Shameless (UK TV series) Shameless is a British comedy-drama series
set in Manchester on the fictional Chatsworth council estate. Produced by Company Pictures
for Channel 4, the series aired from 13 January 2004 to 28 May 2013. The comedy drama, centred
on British working class culture, accorded critical acclaim by various sections of the
British media, including The Sun newspaper and Newsnight Review on BBC Two. The programme
was created and partially written by Paul Abbott, who is also the programme's executive
producer. In 2005, the show won "Best Drama Series" at the BAFTA TV Awards and "Best TV
Comedy Drama" at the British Comedy Awards. Plot
Series 1 (2004) The first series of Shameless ran from 19
January to 24 February 2004. It consisted of 7 episodes...
The first series chronicled the life of the Gallagher family and their neighbours. David
Threlfall was cast as alcoholic father-of-six, Frank Gallagher. Anne-Marie Duff was cast
as his eldest daughter and "head" of the family, Fiona. Jody Latham and Gerard Kearns played
Gallagher brothers Lip and Ian. Twin brothers Elliott and Luke Tittensor both took on the
role of youngster Carl Gallagher, whilst Rebecca Ryan was cast as Debbie Gallagher, and Liam
was played by Joseph Furnace (series 1-2) and Johnny Bennett (series 3-8). Other characters
included James McAvoy as Fiona's boyfriend Steve McBride. The Gallagher's next-door neighbours
Kev and Veronica, were played by Dean Lennox Kelly and Maxine Peake. Maggie O'Neill played
agoraphobic Sheila Jackson, a love interest of Frank. Appearing alongside her were Rebecca
Atkinson as her wayward daughter Karen and Steve Pemberton appeared in the first two
episodes as Karen's god-fearing father Eddie. Two other characters were introduced, local
shopkeepers Kash and Yvonne Karib, played by Chris Bisson and Kelli Hollis. The series
also debuted future regular cast members, including Jack Deam, as Veronica's arsonist
brother Marty Fisher, his mother Carol, played by Marjorie Yates. The local pub landlady
Jez, played by Lindsey Dawson. Samantha Siddall appeared in one episode as Mandy Maguire,
whilst Anthony Flanagan and Warren Donnelly appeared together as local coppers Tony and
Stan. The "main" storyline during the first series
was the romance between Fiona and Steve. However, many other plots took centre stage throughout
the series, in particular, the sexual affair between Frank Gallagher and Karen Jackson,
who was dating Lip. The storyline ended with a violent showdown between father and son,
and Karen absconding from Chatsworth. Other storylines included Ian Gallagher's homosexuality
and his affair with shopkeeper Kash, Kev and Veronica's "fake" wedding, Sheila attempting
to overcome her agoraphobia and Frank's strained relationship with most of his kids. The series
concluded with a "two-part story", which featured the return of the Gallagher's absent mother
Monica, played by Annabelle Apsion, and Frank's growing debts. The series concludes with Frank
faking his own death to evade bailiffs and his growing debts and the announcement that
Sheila, who had overcome her agoraphobia, was pregnant by Frank.
Series 2 (2005) The 10-part second series began on 4 January
2005 and concluded on 8 March 2005. All cast members from the first series reprised
their roles, and many recurring characters became regulars, such as Mandy Maguire, Carol
Fisher and Marty Fisher. Mid-way through the series, James McAvoy left his role as Steve
McBride. Notably, Tina Malone and Sean Gilder joined the cast as Mimi and Paddy Maguire,
who would come to dominate the show in succeeding years. Alice Barry, who had appeared in the
Christmas special, joined the cast as Lillian Tyler, whilst Chris Coghill joined the cast
as Craig Garland, a new love interest for Fiona, and Gillian Kearney also became a cast
members, playing Sue, Craig's estranged wife and a new love interest for Marty. Sally Carman
also made her first appearance during this series as Kev's sister Kelly-Marie Ball. In
the final episode of the series, Anne-Marie Duff departed the series as Fiona Gallagher,
in a plot that saw James McAvoy reprise his role as Steve for the final time.
Series 3 (2006) The third series began on 3 January 2006 and
ended on 21 February 2006. The series was reduced to 8 episodes.
The third season was the first season to not feature Fiona or Steve who were both heavily
featured in the previous seasons. This season saw Carl's character expanded who had a minor
role in the first season and a slightly larger role in the second. This season also saw the
introduction of Nicky Evans as Shane Maguire who only appeared for one episode but will
become an essential character in later seasons. The season kicks off with a New years Day
special where Debbie convinces everyone Liam has cancer to stop him getting expelled from
school but it slowly gets out of hand. Monica and Norma return for one episode this season.
Series 4 (2007) The fourth series, again consisting of 8 episodes,
ran between 9 January 2007 until 27 February 2007. It featured the biggest cast change
in the show's 9-year run, with many characters from the first three series departing and
many new characters introduced to replace them. Most notably, the series saw the introduction
of the Maguire family as main characters rather than the antagonists that they were in the
early series. From series 4, the Maguire's would gradually become the focus of the show
during its final years. Alongside Tina Malone (Mimi Maguire), Sean Glider (Paddy Maguire)
and Samantha Siddle (Mandy Maguire), new members of the Maguire family were introduced. Firstly,
Ciaran Griffiths took on the role of the homosexual yet homophobic Mickey Maguire. Aaron McCusker
joined the cast as murderer Jamie Maguire, the oldest Maguire child who had been in prison
for 10 years, whilst Nicky Evans, who appeared in a guest role in series 3, returned on a
regular basis as "runt of the litter" Shane Maguire. All of the Gallagher family returned,
and Annabelle Aspion reprised her role of absentee mother Monica, which led to the exit
of Maggie O'Neill as Sheila Jackson. Also returning from previous series was Dystin
Johnson as Monica's lesbian lover Norma Starkey, who also became a regular cast member. With
the introduction of Aaron McCusker as her new love interest, Rebecca Atkinson, who has
played Karen Jackson since the first series, became a more prominent character, having
been a recurring character during the second and third series. The Chatsworth police became
a regular in the series with Michael Legge and Amanda Ryan portraying young police officers
Tom and Carrie, alongside original cast member Warren Donnelly (Stan Waterman)
Series 5 (2008) The fifth series aired between 1 January 2008
to 15 April 2008. It consisted of 16 episodes, a big expansion from previous series.
Series 6 (2009) The sixth series began on 27 January and concluded
on 5 May 2009. Again, the series consisted of 16 episodes.
The series begins with Debbie's sixteenth birthday and her break-up with PC Tom O'Leary.
Ian recovers from amnesia, and decides he wants more than his life in Chatsworth has
to offer. Monica is going through post-natal depression after the birth of her and Frank's
seventh child, Stella. Mickey enrolls in college, and discovers a talent for writing sexy short-stories.
Maxine, a spirited young auxiliary nurse, befriends both Carl and Debbie, and moves
in with the Gallaghers. A parents meeting at Liam's primary school affirms that Frank's
youngest son is a genius. A rift develops in Jamie and Karens marriage. Joe Pritchard,
captain of the local football team, becomes Mandy's new boyfriend, but soon reveals a
secret obsession with Karen. And Paddy's secret dalliance with another women leads to a chain
of events that will change the Maguires forever. Series 7 (2010)
The seventh series began on 26 January 2010 and concluded on 4 May 2010. As with series
5 and 6, the seventh series consisted of 16 episodes.
Series 8 (2011) Unlike any previous series, the eighth series
of 22 episodes was split into two halves. The first five episodes were aired consecutively
during one week, from 10 January to 14 January 2011, to tie-in with a series-opener story-arc.
After this, the series returned to its regular weekly slot, and continued for a further 7
episodes between 18 January to 8 March 2011. After a four-month break, the final 9 episodes
of the eighth series began on 30 August 2011 and concluded the series on 25 October 2011.
Series 9 (2012) The ninth series of Shameless began on 9 January
2012 and concluded on 13 March 2012. The ninth series, originally consisting of 22 episodes,
was reduced to 11 episodes, with the remaining 11 being turned into the tenth series. Like
2011, the first two episodes aired on two consecutive nights.
Series 10 (2012) Series 10, originally planned to be the second
half of the ninth series, was reduced from 11 episodes to 10. It aired between 13 September
and 1 November 2012. As with the last two series, the first two episodes aired on two
consecutive nights. Series 11 (2013)
The eleventh and final series of Shameless began on 26 February 2013 and concluded the
show itself on 28 May 2013. An expansion from the last two series, the eleventh series consisted
of 14 episodes... Setting
The Gallagher family reside at 2 Windsor Gardens on the fictional Chatsworth Estate, a deprived
council estate in Stretford, near Manchester. Originally the show was filmed on location
on the real-life West Gorton council estate in East Manchester and in the Pie Factory
Studios in Salford. Since Series 5, the show was filmed from a purpose-built set on the
Roundthorn Industrial Estate in South Manchester, on the site of an old Umbro warehouse, and
around Wythenshawe and Sale. Cast
Shameless initially focused on the layabout Frank Gallagher and the lives of his six children,
Fiona and boyfriend Steve, Lip, Ian, Carl, Debbie and Liam, and next door neighbours,
Kev and Veronica. Later the Maguire family was introduced: Paddy, his wife, Mimi, and
their three sons—Jamie, Shane and Mickey—and daughter, Mandy. The Maguires became the focus
of the show as the Gallagher children departed. Other characters also become the focus after
only starting off as minor characters, such as those from the Karib family.
Critical reception In April 2005, the programme's first series
won the Best Drama Series category at the British Academy Television Awards. It was
also nominated for Best British Drama at the National Television Awards 2007, but lost
out to Doctor Who. Shameless won an award at the Royal Television Awards Society North
West Awards 2007 where it beat Coronation Street to the Best Continuing Drama Award.
The programme has been sold overseas, where it airs on channels such as SBS One (Australia),
UKTV (New Zealand), Acht (Belgium), I.Sat (Brazil), Showcase (Canada), Virgin 17 (France),
Nederland 3 (Netherlands), YLE FST5 (Finland), SIC Radical (Portugal), RTÉ Two (Ireland),
BBC America (only aired the first series) and Sundance Channel (United States), yes+
(Israel), I.Sat (Latin America) and Jimmy (Italy).
American version HBO began developing an American version of
Shameless after striking a deal with John Wells.
By October 2009, the development had moved to Showtime. John Wells Productions filmed
a pilot episode for the cable network in December 2009. It stars William H. Macy in the Frank
Gallagher role. Allison Janney was cast as a romantic interest for Frank, but left after
taking a job on Matthew Perry's Mr. Sunshine and was unable to be a part of both series.
Academy Award nominee Joan Cusack joined the cast as the new Sheila Jackson. Also joining
the pilot are Emmy Rossum as Frank's sensible and feisty eldest daughter, and Justin Chatwin
as a car thief who falls for her. Showtime's Shameless cast includes Steve Howey, Shanola
Hampton, Jeremy White, Laura Slade Wiggins, Joel Murray, Cameron Monaghan, Emma Kenney,
and Ethan Cutkosky. The first episode of the series aired on Showtime on 9 January 2011.
Home media releases Deleted and Extended scenes
Audio commentary Further reading
Munt, Sally R. (2007). "Shameless in Queer Street". Queer Attachments: The Cultural Politics
of Shame. London: Ashgate Publishing. pp. 133–159. ISBN 0-7546-4921-0.
Walters, James (2006). "Saving Face: Inflections of Character Role-play in Shameless". Journal
of British Cinema and Television (Edinburgh University Press) 3 (1): 95–106. doi:10.3366/JBCTV.2006.3.1.95.