Come Fly with Me (2010 TV series)

Come Fly with Me
Title card
Genre	Comedy, mockumentary
Created by	Matt Lucas David Walliams
Written by	Matt Lucas David Walliams Kevin Cecil Andy Riley
Directed by	Paul King
Creative director(s)	BBC Creative
Starring	Matt Lucas David Walliams
Narrated by	Lindsay Duncan
Composer(s)	David Arnold
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	6 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Mark Freeland Geoff Posner
Producer(s)	Adam Tandy
Editor(s)	Ant Boys Mark Everson
Running time	28 minutes
Production company(s)	Little Britain Productions BBC Productions
Distributor	2entertain (BBC DVD) BBC
Release
Original network	BBC One & BBC One HD
Picture format	1080i (HDTV)
Audio format	Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Original release	25 December 2010 – 27 January 2011
Chronology
Related shows	Little Britain Airport Luton Airport Airline
External links
Official website

Come Fly with Me is a British mockumentary television comedy series created by and starring Matt Lucas and David Walliams. Narrated by Lindsay Duncan, the series launched on 25 December 2010 on BBC One and BBC One HD. A spoof of British documentaries Airport and Airline, the series follows the activity at a fictional airport and three fictional airlines: FlyLo (a low-cost airline), Our Lady Air (an Irish low-cost airline) and Great British Air (a major international British airline). Lucas and Walliams portray many of the focal airline and airport staff, as well as some passengers, whose comments and experiences are featured in one or more of the series episodes in the style of a "fly-on-the-wall documentary". Despite the BBC announcing a second series, Walliams confirmed in January 2013 that a second series was not going to air.^[1]

Production

In June 2010, it was announced that Little Britain stars Lucas and Walliams had reunited to star in a new comedy series set in an airport, a spoof of British documentaries Airport and Airline.^[2][3] Filming for Come Fly with Me began in August with the duo spending two weeks at Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield.^[4][5] A further three weeks were spent filming at London Stansted Airport,^[6] with further weeks of filming at Pinewood Studios. A making-of documentary entitled Come Fly on the Wall aired on BBC One on 8 February 2011.^[7]

On 28 January 2011 the BBC announced it had commissioned a second series.^[8][9]

Airlines

• FlyLo – FlyLo is a low-cost, no-frills airline, owned by Omar Baba. Providing service across Europe and selected destinations across the Atlantic and South East Asia, it uses many hidden charges and unorthodox schemes in order to cut costs. These include £1 flights to New York City (with a £480 booking fee), upright flatbeds in economy class, and a very small hand baggage allowance. FlyLo also offers budget package holidays that do not go down very well with their passengers. FlyLo uses a fleet of Boeing 737-800 and Airbus A320-200 aircraft.
• Our Lady Air – Our Lady Air is an Irish low-cost airline, providing low-cost routes across Europe. It saves money by flying to airports further away from the actual city centre, such as landing a flight to Barcelona in Ireland. Our Lady Air offers business class, in-flight meals and no hidden charges. Our Lady Air has a fleet of Airbus A320-200, Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 757-200 aircraft.
• Great British Air – Great British Air (Callsign: Swiftbird) is a major British flag carrier airline, providing a high-class service around the world from the UK. The airline is renowned for having the finest first-class service in the world with champagne and chocolates on boarding and well-cooked meals on long-haul flights. On short-haul flights, both first and economy class passengers are given a small glass of fresh orange juice and a complimentary browse of The Daily Mail. Great British Air have a fleet of Airbus A330-200, Boeing 747-200, Boeing 747-400 and 737-800 aircraft.

Characters

Main characters

• Omar Baba (Walliams) – The double-chinned, flamboyantly asinine Arab owner of low-cost airline FlyLo. Baba is parody of the controversial Greek "low-cost flying" entrepreneur, Stelios Haji-Ioannou (the founder of British low-cost airline Easyjet).^[10]
• Precious Little (Lucas) – A Jamaican woman in her 50s who professes to be a devout Christian, she is the manager of the airport's coffee kiosk. Precious deliberately causes problems that force the closure of the kiosk, allowing her to take the day off. Her main catchphrase is shouting "Praise the Lord!"
• Moses Beacon (Walliams) – The gushing, effeminate executive passenger liaison officer for Great British Air. Moses also runs a charity called WishWings. His catch phrase is "if you'll pardon the pun," although there is usually no pun.
• Ian Foot (Walliams) – The pompous and racist chief immigration officer, who often comes up with ridiculous reasons not to allow a foreign person into the country.^[11]
• Tommy Reid (Lucas) – A young, obtuse Scottish man working at Happy Burger, one of the airport's fast-food eateries. He hopes to work his way up to becoming a pilot, happily unaware that the two jobs are completely unrelated.
• Taaj Manzoor (Lucas) – Taaj is a young British man of Pakistani descent who works as part of the roving ground crew for FlyLo. He sports a shaved head and a chin curtain beard.
• Melody Baines (Walliams) and Keeley St Clair (Lucas) – Two snarky Liverpudlian check-in girls for FlyLo.
• Mickey Minchin (Lucas) and Buster Bell (Walliams) – Mickey and Buster are two shaggy paparazzi who haunt the airport's hallways, constantly messing up in their photo-shooting activities.
• Fearghal O'Farrell (Lucas) – A gay Irish air steward for Irish airline Our Lady Air, who leads a destructive campaign in order to become Employee of the Year.
• Ben Roberts (Walliams) and James Stewart (Lucas) – Two British airport customs officers, with rather extreme methods of cataloguing the illegal substances they find, such as sampling drugs.
• Simon (Lucas) and Jackie Trent (Walliams) – A husband-and-wife pilot team, flying for Great British Air. Jackie constantly brings up the fact that Simon committed adultery with a stewardess; the reason they now fly together.
• Peter (Lucas) and Judith Surname (Walliams) – Holiday makers who have suffered several horrific and surrealistic trips abroad after buying destination packages from FlyLo. Her husband, Peter, is forced to take a subordinate stance to Judith's overbearing personality.
• Penny Carter (Walliams) – A very elitist first-class stewardess for Great British Air's long haul flights.
• Terry (Walliams) and John (Lucas) – Father-and-son baggage handlers, who steal from passengers' luggage and are generally less than careful with it.
• Helen Baker (Sally Rogers) – The check-in staff manager for FlyLo.
• Lisa (Pippa Bennett-Warner) - Check-in staff for FlyLo. She receives several complaints from regular FlyLo passengers, Peter and Judith.

Additional characters

• Hetty Wolf (Lucas) – A 92-year-old first-time passenger who scams Moses Beacon into buying her a number of luxuries and getting her a seat in First Class, before revealing she has flown many times before. (Appears in: Episode 1)
• Sue (Lucas) and Geoff Stott (Walliams) – A couple who are flying to Disneyland to get married. (Appear in: Episode 1)
• Asuka and Nanako (Walliams & Lucas) – Two Japanese girls who have flown to the airport to see their idol, Martin Clunes. (Appear in: Episode 1)
• Mrs Mumbutu (Ellen Thomas) - Liberian passenger whom Ian accuses of making up her country. (Appears in: Episode 2)
• Anthony (Walliams) - The supervisor is there to help Tommy serve his first customer at Happy Burger
• Lee Lodge (Walliams) – Trainee steward for Our Lady Air. He has a girlfriend and is straight, but has sexual intercourse with Fearghal O'Farrell whilst in a hotel in Dublin (Appears in: Episode 2)
• Captain Stirrick (Ted Robbins) – A drunk airline pilot who causes a commotion. (Appears in: Episode 2)
• David Schwimmer (Himself) - Stopped by Customs whilst trying to smuggle transsexual porn DVDs into the UK, initially blaming it on fellow Friends star Matt LeBlanc, before then blaming it on Jennifer Aniston. (Appears in: Episode 2)
• Mr Akhmed (Stewart Scudamore) - A Muslim passenger that orders the halal meal option on the flight to Rome but instead was given the kosher meal by Fearghal. (Appears in: Episode 3).
• Rupert Grint (Himself) - Taaj gives Rupert his script for Future Cop 2000 when meeting him whilst he disembarked the plane from Los Angeles. Taaj asks Grint to pass it on to Daniel Radcliffe. (Appears in: Episode 3).
• The Woods Family – A family who turn up for their flight a week early. They stay at the airport for a week, then end up missing their flight. (Appears in: Episode 4)
• Kenneth (Lucas) – A border-patrol worker who instantly recognizes Ian Foot in disguise. (Appears in: Episode 4)
• Steve Downes (Lucas) – A police-dog handler whose previous canine companions have mostly ended up in rehab. His current drug sniffer dog is called Bobo. (Appears in: Episode 5)
• George Spires (Lucas) – A Welsh toilet-cleaner who is a fan of opera-singing, and sings to the people who come in. (Appears in: Episode 5)
• Colin (Walliams) and Gavin (Lucas) – Battle re-enactors who are not allowed to take swords to a re-enactment of the Battle of Agincourt; Colin later says he has killed only three people in the trade. (Appear in: Episode 5)
• Nut Allergy Passenger (Alex MacQueen) – A passenger of Our Lady Air who suffers from a nut allergy. Fearghal 'saves' him from dying. (He had induced the reaction himself by discreetly dropping a handful of hot nuts into his mouth on his way past, in order to appear heroic.) (Appear in: Episode 5)
• Corinne Oliver (Walliams) – The airport's Special Needs officer. She is disabled herself and is pushed around by her helper, Bob (Lucas). (Appears in: Episode 6)
• Bob (Lucas) - Corrine Oliver's wheelchair pusher. (Appears in: Episode 6)
• Flying School Instructor (Walliams) - Employee for the BAC who interviews Tommy Reid for the chance to become a pilot. (Appears in: Episode 6)
• Ray (Walliams) and Anne Wilkins (Lucas) – Owners of the airport pub. They are known to chase departing customers through the airport in a bid for someone to stay 'more than twelve minutes'. (Appear in: Episode 6)
• Mary O'Mara (Aisling Bea) – Air stewardess for Irish airline Our Lady Air, who wins the Steward Of The Year title in a draw with Fearghal O'Farrell. (Appears in: Episode 6)
• Dale Winton (Himself) - Winton hosts Our Lady Air's annual Steward of the year competition. (Appears in: Episode 6)
• Mr Dubrowski (Valentine Pelka) - The Polish ambassador to the United Kingdom, whom Ian Foot accuses of working illegally in the UK because he is Polish.

Episodes

Series One (2010–11)

Series One of Come Fly with Me began airing on Christmas Day 2010 and received mixed reviews from critics and 12.47 million viewers.^[12] Episode Two, which aired on New Years Day 2011, gained 8.80 million viewers^[13] and the remaining four episodes averaged around 7 million viewers throughout the rest of the series.^{[14][15][16][17]}

The series began airing in the US on BBC America on 18 June 2011, edited to fit a 30-minute time slot with commercials.^[18]

Come Fly on the Wall (2011)

Come Fly on the Wall discussed the making of Come Fly with Me with Walliams and Lucas. The programme featured clips from filming, out-takes and interviews with the show's creators as they developed the series. It featured pre-production discussions and rehearsals and showed the actors filming at some of the UK’s busiest airports. It also showed Walliams and Lucas transforming into their new characters in the make-up chair, and bringing them to life in front of the camera. The programme was broadcast on BBC One on 8 February 2011.^[19][20]

Cancellation

On 28 January 2011, the BBC announced that the show had been commissioned for a second series. The new series was set to air in mid-2013. In January 2013, Walliams confirmed that a second season will not air, saying that Lucas does not want to do another show.^[21][22]

DVD and Blu-ray release

DVD/Blu-ray Title		Discs	Year	Episodes	Release dates
					Region 1	Region 2	Region 4	Blu-ray Region B
	Complete Series 1	2	2010–11	6	13 March 2012[23]	21 November 2011[24]	24 November 2011[25]	21 November 2011[26] (Region Free)

Web content

In conjunction with the TV episodes, a selection of extra online content was published on the programme website.^[27] The extra content, featuring some of the main characters played by Matt Lucas and David Walliams, was presented as spoof versions of real-life airline websites, for example an on-line check-in service for fictional airline FlyLo, with Melody and Keeley.^[28] The content was written by Kevin Cecil, who also contributed to the TV scripts. Cecil was inspired by his own work on comedy tie-in books over the years ^[29]

Reception

Come Fly with Me has received mixed reviews, with the Daily Express calling it "the worst sketch show, or sitcom to have ever gone out on a Christmas Day" and expressed concern over its screening on the day, considering the lack of quality.^[30] The Daily Mirror, however, claimed it was a resounding success and the claims of racism and lack of humour made by the Express were unfounded.^[31] The show was the most-watched comedy of 2010 with 10 million viewers,^[32] but also had thousands of viewer complaints, and criticism for perceived racist content.^[33] It was also the third most-watched show in the UK on Christmas Day.^[34]

Ratings

^[35]

Episode	Viewers (millions)
1	12.47
2	8.80
3	7.81
4	7.43
5	7.11
6	7.22

International versions

A Dutch version of the show was created, using an almost exact copy of the script and characters (translated to Dutch). It was broadcast on RTL 4 from August 2011.

References

1. J J Anisiobi (2013-01-03). "David Walliams admits he is very camp but claims to not be homosexual | Mail Online". Dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
2. "New show for David Walliams and Matt Lucas". BBC News. 28 May 2010. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
3. "David Walliams and Matt Lucas reunite for new BBC show set in an airport". The Telegraph. 29 May 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
4. "Filming begins at Doncaster-Sheffield". Robin Hood Airport Guide. 17 September 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
5. "Comedy duo fly in to film new series". The Star. 24 December 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
6. "More than 10 million people watch comedy Come Fly with Me". This Is Total Essex. 7 January 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
7. "Come Fly On the Wall". BBC Online. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
8. Aird, Jon (29 January 2011). "Come Fly With Me - Again!". BBC Online. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
9. Wolf, Ian (29 January 2011). "Come Fly with Me gets a second series". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
10. "Come Fly With Me: fasten your seatbelts" The Daily Telegraph, 20 December 2010 Walliams cocks a blatant snook at easyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou through his flamboyantly asinine, money-raking turn as low-budget airline boss Omar Baba of FlyLo
11. "Come Fly With Me: fasten your seatbelts" The Daily Telegraph, 20 December 2010
12. "Doctor Who viewers go time travelling: 'Astronaut' episode is the most recorded TV show of all time". kantarmediauk.com. 19 May 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
13. "UK TV Ratings 2 January 2011". tv-ratings.free-satellite-tv.co.uk. 2 January 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
14. "UK TV Ratings 9 Jan 2011". tv-ratings.free-satellite-tv.co.uk. 9 January 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
15. "UK TV Ratings 16 Jan 2011". tv-ratings.free-satellite-tv.co.uk. 16 January 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
16. "UK TV Ratings 23 Jan 2011". tv-ratings.free-satellite-tv.co.uk. 23 January 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
17. "UK TV Ratings 30 Jan 2011". tv-ratings.free-satellite-tv.co.uk. 30 January 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
18. "Come Fly With Me BBC America". http://press.bbcamerica.com. 18 June 2011. Archived from the original on 12 September 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2011. External link in |publisher= (help)
19. "Come Fly On The Wall BBC". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
20. "Special - Come Fly On The Wall". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
21. Moodie, Clemmie (3 January 2013). "David Walliams "disappointed" Matt Lucas doesn't want a second Come Fly With Me series". Mirror. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
22. "David Walliams: Matt Lucas 'vetoed' Come Fly With Me seque". BBC. 4 January 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
23. "Come Fly with Me - season one [DVD]". Amazon.com. n.d. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
24. "Come Fly with Me - Series 1 [DVD]". Amazon.co.uk. n.d. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
25. "ABC Shop: Come Fly With Me DVD". ABC Shop Online. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
26. "Come Fly with Me - Series 1 [Blu-ray][Region Free]". Amazon.co.uk. n.d. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
27. Online Extras Retrieved on 10 January 2011.
28. "FlyLo Online Check-in". BBC. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
29. Come Fly with Me 'online book' Retrieved on 10 January 2011.
30. Epstein, Robert (26 December 2010). "Come Fly with Me, BBC1, Christmas Day Poirot, ITV1, Christmas Day". The Independent. Retrieved 26 December 2010.
31. O'Sullivan, Kevin (2 January 2011). "Watch Come Fly With Me fly up the charts". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
32. "Come Fly with Me most watched comedy of 2010". The British Comedy Guide. 26 December 2010. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
33. "Lucas and Walliams comedy prompts thousands of viewer complaints". AOL Television. 29 December 2010. Archived from the original on 2011-01-01. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
34. "EastEnders wins Christmas Day viewing figures battle". BBC News. 26 December 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
35. Consolidated viewing figures retrieved from BARB database on 9 February 2011

External links

• Come Fly with Me at BBC Programmes
• Come Fly with Me at the British Comedy Guide
• Come Fly with Me at the Internet Movie Database