the night, Beryl Merit, who views their shenanigans with an air of bemused detachment.

Playwright Jonathan Harvey scripted the series, revelling in camp excess and seemingly taking his lead from Absolutely Fabulous and its parade of self obsessed grotesques.
Kathy Burke and James Dreyfus

It wasn't all surface vulgarity though: Lynda and Tom's credulous neighbours are a neat parody of over sincere, middle class liberals.

With Burke's larger-than-life character and wardrobe, and Dreyfus providing his particular line of camp tomfoolery, Gimme Gimme Gimme had no intention of wooing those for whom more subtle comedy was preferable.

It revelled in innuendo and was uninhibited about being itself and as such, is very much a marmite programme: those who love it love it, those who don't, really don't.

The final episode ends on a positive note for Tom (he gets a job on Crossroads) and leaves Lynda alone and somewhat dejected.

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Cast
Kathy Burke - Lynda La Hughes
James Dreyfus - Tom Farrell
Rosalind Knight - Beryl Merit
Brian Bovell - Jez
Beth Goddard - Suze


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Crew
Jonathan Harvey - Writer
Liddy Oldroyd - Director
Tristram Shapeero - Director
Sue Vertue - Producer
Matthew Francis - Producer
Jon Plowman Executive producer
Mark Chapman - Executive producer
Peter Bennett-Jones - Executive producer
Sue Vertue - Executive producer (read less)

This outrageous flat share sitcom takes the 'odd couple' scenario and augments it with a hefty dash of camp (title and theme music courtesy of ABBA!).

Kathy Burke (who also has a hand in the scripts) plays Lynda La Hughes, who believes herself to be extremely attractive, stylish and irresistible, despite ocular evidence to the contrary.

Her wardrobe seems to have been purloined from Vivienne Westwood's worst nightmares, even Elton John would find her glasses a tad too garish and she has... (read more)