# Black Books (2000)

> A foul-tempered bookshop owner and his long-suffering assistant bicker, drink and bungle their way through life in London.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/852

## Facts

- Seasons: 3
- Episodes: 18
- Episode runtime: 25 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy
- Created by: Dylan Moran, Graham Linehan
- Network: Channel 4
- Cast: Dylan Moran, Bill Bailey, Tamsin Greig, Keith Allen, Craig Parkinson, Jiggy Bhore, Justin Edwards, Su Elliot
- TMDB rating: 8.4/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0262150/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: deadpan, irreverent, surreal, affectionate, cringe comedy

## What critics say

Audiences widely regard Black Books as a sharply written, acclaimed sitcom whose absurd bickering and central performances make it a cult favourite.

## Synopsis

Black Books (2000-2004) is a British Channel 4 sitcom created by Dylan Moran and Graham Linehan. Moran plays Bernard Black, a foul-tempered, wildly eccentric bookshop owner in London who devotes himself to drinking and deliberately antagonising people. Bill Bailey plays Manny, his bearded, sweet-natured assistant, whom Bernard punishes relentlessly simply for existing, and Tamsin Greig plays Fran, their oldest friend, who depends on the pair for distraction. The engine of the show is small: a shop that barely trades, a steady supply of wine, and a stream of customers and schemes that the trio bungles through their own limitless stupidity. Each brisk twenty-five-minute episode is a self-contained comic mess, and the three series form a loose, comfortable run across three seasons of eighteen episodes in total. The tone is deadpan, irreverent and surreal, with an affectionate warmth underneath the cruelty. Fans of Father Ted, Fawlty Towers and The Office will find the same mix of misanthropic bosses and dysfunctional workplace absurdity here.

## Shows like Black Books

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- [Extras (2005)](https://ember.film/tv/2558)
- [Saxondale (2006)](https://ember.film/tv/2383)
- [Ideal (2005)](https://ember.film/tv/1383)
- [Vicious (2013)](https://ember.film/tv/42578)
- [Uncle (2014)](https://ember.film/tv/55217)
- [Spaced (1999)](https://ember.film/tv/706)

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