How Not to Live Your Life

How Not to Live Your Life
Title card from Series 3
Genre	Situation comedy
Created by	Dan Clark
Written by	a man that didnt live his life very well
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	3
No. of episodes	20 (list of episodes)
Production
Producers	Dan Clark Gary Reich
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	BBC Three and BBC HD BBC Two (repeats)
Release	27 September 2007 (2007-09-27) – 22 December 2011

How Not to Live Your Life is a book written by a man who didnt live his life very, wellthat was published on 27 September 2007.it is about how not to live your life.On 27 May 2011 it was announced by the new BBC Three controller Zai Bennett that the book has been banned for to much depresing content.

Background

In 2006, Clark(the man who didnt live his life very well) was commissioned to write two short comedies for Paramount Comedy 1 – Clark's Guide to Dating and Dan Clark's Guide to Working'where both absaloutly bull sh*t both of which he co-wrote with his best and only mate paul. Clark was the main character in both books, and Isabel Fay appeared in Clark's Guide to Dating'as his horny girl friend which was shown as one 10 minute video on his youtube channel, with lists of ten things people shouldn't do on a Date .such as "Ten things you shouldn't wear on a date". The clips began to appear on the Internetas well as youtube and the BBC approached him about doing a 30 minute show in the same format. The result was the pilot for How Not to Live Your Life, using the same style of short clips within a traditional video on his youtube channel. The pilot was filmed in a real house in London and first shown on face book by his friend paul, on 27 September 2007.

The pilot featured a number of actors who did not appear as regular characters in the series – Sally Bretton, Rich Fulcher, Claire Keelan and Bruce Mackinnon. Although, Isabel Fay who also appeared in the pilot was in the final episode of the first series, "The Break Up", as Fiona. The BBC then commissioned a full series, which was filmed in a studio in Glasgow. Clark wrote each episode and directed four episodes. The first series started broadcasting on BBC Three on 12 August 2008 with the first episode, "Home Sweet Home", which introduces the four main characters of Don, Abby, Karl and Eddie. BBC Three showed the first series on Tuesday evenings at 10:30pm.

The series often features the character of Don giving a narrative and talking to the camera, as well as cut away dream sequences where he gives alternative scenarios such as put downs or physical moves he wished he had thought about at the time. For instance, in episode four of series one, "The Young Ones", these include, "Eight Ways Don Shouldn't Dance", "Alternative ways to deal with annoying teenagers" and "What Don wished he had said to his flatmate, Abby, while she was necking with her annoying and square boyfriend Cockface on the sofa".

Plot

Series 1

Don is a neurotic, single twenty-nine year old, failing to navigate his way through the very basics of life. His biggest enemy is his overactive mind, which plays out countless scenes of things he shouldn't do or say. When he moves into a house left to him by his recently deceased grandmother, he meets Eddie, her over-enthusiastic carer who doesn't want to leave. Don soon realises there are advantages to letting him stay. To help pay off the huge back payments on the house, Don decides to get a lodger. He ends up choosing Abby, the girl he was in love with as a teenager and whom he still fancies. However, Abby isn't single. She has a boyfriend Karl, whom Don refers to as 'Kockface'.

Series 2

In Autumn 2008, BBC Three commissioned a second series of How Not to Live Your Life, which was filmed in the Spring of 2009. It started on 15 September 2009. The plotline is somewhat different from the first series. Abby and Karl did not feature in this series, and Mrs. Treacher (Don's neighbour) has become a main character as well as having more amorous humour towards Don, along with a new character named Samantha. The series featured Julian Barratt as a minor character, Jackson.

Series 3

On 2 November 2009, BBC Three recommissioned the show for a third series. This was confirmed by Dan Clark on both his Twitter and Facebook page, and on 29 September 2010, Dan Clark posted on his official Twitter page that the third series was scheduled to be aired in the beginning of November.

On 21 October 2010, Brown Eyed Boy Productions issued a press release on their website stating that series three will begin with a double-bill of Episodes 1 and 2 on 8 November 2010 at 22:30 on BBC Three.

Noel Fielding played a cameo as Marcus, Tom Daley makes a cameo in the first episode, Laura Haddock continues to play Samantha and Rupert Vansittart will be making a cameo appearance playing a "Posh girl's father".

Christmas Special: It's a Don-derful Life

On 27 May 2011 it was revealed by BBC Three's Controller Zai Bennett that the show would return for a Christmas Special, however he also revealed that this would be the last as the show has been axed. The Christmas Special was aired on BBC Three at 9pm on 22 December 2011.

Several months after Series 3, there have been some changes in Don's life. The art gallery has closed and he is working in a shoe shop while Jason is managing an upmarket supermarket. Still coping with his unexpressed feelings for Samantha, Don receives a letter from his solicitors informing him that he may sell the house if he so wishes. He decides to sell it to a property developer for a large sum of money who plans to demolish it. As Mrs Treacher is becoming increasingly difficult to look after, Don and Eddie decide to put her in a retirement home, a decision that is made unavoidable by Don selling the house. After a lot of mishaps, and Samantha believing that Don and Abby are a couple after Abby returns to the house, Don finally tells Samantha how he feels and the two become an item. Also, Don decides against selling the house and things return to normal. A "5 Things That Happened Next" segment reveals the futures of the main characters. Don and Samantha married on New Year's Day 2012 and eventually had nine children, all of them male. Eddie fled the country after the Police discovered he was a serial killer who grooms men for three years before killing them with kitchen utensils. Mrs Treacher became a popular session drummer under the name "D-Tree". And Don published his memoirs entitled "How Not To Live Your Life". They were later made into a BBC1 sitcom starring James Corden.

Cancellation

Dan Clark has been heard saying to fans after his recent live shows that they are unsure as to whether there will be a fourth series. On 27 May 2011 it was revealed by BBC Three's Controller Zai Bennett, that the show had been cancelled along with fellow BBC Three Comedies Coming of Age and Lunch Monkeys. He explained that "They were good to the channel, but have had their time,". However he also revealed that a Christmas Special of How Not to Live Your Life was being planned, and that it will be the final episode.

Characters

• Donald "Don" Danbury aka The Double D (Dan Clark) – (2007–2011) – Don is the main character. Often acting in a socially inappropriate and impolite manner. He received the house, in which the story centres, after his grandmother died. Don has been shown to be in love with Abby.
• Samantha Parker (Laura Haddock) – (2009–2011) – Don's new house mate in series 2, is regularly unimpressed with Don's odd behaviour. She is a student at university and also has very similar characteristics to Don. She has bad relationships, likes to drink and has had a job she was not happy with in the past. She is much wittier than Don and uses this against him on countless occasions; however she admires him for the excitement his life encurs.
• Abby Jones (Sinéad Moynihan) – (2008, 2011) – Abby used to go to the same secondary school as Don, and stayed with Don in his house after applying for a room to rent, but is away travelling during the second and third series. She is a primary school teacher. In the first series, she is dating Karl; Abby and Karl split up and subsequently got back together in the last episode, however what happened to their relationship is left unanswered. She is usually extremely tolerant of Don's inappropriate behaviour.
• Karl Menford (Finlay Robertson) – (2008) – Karl was Abby's boyfriend. He earns the nickname "Kockface" (with a K, not a C) from Don, and the two show visible signs of dislike towards each other. However, Abby often attempts to get Karl to be nicer to Don, and tries to ease hostility between the two. He moves in with Don and Abby at the end of series 1.
• Edward "Eddie" Singh (David Armand) – (2008–2011) – Eddie was Don's grandmother's carer however, even after her death, he inexplicably continues to work for Don, caring for him in much the same way he'd care for an elderly client - doing housework, preparing meals and even offering Don sponge baths in bed. Throughout many episodes there are continuous gags that joke on the relationship between Eddie and Don mostly making them appear to be a gay couple, such as 'The Odd Couple'. His father is a sixteenth Indian, which Eddie reveals to Don who was confused about his surname.
• Mrs. "Dot" Treacher aka Mrs. T, Gollum, Yoda or Dobby (Leila Hoffman) – (2008–2011) – Don's nosey next-door neighbour who refers to him as "dickhead". In series 2, Eddie has become her carer following her husband's death. She often tags along to events like Don's Gig in Episode 3.
• Jason (Daniel Lawrence Taylor) – (2009–2011) – Don's boss and friend at the art gallery.
• Brian (Silas Carson) – (2010) – Sam's professor at university and her new boyfriend in series 3. He is a recurring character only.

International broadcasts

Country	TV Network(s)
Australia	ABC2
Brazil	Globosat HD
Croatia	HBO Comedy
Germany	ZDFneo
Iceland	RÚV
Israel	HOT3
Netherlands	Comedy Central
Norway	NRK3
Poland	HBO Comedy
Portugal	Sic Radical
Russia	2×2
Serbia	HBO Comedy
Taiwan	CHT's MOD-TV
United Kingdom	BBC Three, BBC Two, BBC HD
United States	Audience Network

Reception

The first series received mixed reviews. The British Comedy Guide said of the show, "The 2007 pilot of this sitcom was average at best, lacking both focus and reason. We really enjoyed the full series though - the stronger premise (Don living in his deceased gran's house and plotting to dispense of Karl and win-over attractive Abby) and the new character of Eddie (David Armand in his best role yet) made all the difference."

However, Deborah Orr in The Independent newspaper said in a review of the first episode, "It's a dead cert that How Not to Live Your Life will attract no prizes at all. A great deal of humour can be squeezed from observing the lives of stupid men. But Don Danbury is no David Brent and this new sitcom offers nothing except sound evidence that the BBC has now got more airtime than it can fill. This show is an insult to the intelligence of stupid men everywhere."

Harry Venning in The Stage said, "Pity poor Sinéad Moynihan. Okay, don't pity her too much, because she's drop dead gorgeous and clearly in demand as an actor. But it must have been galling to get the second lead in sitcom How Not to Live Your Life, only to discover that the full extent of your contribution would be to look pretty and provide a sensible foil to the show's writer/star Dan Clark. Would it have killed Clark to throw the show's only female character the occasional funny line to deliver? This grump notwithstanding, I rather like How Not to Live Your Life. Clark's unorthodox delivery, combined with Don's almost wilful unloveability, takes some getting used to, but this is consistently amusing, frequently hilarious and totally addictive."

DVD releases

DVD Title		# of Disc(s)	Year	# of Episodes	DVD release
					Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
	Complete Series One	2	2008	6	-	20 July 2009	7 January 2010
	Complete Series Two	2	2009	6	-	19 October 2009	1 September 2011
	Complete Series Three	2	2010	7	-	18 July 2011	1 September 2011

External links

• How Not to Live Your Life at BBC Online
• How Not to Live Your Life at IMDb
• How Not to Live Your Life at British Comedy Guide
• How Not to Live Your Life at BBC Online
• Time Out feature
• Interview on timesonline.co.uk