Hardware (TV series)

Hardware
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Simon Nye
Starring	Martin Freeman Peter Serafinowicz Ken Morley Ryan Cartwright Susan Earl Ella Kenion
Opening theme	A Taste of Honey by Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	12
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	Thames Television
Distributor	FremantleMedia
Release
Original network	ITV
Original release	23 March 2003 – 11 April 2004

Hardware is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 2003 to 2004. Starring Martin Freeman, it was written and created by Simon Nye, the creator of Men Behaving Badly and directed by Ben Kellett.

The show's opening theme was A Taste of Honey by Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass.

Cast

• Martin Freeman - Mike
• Peter Serafinowicz - Kenny
• Ken Morley - Rex
• Ryan Cartwright - Steve
• Susan Earl - Anne
• Ella Kenion - Julie

Plot

Hardware is set in "Hamway's Hardware Store" in London, where main character Mike (Martin Freeman) works with Steve (Ryan Cartwright) and Kenny (Peter Serafinowicz) for shop owner Rex (Ken Morley). They relax at the next-door-but-one cafe, "Nice Day Cafe", where Mike's girlfriend Anne (Susan Earl) works with Julie (Ella Kenion). The series revolves around the store staff as they engage in a daily wisecrack battle with packs of DIY obsessed clients.

Episodes

The main cast of Hardware, from left to right: Susan Earl as Anne, Peter Serafinowicz as Kenny, Martin Freeman as Mike, Ryan Cartwright as Steve, Ken Morley as Rex, and Ella Kenion as Julie

Series One (2003)

1. "Nice" (23 March 2003)
2. "Naked" (30 March 2003)
3. "Bondage" (6 April 2003)
4. "Finger" (13 April 2003)
5. "Women" (20 April 2003)
6. "Hutch" (27 April 2003)

Series Two (2004)

1. "Bastard" (7 March 2004)
2. "Big Foot" (14 March 2004)
3. "Nude" (21 March 2004)
4. "Loser" (28 March 2004)
5. "Tony Two-Ways" (4 April 2004)
6. "Celebrity" (11 April 2004)

Special guests

The show included such special guests as Doctor Who actor Peter Davison.

DVD releases

The first series of Hardware is available on DVD in Region 4 (Australia).^[1] The complete series of Hardware was released in February 2009 in the UK on Region 2 from Network DVD.^[2]

Notes

1. "Hardware - Series 1". ezydvd.com.au.
2. "Hardware - The Complete Series (1&2)". networkdvd.net.

References

• Mark Lewisohn, "Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy", BBC Worldwide Ltd, 2003
• Hardware at British TV Comedy

External links

• Hardware at bbc.co.uk
• Hardware at the Internet Movie Database
• Hardware at TV.com