Catherine Tate

Catherine Tate show

The Catherine Tate Show is an award-winning British television sketch comedy written by Catherine Tate who stars in all of the show's sketches, which feature a wide range of characters.

Various Characters featured in the Show:

Representations:

Lauren Cooper- She is represented to be a typical argumentative teenager that repeats the phrase " Am i bothered". This is a stereotype of teenagers especially in the present situation with teenagers attitudes against school and communities as a whole. Whether or not this is a fair representation of teenagers is dependant on whom answers this as teenagers would argue against this stigmatised perception of them , whereas adults may agree with what the show portrays.

Joannie 'Nan' Taylor- Represents the older age group , however not stereotypically as her constant use of swear words " What a fucking liberty" and general hatred towards other people leaves this character with an unusual perceptive of old people. Not only this but she is also represented being homophobic and racist at times. This could be a fair representation of old people as her traditional ideologies and actions are those associated with the older English people. However this representation is not completely accurate because the show is a comedy therefore it plays on stereotypes making them worse than it actually is to get response from the audience.

The Aga Saga Woman- She represents an upper middle class mother who is constantly fretted about apparent "dangers" that might harm her children because it may involve mixing with the working class. (For example the tottenham clip)This representation stereotypes upper class Caucasian mothers that isn't a completely accurate , however certain parts to do with the class differences may have some truth behind it.

Derek Faye- He is represented to be a gay man but is in denial about his sexuality. And becomes very offended by people assuming he is gay. " How very dare you". This could be accurate with people still showing the signs of being gay but not comfortable with everyone knowing, however because society is more acceptable of it this isn't a very fair representation.

Janice and Ray- They are represented to be a typical traditional white couple that is constantly commenting about the increase of multi-culturalism in their British circle. Particularly when they have gone to a restaurant that food is from a different country they comment by saying " Those dirty bastards". This could be a fair representation considering people who live in a white area and their reactions to different cultures, whereas for the minority that live in a different surrounding this isnt completely true.

Narrative:

The narrative is non- linear with different parts of the sketch comedy show shown at various times. The techniques of identification within the text comes from the audience being able to identify with some characters from the show whether it being their personality trates or the circumstances and situations that some characters are faced with. For example a teenager may identify themselves with Lauren Cooper from her attitude and her appearance.

Some of the themes that comes from the show are

class

ethnicity

rebellion

denial

Media Institutions :

The institutional source of the text is BBC 2.It is aimed at a wide range of subject matter and interests, and because of it being a public service broadcast it has to cater for the audiences needs. The text has been influenced by the institution as there are certain regulations that have to be followed also the type of audience that the BBC has will determine the content of the show as it isnt a commercial institution that has produced it.

Media Audiences:

To whom is the text addressed? What is the target audience?

As the text has a number of different sketches each one individually address different audiences. Such as the Lauran Cooper sketch address mainly teenagers also the Aga Saga women middle class white mothers. Therefore the target audience of the text are adults/ young adults men or female working class. But mainly women as the text on a whole has more than men.
The text is aired at 9pm this results from the water shed as some scenes are not suitable for younger children.

The size of the audience weekly is 4.00 to 4.92 million making it one of the most successful comedy shows in Britain today. And the show has had considerably amount of success in the USA as well.

As an audience member I evaluate and read the text as a comedy therefore not taking all the racist and stereotypes too seriously. This is influenced by my age because some adults may take offense to some values within the text.


How do you, as an audience member, read and evaluate the text? To what extent is your reading and evaluation influenced by your age, gender, background etc?

Reviews :

Catherine Tate, one of Britain's hottest comedy talents is back with a U.S. premiere season of her award-winning sketch show. Winner of a Banff Rockie award and nominated for an International Emmy®, The Catherine Tate Show has become a huge hit in the UK, with catchphrases, "Am I bovvered?" and "How very dare you?!", influencing popular culture and every day speech in Britain. The 'Queen of Catchphrase' morphs through ages, sexes, accents and wigs to introduce a collection of toe-curling new characters in Season Three. Parodied to the extreme, the new personalities include Laura Powers – a bungled spy, called in to assist the U.S. Government in a spoof of 24; Ma Willow – the overbearing owner of a rooming house in the '50s who appears in a parody of Life on Mars; Helen 'I can do that' Marsh – who's eager to please, but hopeless at everything; and Kathleen Leary – a chain smoking, hard faced Northern Irish woman who's fiercely proud of her gay son. They join old favorites Lauren - the "Am I bovvered?" teenage nightmare who would rather be right than happy; Cockney Nan - the opinionated, hard-to-please grandmother who's a mine of misinformation; and Derek Faye - who gets furious if anyone suggests he's gay and coined the phrases "Who, dear? Me, dear? Gay, dear? No, dear" and "How very dare you?!" As well as program awards, Catherine Tate has won numerous awards for her own performance including a British Comedy Award for Best Comedy Newcomer and two Royal Television Society awards for Best Network Newcomer and Best Comedy Performance. She is currently filming Season Four of Doctor Who in which she appears as the doctor's newest companion, Donna Noble.

Catherine Tate 'bovvered' by Bard

I never thought for a moment that children would pick up on it - but I didn't want her to be a bad child
Catherine Tate on Lauren the teenager
Doctor Who assistant Catherine Tate has gone back in time again to discuss her love of Shakespeare.
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) - where she spent a year before her comedy career - invited her to speak to a younger audience at the Hay Festival.
But Tate admitted at the Powys literary festival that she struggled to enjoy the Bard's comedies at times.
"It's got to strike a chord with us. We can't write Shakespeare off but wearing bells on knees isn't going to work."
But she said she had impersonated Sir Ian McKellen in the way he delivered a Shakespearean scene on stage, which helped her finally pass her drama school audition at 21 after a few attempts.
Tate was speaking as part of the RSC's Shakespeare and Me series, as Doctor Who star David Tennant is preparing to play the lead in Hamlet for the company from next month.
About her TV sketch show characters, Tate said she doubted she would bring back teenager Lauren, who was supposedly killed off in a Christmas special - "although they still haven't found a body."
She said Lauren, with the "Am I bovvered?" catchphrase, only came about because she liked to try out and improvise her characters in front of a live audience first - and she got a reaction.