Desmond's

Desmond's was a British television situation comedy broadcast by Channel 4 from 1989 to 1994. The first series was filmed in 1988, with the first episode broadcast in January 1989. The show was made in and set in Peckham, London, England and featured a predominantly West Indian cast. Conceived by Trix Worrell, produced by Humphrey Barclay, this series starred Norman Beaton as Desmond Ambrose, a henpecked barber. Desmond's shop is a gathering place for an assortment of local characters like 'Porkpie' (Ram John Holder, who later had his own series, Porkpie, after Desmond's came to an end). Desmond's wife Shirley (Carmen Munroe) is usually on hand to rustle up something for the hungry 'punters' to eat. The series was very successful, and Beaton died days before the final episode was to be aired. The episode was shown as a tribute, proceeded by a documentary about Beaton. Even before his death, he had expressed his intention to retire to Guyana, and it was the intended end of the series anyway. Worrell went on to work in films. The series also raised the profile of some writers, notably playwright Michael Ellis, who went on to work on other shows, including the BBC's all-black sketch show The Real McCoy. Desmond's came 70th in the 2004 BBC poll to find Britain's Best Sitcom. Reruns aired in the USA on BET in the early-1990s. It is also noted that reruns of the show ran on NYCTV as part of their Caribbean programming on Sunday nights in the late-1990s. As of January 2007, the network still airs reruns of 'Desmond's' from time to time. Trouble TV, in the U.K., began showing re-runs of Desmond's in September 2007. "Plenty Plenty" The 1st series of Desmond's was released on Region 2 DVD On October 1st,2007[1]
Series 1 and 2 were released in Canada as a 3-disc Region 1 DVD set by VEI Entertainment in March 2007.[2]

Regular cast

• Norman Beaton - Desmond Ambrose
• Carmen Munroe - Shirley Ambrose Buff
• Geff Francis - Michael Ambrose
• Kim Walker - Gloria Ambrose
• Justin Pickett - Sean Ambrose
• Ram John Holder - Augustus 'Porkpie' Grant
• Gyearbuor Asante - Matthew
• Dominic Keating - Tony
• Joan Ann Maynard - Beverley
• Robbie Gee - Lee ('The Peckham Prince')
• Lisa Geoghan - Louise
• Mathilda Thorpe - Mandy (Michael's PA whom he married towards the end of the series)

External links

• Comedy Guide - Desmond's at bbc.co.uk
• Desmond's entry at BFI Screenonline
• Desmond's at the Internet Movie Database