Saxondale: Seasons 1 & 2

Tommy Saxondale (Steve Coogan) was once a roadie for all the greats: Purple, Floyd, Genesis. Back then youth culture meant counter-culture, and refusing to conform to the suburban dream.

Now Tommy's a pest controller and living in suburbia, but he's still railing against the system. Only these days the system means blokes in suits who listen to Dido.

Following Tommy's hostile divorce, he met his soul mate in Magz (Ruth Jones), an amateur artist whose work evolves from selling t-shirts and posters of politicians smoking joints, to painting portraits of famous women in history and empowering them sexually by making them topless. Completing Tommy's surrogate family is his young lodger Raymond (Rasmus Hardiker); pest control trainee and uncomprehending disciple of Tommy's worldly wisdom.

Being self-educated, Tommy often feels that he's surrounded by idiots. Like when he has to visit Vicky (Morwenna Banks) who dispenses work contracts and gross insult. Vicky is just one of the many reasons why Tommy's anger management therapy sessions won't be ending any time soon.

Through it all, Tommy Saxondale is still the smartest and the dumbest guy in the room.

Series 1
Tom Saxondale has been through the rock and roll mill and lived to tell the tale. He plays fast and loose, shoots from the hip, and tells no lies - he's a true maverick. Tom never took the corporate dollar. He doesn't work for 'the man'; he's his own man. These and other moth-eaten cliches are how Tommy would describe himself. But when Tommy removes his rose-tinted Aviator shades, he can't deny a few basic facts; he was a middle-ranking roadie for 20 years, but for the past ten years he has been at the cutting edge of the pest control industry... in Hertfordshire. After a hostile divorce, Tommy has found his soulmate in Magz, proprietress of an anarchic T-shirt shop. In the course of the series Tommy gets his eyesight improved by a prostitute, has a heart murmur in Halfords, executes a pigeon and experiments with women's make-up.

Series 2
On the road again
Steve Coogan returns for a new series as Tommy Saxondale; the ex-roadie turned pest controller, aided by his often confused assistant Raymond. Tommy is still with his girlfriend Magz, the amateur artist whose work now involves painting famous women in history, but showing their sexy side for a change. Tommy still attends anger management classes, which help him deal with being regularly tortured by receptionist-from-hell Vicky and the situations his job gets him into - from getting his bottom superglued to a chair to losing his intimate home video collection.

Season 1
Episode 1 - Ex-roadie-turned-pest-controller Tommy Saxondale is a laid-back guy, but he tends to explode with fury when he's pushed too far. "I love my daughter. I love my Mustang. I love my girlfriend. I love the way Eno can paint a picture with music. I fucking hate my ex-wife," ex-roadie-turned-pest-controller Tommy Saxondale tells his irritating group therapist at his anger management class.
His patience is being also sorely tried at work, what with staffing issues and protests from animal rights activists objecting to his latest assignment: a pigeon-cull at a local car pound. He solves the former problem by taking on a naive new assistant, Raymond, and the latter with his pellet gun.

Episode 2 - Magz's shop, Smash The System, is censored for displaying obscene material. Tommy fights for the right to uphold civil liberties, and to sell a poster of Prince Charles lighting his farts.
Tommy and Raymond are called to get rid of mice in the home of celebrity motoring journalist Jerome Nelson. Tommy briefs Raymond on how not to hassle celebrities, except Tommy reckons himself and Jerome could be great mates. They bond briefly until Tommy blows his stack.
Tommy defends Smash The System at a formal hearing. Drawing inspiration from all the great men - from Martin Luther King to Ken Dodd - Tommy makes a speech which confuses everybody, but has Magz in tears of admiration.
Tommy, Magz and Raymond go to an American muscle car meet, where Jerome, feeling guilty about the earlier meeting, turns up. Tommy is delighted to see him but forgot that he had printed up some T-shirts which describe Jerome in one four-letter word. And it's not "mate"...

Episode 3 - Deggsy, an old roadie mate of Tommy's, comes to stay for a few days. While Tommy has long embraced the calm, suburban life, Deggsy still has a taste for whisky and an eye for the ladies - although these days the awkward question of the ladies' hourly rate has to be addressed.
Tommy is trying to have a quiet night in when Deggsy calls, looking for the party. Tommy can't admit to Deggsy that he's a pipe-and-slippers man these days, so he reluctantly heads out to the old haunts. But Deggsy has an ace up his sleeve in the form of two prostitutes and a bottle of economy vodka, normally used by barbers for cleaning combs...

Episode 4 - Tommy's daughter Stevie pays a visit with new boyfriend Matt. Despite his anger-management classes, Tommy finds that Matt raises his volatile mood to yellow alert.
At work, Tommy and Raymond head for a rough neighbourhood on a big cockroach job. There they meet a very weird, yet strangely familiar, character.
And it's Vicky's birthday - she's ‘21 again'!

Episode 5 - Tommy and Raymond attempt the humane removal of a squirrel from a woman's loft. Tommy's physical ineptitude on the job concerns him, so he goes to the local gym. Reluctant to start at beginner level, he twists a muscle in his neck and has to resort to amateur physiotherapy from girlfriend Magz.
Raymond's romantic life takes a turn for the better when he meets the newly divorced Tina, who is keen to dispense with courting rituals.
Tommy discovers that his health concerns are largely imaginary and his love life quickly returns to its usual inventiveness. The sound of tearing paper is heard as Raymond is exposed to more than a sensitive young man should be...

Episode 6 - Tommy's Renault Kangoo gets clamped and, in an escalating series of events, he ends up taking on the mighty forces of corporate greed - in the form of Bernard Langley, boss of the new pest control business.
Convinced he has uncovered a flea-related scam by Langley, Tommy goes for the high-profile exposure. What could be a triumph for the forces of integrity turns into what looks like Tommy picking on a fat guy.
Raymond unwittingly stumbles on the secret of nylon tights and uncovers the scam. Tommy gets to fly his falcon, shoot some cans, expose Langley, restore the moral order and slag off Dido.

Episode 7 - Tommy makes a fool of himself at a dinner party, much to the dismay of his girlfriend, Magz.
Tommy and Raymond respond to a mouse problem and the client, Janet, takes a shine to Tommy. Tommy is enchanted by her knowledge of cars and her fulsome figure.
Tommy and Raymond are called to clear out the home of a dead man. They piece together his life and a tin of potatoes gets Tommy considering his own mortality.
With Magz away, Tommy obeys his loins and agrees to meet Janet for a romantic liaison. On the verge of giving in to temptation, he manages to pull back from the brink. Tommy mends his relationship with Magz and resolves to temper his own intolerance.

Season 2
Episode 1 - Tommy hears the exciting news that an old roadie friend, Malcolm ‘The Hoover' Jessop, is living in the area. Later, while out on a job to remove beetles from a rock club, Tommy is called on to sound check a Queen tribute band. He has a great time and it makes him feel nostalgic. He takes Raymond to meet Malcolm, his crazy rocker pal, but is appalled to discover that his old friend's new stamping ground is a slick business-enterprise zone. Tommy is so hurt to discover that Malcolm has left the wild life behind that he decides to take Raymond to the rock club and have a wild, drunken night. However, his attempt to re-create Seventies backstage madness doesn't quite chime with the reality of smoothie-drinking twenty-something musicians.

Episode 2 - Tommy and Raymond are out shooting pigeons when they spot a man, Martin, about to kill himself, as the comedy starring Steve Coogan continues. They manage to stop him in time and Tommy resolves to change Martin's outlook on life. Vicky attempts a uniquely low-brow solution to the suicidal man's situation, which involves her gay friends and a night on the town. Tommy and Magz begin to suffer compassion fatigue when Martin's depression starts to feel contagious. Tommy wonders if Martin doesn't have a sinister side to him, and his paranoia reaches an almost-fatal conclusion in a karaoke club.

Episode 3 - Tommy defends a group of local squatters against small-minded, suburban prejudice. Vicky and her mates, meanwhile, are spreading unsubstantiated rumours about life inside the squat. Tommy is annoyed that his neighbours, Jonathan and Bethany, are labelling the squatters as anti-social before they have even met them. Tommy has not actually met them either, and, following a visit to the squat, he realises that sometimes, if only by accident, small-minded prejudiced suburbanites can be right.

Episode 4 - Tommy is infuriated when Vicky picks him up on a grammatical error. So, when he and Raymond are called to a school to get rid of a rat, Tommy is determined to show that he is not just a dumb rat-catcher. His insecurity comes to the fore, however, when the history teacher tries to engage him in a conversation. Tommy later insults the school caretaker and, feeling guilty, decides to apologise. When he gets to know the caretaker a bit better, however, he realises that the original insult was totally justified. When Tommy gets a chance to speak to the pupils, he eschews conventional teaching methods in favour of "blowing their minds".

Episode 5 - Tommy goes to Court over a train fare-dodging accusation. Magz is concerned that his stubbornness will land him in jail, where - as Vicky likes to remind him - terrible things can happen. Tommy calls Magz' friend Penny as a character witness, which is not a particularly good move as Penny doesn't actually like him. Tommy believes he has a foolproof defence case, which is destroyed in the first two minutes, so he falls back on emotionally manipulating the jury. His only witness is a man who barely realises he is in a courtroom.

Episode 6 - Magz has made some spiritually inclined new friends at the local vegetarian café, and embarks on a journey of self-discovery. When Tommy embarrasses Magz in front of her new friends, she begins to question whether he's good for her or not. Later, Tommy and Raymond are bird-proofing a shopping centre when they see Magz out with her new yoga instructor. Tommy is convinced this is the end of the relationship. He tries to win her back, using every tactic he can think of, including begging, feigning terminal illness and wearing a Native American, fringed leather jacket.

Written by Steve Coogan, Neil MacLennan
Produced by Ted Dowd
Directed by Matt Lipsey, Ben Miller
Executive Produced by Steve Coogan, Henry Normal

Season 1
"Steve Coogan has a singular gift for creating characters that, in an unholy fusion of mimicry and grotesque exaggeration, are simultaneously repellent and fascinating. ... Tommy Saxondale may be worthy to sit alongside Alan Partridge and Coogan's version of Tony Wilson, as featured in the glorious 24 Hour Party People. He is a quite brilliantly realised character, Ruth Jones and Morwenna Banks are terrific in supporting roles, and there is an especially fine climactic sequence."  - Karl French, Financial Times

"Wonderful news! Steve Coogan's latest comic creation is enormous fun. Like so many of Coogan's creations, he is a complex, vulnerable and deeply flawed character who also manages to be perversely likeable. The comedy is enhanced by the presence of his girlfriend (Ruth Jones), who runs a boutique in a shopping mall (called "Smash the System"), and a geeky young assistant (Rasmus Hardiker) who looks on with the wide eyes of a goofy everyman. Together, they inhabit a comic world that is rich, unusual and extremely funny."  - The Times

"...The show is packed with great lines..."  - Jane Simon, Mirror

"...Clever, carefully thought-through and well written. And Coogan can certainly inhabit a character. Really, anything with him in it is worth checking out for that reason alone."  - Cathy Pryor, Independent on Sunday

"...it is very, very funny ... He is perhaps the first character Coogan has created that we are supposed to laugh wholeheartedly with as opposed to at."  - Ben Marshall, Guardian

"For anyone with even the most cursory knowledge of the music business, Saxondale is as brilliantly observed as other Coogan creations (and musical contemporaries), Tony Ferrino and Sir Alan of Partridgeshire. ... Tommy's clothes, beer belly and his raconteur's love of life on The Road are spot-on. ... What is different, and what makes Saxondale so promising, is Tommy's touching relationship with his girlfriend Magz. ... All of which makes Saxondale something of a triumph."  - Jim Shelley, Mirror

"It took less than five minutes of Saxondale to remind me that (Coogan) is a bona fide genius. He inhabits this new persona as wholly and convincingly as he did Partridge, but whereas Partridge was in essence a caricature, albeit exquisitely drawn, Tommy is all too believable. As is the relationship with his girlfriend, Magz (Ruth Jones)."  - Brian Viner, Independent

"You'll laugh or cry or do both as you meet long-suffering girlfriend Magz and his beloved yellow Ford Mustang. A treat for Coogan fans."  - Nick Francis, Sun

Season 2
"The second series started brilliantly ... Coogan has skilfully shaded Saxondale's character. His vulnerabilities are as unexpectedly touching as Partridge's - while both characters' grotesque self-delusion reaps laughs. ... The detail in the writing is just peachy ... Coogan is a doyen of colouring and building character ... Saxondale could yet become a masterful creation."  - Tim Teeman, The Times

"Steve Coogan is a man expert at creating magnetic tragicomic characters ... With support from Rasmus Hardiker, Morwenna Banks and Ruth Jones, Coogan as Tommy Saxondale skewers male vanity and delusion while swooningly falling for it."  - Gareth McLean, Guardian

"Tommy Saxondale's anger-management group ... is a tour-de-force scene that gets the second series of Steve Coogan's brilliantly detailed sit-com off to a flying start. With rock-solid support from Rasmus Hardiker as Raymond, his bug-busting apprentice, and Ruth Jones as his soul-mate Mags, Tommy turns the comedy up to 11."  - Jane Simon, Daily Mirror

"There is a certain humour rumbling through these shows that makes them enjoyable. Tommy Saxondale is a mixture of foul temper, insecurity, a Peter Pan yearning for perpetual misspent youth and a kind of existential self-righteousness that makes him cross with anyone who sells out by settling down."  - Paul Hoggart, The Times

"When the first series began, many Coogan fans were surprised at his choice of subject matter ... Happily, however, he opted for what he does best, namely intimate observational comedy set in an entirely specific environment. Not only did it turn out to be hilariously funny, it was moving too ... Of course, to reveal too much would be to spoil this triumphant return, but suffice to say that what makes the comedy work so well, apart from the sight gags and the now-ludicrous incidental music is a carefully crafted script. ... So prepare to be entertained by a rollicking, if poignant, instalment ... Pure gold."  - Mike Bradley, Observer

"Steve Coogan's most rounded character yet."  - Independent

"A welcome return for Steve Coogan's ex-roadie Tommy Saxondale, a subtle successor to Partridge. Decent supporting cast too: Rasmus Hardiker, Morwenna Banks and Ruth Jones."  - Richard Vine, Guardian