60-424: Nathan Barley is a British Channel 4 television sitcom written by Charlie Brooker and Chris Morris , directed by Morris and starring Nicholas Burns , Julian Barratt , Claire Keelan , Richard Ayoade , Ben Whishaw , Rhys Thomas and Charlie Condou . The series of six weekly episodes began broadcasting on 11 February 2005 on Channel 4. Described by his creator as a "meaningless strutting cadaver-in-waiting",
120-448: A "safety net" guaranteed minimum income should the revenue fall too low, funded by large insurance payments made to the ITV companies. Such a subsidy was never required, however, and these premiums were phased out by the government in 1998. After the link with ITV was cut, the cross-promotion which had existed between ITV and Channel 4 also ended. In 2007, owing to severe funding difficulties,
180-481: A 3% share. Reviews were generally favourable, though some criticised the show's jabs at the dot.com boom as lacking relevance, and believed that the portrayal and parody of the East London hipster was dated. However, the series is lauded today for predicting a future of memes , vloggers and hipsters , and the global influence of social media . Radio Times wrote "There are moments of Morris madness and it's
240-461: A Record) " by Dead or Alive . Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation . It is publicly owned but, unlike the BBC , it receives no public funding and is funded entirely by its commercial activities, including advertising . It began its transmission in 1982 and was established to provide
300-404: A delay of almost three decades before the second commercial channel became a reality. One benefit of the late arrival of the channel was that its frequency allocations at each transmitter had already been arranged in the early 1960s when the launch of an "ITV2" was anticipated. This led to good coverage across most of the country and few problems of interference with other UK-based transmissions;
360-631: A fourth television service in the United Kingdom. At the time, the only other channels were the licence -funded BBC1 and BBC2 , and a single commercial broadcasting network, ITV . Originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the station is now owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation, a public corporation of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport , which
420-528: A giant key for the number 5 (allegedly the most commonly used digit), a powerful projector, a business card printer and miniature turntables for scratching MP3s . Barley's now-defunct website, www.trashbat.co.ck , served as an official site for the television series. The DVD of the series was released in October 2005, featuring all six episodes, a number of extras (including the pilot), and a booklet written by Nathan featuring his artwork. The artwork in question
480-418: A non-acting role for Tom Keating in his series On Painters . Channel 4 co-commissioned Robert Ashley 's television opera Perfect Lives , which it premiered over several episodes in 1984. The channel often did not receive mass audiences for much of this period, as might be expected for a station focusing on minority interests. During this time, Channel 4 also began the funding of independent films, such as
540-634: A number of notable television comedies including Nathan Barley , Man to Man with Dean Learner , and Garth Marenghi's Darkplace , as well as in London's West End. His stand up album, Things I Don't Have To Do , was released in the summer of 2006. He appeared on the fifth season of the NBC TV show Last Comic Standing . He was a member of the Cambridge Footlights troupe that included Matthew Holness , Richard Ayoade and John Oliver . He
600-470: A pleasure to be able to say to you, welcome to Channel Four." Following the announcement, the channel played a montage of clips from its programmes set to the station's signature tune, "Fourscore", written by David Dundas , which would form the basis of the station's jingles for its first decade. The first programme to air on the channel was the teatime game show Countdown , produced by Yorkshire Television , at 16:45. The first person to be seen on Channel 4
660-809: A public service broadcaster with a specific remit, it is afforded free carriage on the terrestrial platforms, in contrast with other broadcasters such as ITV. Channel 4 is available outside the United Kingdom; it is widely available in the Republic of Ireland , the Netherlands , Belgium and Switzerland . The channel is registered to broadcast within the European Union/EEA through the Luxembourg Broadcasting Regulator (ALIA). Since 2019, it has been offered by British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) to members of
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#1732802324614720-566: A remit of public service obligations which it must fulfil. The remit changes periodically, as dictated by various broadcasting and communications acts, and is regulated by the various authorities Channel 4 has been answerable to; originally the IBA, then the ITC and now Ofcom . The preamble of the remit as per the Communications Act 2003 states that: The public service remit for Channel 4
780-491: A stark contrast to the difficulties associated with Channel 5 's launch almost 15 years later. At the time the fourth service was being considered, a movement in Wales lobbied for the creation of dedicated service that would air Welsh language programmes, then only catered for at off-peak times on BBC Wales and HTV . The campaign was taken so seriously by Gwynfor Evans , former president of Plaid Cymru , that he threatened
840-541: A welcome comic oddity, though possibly one with limited appeal outside London's media maelstrom." The Telegraph described the title character as "so laughable he makes you want to cry". In 2019, The Guardian ranked Nathan Barley at number 47 in their list of "The 100 best TV shows of the 21st century". Music used in Nathan Barley includes " Einstein A Go-Go " by Landscape and " You Spin Me Round (Like
900-403: Is a DJ called "Jones", who appears blissfully unaware of the antisocial cacophony he creates. Jones is played by Noel Fielding , Barratt's partner in comic duo The Mighty Boosh . In the pilot of the show, characters are different from those in the actual series. The character of Claire already knows Nathan and Pingu instead of meeting them in the first episode of the series. The character of Dan
960-457: Is decidedly darker and gets one up on Nathan and the idiots more often. Ned Smanks and Rufus Onslatt do not appear in the pilot, but Spencer Brown does play a minor character in the art gallery scene. Jonattan Yeah? makes a brief appearance and is largely the same. The pilot was never transmitted, but was included as an extra on the DVD. Story elements and some scenes shot for the pilot became used in
1020-472: Is largely a parody of prolific graffiti artist Banksy by Shynola . Though the show only aired for one series, in a 2017 interview, Julian Barratt says "We did do some work towards a second series back in the day. I think Nathan Barley was going to have a twin brother or something." Charlie Brooker commented in 2016 that the planned storyline for the second series "moved away from the style magazine", focusing on Barley's "financial support being cut off [...] He
1080-467: Is now universally available. After some months of test broadcasts, the new broadcaster began scheduled transmissions on 2 November 1982 from Scala House, the former site of the Scala Theatre . Its initial broadcasts reached 87% of the United Kingdom. The first voice heard on Channel 4's opening day of 2 November 1982 was that of continuity announcer Paul Coia who said: "Good afternoon. It's
1140-710: Is secretly terrified he might not be, which is why he reads Sugar Ape magazine, his bible of cool. Sugar Ape has been described as a spoof of Dazed & Confused and Vice , although Brooker has stated that "the Sugar Ape "Vice" issue from Ep5 wasn't an assault on Vice magazine – I think it just (understandably) ended up looking that way". The website consists of pranks caught on camera, artwork which clumsily satirises contemporary politics, photos of him with attractive women and famous figures (some of them digitally edited to insert himself), and photos of him standing on street corners in major cities around
1200-440: Is the provision of a broad range of high quality and diverse programming which, in particular: The remit also involves an obligation to provide programming for schools, and a substantial amount of programming produced outside of Greater London . Channel 4 was carried from its beginning on analogue terrestrial, the standard means of television broadcast in the United Kingdom. It continued to be broadcast through these means until
1260-532: The British Armed Forces and their families around the world, BFBS Extra having previously carried a selection of Channel 4 programmes. The Channel 4 website allows people in the United Kingdom to watch Channel 4 live. Previously, some programmes (mostly international imports) were not shown. Channel 4 is also provided by Virgin Mobile 's DAB mobile TV service, which has the same restrictions as
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#17328023246141320-599: The Merchant Ivory docudrama The Courtesans of Bombay . In 1987, Richard Attenborough replaced Edmund Dell as chairman. In 1988, Michael Grade became CEO. In 1992, Channel 4 faced its first libel case which was brought by Jani Allan , a South African journalist, who objected to her representation in Nick Broomfield 's documentary The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife . After control of
1380-454: The 1970s and early 1980s often had a spare tuning button labelled "ITV 2" or "IBA 2". Throughout ITV's history and until Channel 4 finally became a reality, a perennial dialogue existed between the GPO , the government , the ITV companies and other interested parties, concerning the form such an expansion of commercial broadcasting would take. Most likely, politics had the biggest impact leading to
1440-525: The IBA from the ITV regional companies, in return for which each company had the right to sell advertisements on the fourth channel in its own region and keep the proceeds. This meant that ITV and Channel 4 were not in competition with each other, and often promoted each other's programmes. A change in funding came about under the Broadcasting Act 1990 when the new corporation was afforded the ability to fund itself. Originally this arrangement left
1500-571: The Internet live stream. Channel 4 is also carried by the Internet TV service TVCatchup and was previously carried by Zattoo until the operator removed the channel from its platform. Channel 4 also makes some of its programming available "on demand" via cable and the internet through the Channel 4 VoD service. During its first decade, Channel 4 was funded by subscriptions collected by
1560-480: The Races , E4 and More4 . Partially in reaction to its new "populist" direction, the Communications Act 2003 directed the channel to demonstrate innovation, experimentation, and creativity, appeal to the tastes and interests of a culturally diverse society, and include programmes of an educational nature which exhibit a distinctive character. On 31 December 2004, Channel 4 launched a new visual identity in which
1620-492: The Street , Without A Trace , Home Improvement , Frasier , Lost , Nip/Tuck , Ally McBeal , Dawson's Creek , Oz , Sex and The City , The Sopranos , Scrubs , King of The Hill , Babylon 5 , Stargate SG-1 , Star Trek: Enterprise , Andromeda , Family Guy , South Park and Futurama . In the early 2000s, Channel 4 began broadcasting reality formats such as Big Brother and obtained
1680-622: The Welsh variant; this practice continued until the closure of S4C's analogue transmissions in 2010, at which time S4C became a fully Welsh channel. With this conversion of the Wenvoe transmitter group in Wales to digital terrestrial broadcasting on 31 March 2010, Channel 4 became a nationwide television channel for the first time. Since then, carriage on digital cable , satellite and digital terrestrial has introduced Channel 4 to Welsh homes where it
1740-419: The ability to subsidise the main network through any profits made on the corporation's other endeavours, which have in the past included subscription fees from stations such as E4 and Film4 (now no longer subscription services) and its "video-on-demand" sales. In practice, however, these other activities are loss-making, and are subsidised by the main network. According to Channel 4's published accounts, for 2005
1800-558: The changeover to digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom was complete. Since 1998, it has been universally available on digital terrestrial, and the Sky platform (initially encrypted, though encryption was dropped on 14 April 2008 and is now free of charge and available on the Freesat platform) as well as having been available from various times in various areas, on analogue and digital cable networks. Due to its special status as
1860-643: The channel broadcast the direct-to-TV documentary film Beyond Citizen Kane , in which it displayed the dominant position of the Rede Globo (now TV Globo ) television network, and discussed its influence, power, and political connections in Brazil. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Channel 4 gave many popular and influential American comedy and drama series their first exposure on British television, such as Friends , Cheers , Will & Grace , NYPD Blue , ER , Desperate Housewives , Homicide: Life on
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1920-530: The channel sought government help and was granted a payment of £14 million over a six-year period. The money was to have come from the television licence fee, and would have been the first time that money from the licence fee had been given to any broadcaster other than the BBC. However, the plan was scrapped by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport , Andy Burnham , ahead of "broader decisions about
1980-407: The character originated on Brooker's TVGoHome – a website parodying television listings – as the focus of a fly-on-the-wall documentary called Cunt . Nathan Barley, played by Nicholas Burns , is a webmaster , guerrilla filmmaker, screenwriter, DJ and in his own words, a "self-facilitating media node". Whilst desperate to convince himself and others that he is the epitome of urban cool, Nathan
2040-624: The corporation but the sale was blocked by the Liberal Democrat Business Secretary Vince Cable . In 2016, the future of the channel was again being looked into by the government, with analysts suggesting several options for its future. In June 2021, the government of Boris Johnson was considering selling the channel. In April 2022, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport acknowledged that ministerial discussions were taking place regarding
2100-410: The day. In November 2009, Channel 4 launched a week of 3D television , broadcasting selected programmes each night using stereoscopic ColorCode 3D technology. The accompanying 3D glasses were distributed through Sainsbury's supermarkets. On 29 September 2015, Channel 4 revamped its presentation for a fifth time; the new branding downplayed the "4" logo from most on-air usage, in favour of using
2160-723: The existing channels, an agenda in part set out by its remit which required the provision of programming to minority groups. In step with its remit, the channel became well received both by minority groups and the arts and cultural worlds during this period under Isaacs, during which the channel gained a reputation for programmes on the contemporary arts. Two programmes captured awards from the Broadcasting Press Guild in March 1983: best comedy for The Comic Strip Presents …Five Go Mad in Dorset, and best on-screen performance in
2220-414: The extent of this cross-subsidy was some £30 million. Spencer Brown (comedian) Spencer Brown is an English comedian, actor, director and writer from London . His style is surreal and contains elements of slapstick , absurdity and silliness. He is currently presenting The Sexy Ads Show on Fiver/Channel Five. He co-hosted ITV2 's Lip Service with Holly Willoughby , and acted in
2280-705: The future framework of public service broadcasting". The broadcasting regulator Ofcom released its review in January 2009 in which it suggested that Channel 4 would preferably be funded by "partnerships, joint ventures or mergers". As of 2022 , it breaks even in much the same way as most privately run commercial stations through the sale of on-air advertising, programme sponsorship, and the sale of any programme content and merchandising rights it owns, such as overseas broadcasting rights and domestic video sales. For example, as of 2012 its total revenues were £925 million with 91% derived from sale of advertising. It also has
2340-587: The government with a hunger strike were it not to honour the plans. The result was that Channel 4 as seen by the rest of the United Kingdom would be replaced in Wales by S4C (Sianel Pedwar Cymru, meaning "Channel Four Wales" in Welsh). Operated by a specially created authority , S4C would air programmes in Welsh made by HTV, the BBC and independent companies. Initially, limited frequency space meant that Channel 4 could not be broadcast alongside S4C, though some Channel 4 programmes would be aired at less popular times on
2400-523: The last time, after 32 years as a main presenter on the programme, making Snow one of the UK's longest-serving presenters on a national news programme. Channel 4's parent company, Channel Four Television Corporation , was considered for privatisation by the governments of Margaret Thatcher , John Major and Tony Blair . In 2014, the Cameron-Clegg coalition government drew up proposals to privatise
2460-449: The last to launch in 1964. The Broadcasting Act 1980 began the process of adding a fourth; Channel 4 was formally created, along with its Welsh counterpart , by an act of Parliament in 1982. The notion of a second commercial broadcaster in the United Kingdom had been around since the inception of ITV in 1954 and its subsequent launch in 1955; the idea of an "ITV2" was long expected and pushed for. Indeed, television sets sold throughout
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2520-463: The launch of Channel 4 HD, but the fourth HD slot was given to Channel 5 instead. On 2 November 2007, the station celebrated its 25th birthday. It showed the first episode of Countdown , an anniversary Countdown special, as well as a special edition of The Big Fat Quiz . It use the original multicoloured 1982–1996 blocks logo on presentation, and idents using the Fourscore jingle throughout
2580-641: The logo is disguised as different objects and the "4" can be seen from an angle. Under the leadership of Freeview founder Andy Duncan , 2005 saw a change of direction for Channel 4's digital channels. The company made E4 free-to-air on digital terrestrial television , and launched a new free-to-air digital channel called More4 . By October, Channel 4 had joined the Freeview consortium. By July 2006, Film4 had likewise become free-to-air and restarted broadcasting on digital terrestrial. Venturing into radio broadcasting, 2005 saw Channel 4 purchase 51% of shares in
2640-512: The now defunct Oneword radio station, with UBC Media holding on to the remaining shares. New programmes such as the weekly, half-hour The Morning Report news programme were among some of the new content Channel 4 provided for the station, with the name 4Radio being used. As of early 2009, however, Channel 4's future involvement in radio remained uncertain. Before the digital switchover , Channel 4 raised concerns over how it might finance its public service obligations afterward. In April 2006, it
2700-455: The rights to broadcast mass appeal sporting events like cricket and horse racing . This new direction increased ratings and revenues. The popularity of Big Brother led to the launches of other, shorter-lived new reality shows to chase the populist audience, such as The Salon , Shattered and Space Cadets . In addition, the corporation launched several new television channels through its new 4Ventures offshoot, including Film4 , At
2760-434: The sale of Channel Four Television Corporation. The channel's chief executive, Alex Mahon, expressed disappointment at this, saying that its vision for the future was "rooted in continued public ownership". In January 2023, Michelle Donelan confirmed that the plans to sell Channel 4 were scrapped and that it would remain in public ownership for the foreseeable future. Channel 4 was established with, and continues to hold,
2820-467: The series' two other central characters. Claire seeks to highlight the plight of the inner city's homeless and drug-dependent; Dan is a jaded, opinionated and apathetic hack who, having written an article for Sugar Ape entitled "The Rise of the Idiots", is appalled to find that "the idiots" in question – Nathan and his contemporaries – have adopted him as their spiritual leader, failing to see that they are
2880-530: The shapes from the logo in various forms. Four new idents were filmed by Jonathan Glazer , which featured the shapes in various real-world scenes depicting the "discovery" and "origins" of the shapes. The full logo was still occasionally used, but primarily for off-air marketing. Channel 4 also commissioned two new corporate typefaces, "Chadwick", and "Horseferry" (a variation of Chadwick with the aforementioned shapes incorporated into its letter forms), for use across promotional material and on-air. In June 2017, it
2940-542: The staff at Dan Ashcroft's magazine, Sugar Ape : asinine chief editor Jonatton Yeah? ( Charlie Condou ), Ned Smanks ( Richard Ayoade ) and Rufus Onslatt ( Spencer Brown ), a pair of gormless graphic designers, and receptionist Sasha ( Nina Sosanya ). Barley has an inoffensive young assistant called Pingu ( Ben Whishaw ). The eccentric and ludicrous Doug Rocket, founder member of The Veryphonics, and played by comedian David Hoyle (a spoof of Dave Stewart of Eurythmics ), also appears in several episodes. Dan Ashcroft's flatmate
3000-589: The station passed from the Channel Four Television Company to the Channel Four Television Corporation in 1993, a shift in broadcasting style took place. Instead of aiming for minority tastes, it began to focus on the edges of the mainstream, and the centre of the mass market itself. It began to show many American programmes in peak viewing time, far more than it had previously done. In September 1993,
3060-495: The third, fourth and fifth episodes of the series, where the familiarity between the characters, and Dan Ashcroft's darker nature, make greater sense in context. The series was promoted across the UK with billboards of Barley ostensibly advertising a fictitious mobile telephone, the Wasp T12 Speechtool ("it's well weapon"). This device was advertised as being exceptionally loud, with several hugely annoying ringtones,
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#17328023246143120-524: The very people he was criticising. While Dan sees a clear distinction between himself and the "idiots", he's frequently forced to compromise his own ethics in order to earn a living, and seems to be fighting the dawning realisation that he may actually be the very thing he despises. At the same time, Claire, who clearly wants to see herself as socially responsible and philanthropic, is doggedly determined to further her own career. Other recurring characters include Nathan's idiot flatmate Toby ( Rhys Thomas ) and
3180-488: The world. The humour derives from the rapid rise of both the Internet and digital media , and the assumption by publishers and broadcasters that almost any such work is worthy of attention. Barley and his peers are often hired ahead of actual journalists and talented writers trying to make intelligent points, such as the earnest documentary filmmaker Claire Ashcroft ( Claire Keelan ), and her brother Dan ( Julian Barratt ),
3240-740: Was Richard Whiteley , with Ted Moult being the second. The first woman on the channel, contrary to popular belief, was not Whiteley's Countdown co-host Carol Vorderman , but a lexicographer only ever identified as Mary. Whiteley opened the show with the words: "As the countdown to a brand new channel ends, a brand new countdown begins." On its first day, Channel 4 also broadcast the soap opera Brookside , which often ran storylines thought to be controversial; this ran until 2003. After three days, ITV chiefs called for founding chief executive Jeremy Isaacs to resign due to poor ratings. Critics called it "Channel Bore" and "Channel Snore". At its launch, Channel 4 committed itself to providing an alternative to
3300-662: Was announced that Alex Mahon would be the next chief executive, and would take over from David Abraham , who left in November 2017. On 31 October 2017, Channel 4 introduced a new series of idents continuing the theme, this time depicting the logo shapes as having formed into an anthropomorphic "giant" character. On 25 September 2021, Channel 4 and several of its sub-channels went off air after an incident at Red Bee Media's playout centre in west London. Channel 4, More4 , Film4 , E4 , 4Music , The Box , Box Hits , Kiss , Magic and Kerrang! stopped transmitting, but 4seven
3360-469: Was announced that Channel 4's digital switch-over costs would be paid for by licence fee revenues. In July 2007, Channel 4 paid £28 million for a 50% stake in the TV business of British media company EMAP , which had seven music video channels. On 15 August 2008, 4Music was launched across the UK. Channel 4 announced interest in launching a high-definition version of Film4 on Freeview, to coincide with
3420-645: Was criticised by the National Deaf Children's Society, which complained to the broadcasting watchdog. A new subtitling, signing and audio description system had to be built from scratch. The service eventually began to return at the end of October. In June 2022 after a six-month long investigation, Ofcom found that Channel 4 had breached its broadcast licence conditions on two grounds: Missing its subtitles quota on Freesat for 2021 and failure to effectively communicate with affected audiences. On 23 December 2021, Jon Snow presented Channel 4 News for
3480-557: Was established in 1990 and came into operation in 1993. Until 2010, Channel 4 did not broadcast in Wales , but many of its programmes were re-broadcast there by the Welsh fourth channel S4C . In 2010, Channel 4 extended service into Wales and became a nationwide television channel. The network's headquarters are in London and Leeds , with creative hubs in Glasgow and Bristol . Before Channel 4 and S4C, Britain had three terrestrial television services: BBC1 , BBC2 , and ITV , with BBC2
3540-441: Was left adrift in a world where things were crumbling, and he was less certain of things". However, those involved with the show were busy with other projects; Barratt opines that if the show were to return, "they would need to approach it differently" as "everything from it kind of came true". According to Digital Spy , Nathan Barley was "a flop when it originally aired, but a cult hit on DVD". It pulled in 700,000 viewers and
3600-517: Was not impacted. The incident still affected a number of the channels by 30 September. The London Fire Brigade confirmed that a gas fire prevention system at the site had been activated, but firefighters found no sign of fire. Activation of the fire suppression system caused catastrophic damage to some systems, such as Channel 4's subtitles, signing, and audio description system. An emergency backup subtitling system also failed, leaving Channel 4 unable to provide access services to viewers. This situation
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