15 Storeys High is a British sitcom, set in a residential tower block in south London. Created and co-written by Sean Lock, it originated as two radio series broadcast in 1998–2000, transferring to television in 2002–2004. The television series starred Sean Lock and Benedict Wong.

Premise

Vince is an anti-social eccentric who wants to live by his own peculiar set of rules and ensure that his henpecked lodger/flatmate Errol abides by them too. They live in a drab flat in a tower block with a collection of seemingly crazed residents. Working as a lifeguard at the local swimming pool and with an acute phobia for being touched, Vince does his best to avoid dealing with other people. Due to his lack of social skills, he manages to get himself into a succession of awkward situations: from teaching a swimming student with a psychotic husband; to helping a neighbour look after his new pet (a horse); to conducting a bitter feud with a gang of kids intent on destroying him.

Cast and characters

  • Sean Lock as Vince Clark:<br /> A misanthropic sardonic recluse who shares his flat with Errol in a tower block. Lock described him as a particular type, "There's a lot of people in London who kind of get washed up in a place, and they don't really necessarily take part in normal life. They don't have families, they don't interact socially, they lose touch with their friends, people move on in life ... they kind of get left somewhere on a shelf. That's what Vince was like. He continually was finding new ways to isolate himself – protect himself from actually recognising what his life was like."
  • Benedict Wong as Errol Spears:<br /> Vince's naive but optimistic flatmate/lodger. Errol's relationship with Vince is similar to classic double acts and described as "comic foils ... a little bit Laurel and Hardy ... the idiot who knows everything and the idiot who knows nothing". Peter Serafinowicz, who played Errol in the radio series, was actually doing an impression of Wong and suggested the role to him. The part was not specifically written for a Chinese actor but Lock was unable see anyone else in the flat with Vince saying, "when Benny [Wong] came in, he seemed to make sense of it".

Additional cast members included Aml Ameen, James Bachman, Bill Bailey, Perry Benson, Cavan Clerkin, Felix Dexter, Simon Godley, Michael Greene, Melanie Gutteridge, Toby Jones, Mark Lamarr, Dan Mersh, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Paul Putner, Pearce Quigley, Peter Serafinowicz, Michael Smiley, William Tomlin and Steven Webb.

History

Sean Lock's 15 Minutes of Misery (Radio 4)

The show's original incarnation was a radio series entitled Sean Lock's 15 Minutes of Misery. It was broadcast weekly on BBC Radio 4 in the "Late Night on 4" comedy slot at 11.00pm. It ran for six episodes between 30 December 1998 and 3 February 1999. The show was written by Sean Lock and produced by Dan Freedman, and starred Lock, Kevin Eldon and Hattie Hayridge.

Sean Lock: 15 Storeys High (Radio 4)

Lock's second series was entitled Sean Lock: 15 Storeys High, and it was also broadcast on Radio 4's "Late Night on 4" comedy slot and written by Sean Lock and Martin Trenaman and produced by Chris Neill. Each series had five half-hour episodes. Series one aired from 24 November 1999 to 22 December 1999, and starred Lock, along with Felix Dexter, Jenny Eclair, Tim Mitchell, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Chris Pavlo and Peter Serafinowicz. Series two aired from 24 November 2000 to 22 December 2000, and included roles from Dan Freedman, Alex Lowe, Dan Mersh, Paul Putner, Rob Rouse and Chris Neill. The 15 Storeys High radio series used a different method to present the events going on in other flats in the tower block. It dispensed with the idea of Sean listening in on others using "Bugger King", replacing it with a voiceover simply announcing the flat number of the subsequent scene. The show introduced Sean's flatmate Errol (played by Serafinowicz in series 1, episodes 2–5).

Both radio series (Sean Lock's 15 Minutes of Misery and Sean Lock: 15 Storeys High) were recorded in front of a studio audience. The theme tune used for both series is the 1960s song "England Swings" by Roger Miller.

Writing

The 15 Storeys High TV series was written by Lock with Trenaman and Mark Lamarr credited with his real name Mark Jones.

During filming, Lock allowed some improvisation that made scenes funnier. At other times, Lock's attention to detail would be more restrictive when some actors felt they could improve a line. Lock was adamant about retaining certain dialogue, explaining the effort taken to write something would be wasted, but also that the pay-off on a later joke related to the plot would be compromised.

Lock and Lamarr found they could avoid unnecessary exposition dialogue between scenes when director Mark Nunneley showed they could simply use wipe transitions during the film edit.

Trenaman's other recollection about writing the show, "... is laughing a lot in that office – I mean really rip-roaring laughs. The other memory I have is both of us staring at the wall in silence for hours and going, 'I can't think of anything'". Directed by Mark Nunneley, the series was filmed unlike any show at the time, including the in-vogue mockumentary style. Trenaman said, "[Lock] wanted it shot like a Swedish art film. At the time I thought it was a brilliant idea. But people at meetings were going, 'Really...? What, a sitcom on the BBC shot like that?!' It was really Sean's vision". A joke on set was, "Can we not afford any lights? Mark, are there any lights in the budget?!"

Music

The opening title theme music varied with each episode and included Tito Puente's version of "On the Street Where You Live", alluding to the lyric in the first verse "All at once am I, several stories high, knowing I'm on the street where you live"; and a backwards remix of Madness's "House of Fun".

Broadcast

The series was the victim of poor scheduling and did not get the attention given to other successful turn-of-the-millennium era British comedies, such as The Office, Phoenix Nights and The Royle Family. These sitcoms similarly moved away from the traditional live studio audience and laugh track format using multiple cameras to a single-camera setup visual style.

The show was originally broadcast on the digital channel BBC Choice, which was later rebranded to BBC Three, from 7 November 2002 to 12 December 2002. It was not promoted to a mainstream terrestrial channel with a larger prime time audience the same way Little Britain transferred from BBC Three to BBC One.

The second series, broadcast from 12 February 2004 to 18 March 2004 on BBC Three, ended up being repeated on BBC Two in May and June the same year in a late Sunday night slot.

The hard work making the series, followed by the inept management in programming, left Lock disillusioned by the experience. He then steered his TV career to appearances on panel shows. As to why the show was badly handled by the BBC, Lock opined, "I think I must have spilt a drink somewhere once at a BBC party. Or called someone a cunt. That's more likely. I was drunk and called someone a cunt."

Episodes

Series 1 (2002)

Series 2 (2004)

Award nomination

In 2003, 15 Storeys High was nominated for a BAFTA in the "Television Craft: New Director - Fiction" category for Mark Nunneley.

Notes

References

  • Comedy Guide