# I Am Not an Animal (2004)

> Six talking laboratory animals, raised in cosseted captivity, are thrown into a chaotic world after activists free them from a vivisection unit.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/87

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 6
- Episode runtime: 30 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: animation, comedy
- Created by: Peter Baynham
- Network: BBC Two
- Cast: Steve Coogan, Julia Davis, Simon Pegg, Kevin Eldon, Amelia Bullmore, Arthur Mathews, John Shrapnel
- TMDB rating: 7.9/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0348943/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: mild
- Tone: sardonic, deadpan, irreverent, bleak, witty

## What critics say

Audiences rated this short adult animated satire positively, praising its sharp, irreverent take on animal testing and its voice cast.

## Synopsis

I Am Not an Animal (2004) is a British adult animated satirical comedy series created by Peter Baynham for BBC Two. Across a single six-episode season of half-hour episodes, the show follows six talking animals, a bird, a rat, a cat, a monkey, a dog and a rabbit, who have lived pampered lives inside a vivisection unit. Steve Coogan voices Mark the Bird, Julia Davis voices Claire the Rat, Simon Pegg voices Kieron the Cat, and Kevin Eldon voices Hugh the Monkey, with Amelia Bullmore and Arthur Mathews rounding out the group. Their comfortable captivity is upended when animal rights activists liberate them and they must confront a world that never prepared them for freedom. The engine of each episode is the gap between the animals' self-importance and their helplessness, played out through blunt, sarcastic exchanges and absurd situations. Narrated with dry formality by John Shrapnel, the series is bleak in its satire yet sharply funny. Its tone is sardonic and deadpan, and its target is the ethics of animal testing and the hypocrisy around it. Fans of Frisky Dingo, The Thick of It and the anthropomorphic satire of Animal Farm will find resonance here.

## Shows like I Am Not an Animal

- [Superjail! (2008)](https://ember.film/tv/2953)
- [Big Train (1998)](https://ember.film/tv/1356)
- [Fired on Mars (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/105009)
- [W1A (2014)](https://ember.film/tv/55542)
- [The Amazing Digital Circus (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/175361)
- [15 Storeys High (2002)](https://ember.film/tv/858)
- [Sheep in the Big City (2000)](https://ember.film/tv/1393)
- [Brass Eye (1997)](https://ember.film/tv/56)
- [Watership Down (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/60038)
- [The Day Today (1994)](https://ember.film/tv/2622)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt