Brian Pern
The Brian Pern documentaries are a British comedy spoof-documentary series about a fictional ageing rock star, Brian Pern, the former frontman of the 1970s progressive rock group Thotch. The series is written by Rhys Thomas and Simon Day, and stars Day as Pern, with Michael Kitchen, Paul Whitehouse and Nigel Havers in supporting roles.
Brian Pern
Rock Ratatouille
Comedy
Mockumentary
Rhys Thomas
United Kingdom
English
3
11 (list of episodes)
Saurabh Kakkar/Richard Webb
Rhys Thomas
30 minutes
40 minutes for "A Tribute"
10 February 2014 –
29 March 2017
Brian Pern, described by Radio Times as "an affectionate parody of Peter Gabriel, with a dash of Brian Eno",[1] originated as a character for a web series.[2] Subsequently transferred to television, the first series, titled The Life of Rock with Brian Pern, was originally broadcast in three weekly parts on BBC Four from 10 February 2014. A second series of three episodes was promoted to BBC Two and broadcast from 9 December 2014, retitled Brian Pern: A Life in Rock. A third series of three episodes, Brian Pern: 45 Years of Prog and Roll, was broadcast on BBC Four from 14 January 2016. A spoof Christmas song ‘Wish I Was At Home With My Missus' was based on the WW1 Christmas Truce.
Production[edit]
The commissioning of the series was announced by Janice Hadlow on 22 August 2013 at the Edinburgh International Television Festival under the name of Rock Ratatouille.[3][4]
Reception[edit]
Reviewing the second series, Brian Pern: A Life in Rock, Michael Hogan of The Daily Telegraph believed that "the observational material had bite but lost its cutting edge by forcing itself into a sitcom framework."[2] Andrew Billen of The Times thought that "the first of this three-part returning comedy certainly had its very funny moments, but was it really necessary?"[2] Ellen E. Jones of The Independent considered it to be a "very astute, very funny spoof of fêted rock'n'roll royalty, money grabbing 'creative' projects and BBC arts documentaries in general."[2] Matt Baylis of the Daily Express commented "there's a sense of the BBC laughing at itself so other people don't have to. I'm not sure it should get off that lightly."[2]