Sugartown (TV series)

Jason Burr (Shaun Dooley) owns the Burr's rock factory and it trying to keep it afloat. His brother, Max Burr (Tom Ellis), has plans to redevelop Sugartown as a modern leisure resort. These plans do not include the factory. Opposing these plans, local residents Carmen (Georgia King) and Travis (Rob Kendrick) hit upon Sugartown's history of dance as a possible way to restore the town's fortunes.

Tensions between the brothers are not helped by the fact that both are in love with Emily (Miranda Raison) and the drama begins on the evening of Jason's proposal to her.

Broadcast during the 22:35 slot on BBC1, the first episode rated below average with 2.00 million viewers (13.72% audience share) in the provisional BARB overnight ratings. It was beaten in the ratings by The Lovely Bones on Channel 4 and fell below the slot average of 2.39m (15.4% audience share) for BBC1 for the year to date.[1] The second episode broadcast was watched by 1.5 million instead. Once again, this failed to reach the slot average of 2.39 million, but unlike the first episode, missed the average by just under one million viewers.

The opening episode received poor reviews from The Guardian's Sam Wollaston who branded it "lame, tired, predictable and uninteresting";[2] Christopher Hooton, of the Metro, who described it as a "3-part disaster-piece" and "pretty much beyond repair";[3] and Paddy Shennan, in the Liverpool Echo, who described the actors as "playing cardboard cutouts acting out a painful, pitiful pathetic and patronising plot".[4] Writing in The Stage, Harry Venning praised the first ten minutes before adding that the goodwill they generated "was squandered in the truly dreadful 50 minutes that followed".[5] Tom Sutcliffe, in The Independent described it as a mis-scheduled children's programme, writing, "it's hard to see Sugartown as anything else, so guileless is its plotting and so jauntily empty of threat are its characterisations." Sutcliffe conceded that it was not a bad show of its type but doubted it would appeal to many, summarizing it as "cocoa for the mind".[6] Writing in The Herald, Alan Morrison judged that "cliche is the stuff that Sugartown is made of" but that its feel good simplicity was of a piece with Sunday night TV and that "Sugartown is ready to wrap itself around viewers for the next two weeks like a snuggly blanket on the living-room sofa". In conclusion he stated that Sugartown "won’t (and needn’t) do a whole lot more than satisfy the sweet tooth of a Sunday-night audience."[7] In The Scotsman, Paul Whitelaw, was scathing about the general type of cosy northern comedy dramas and Sugatown in particular. He compared it unfavourably with Victoria Wood and Ealing Comedy and finished by saying, "Pastel-coloured in sugary shades of CBBC, it should be studiously avoided if you're lactose intolerant or simply intolerant of vacuous entertainment."[8]

Jane Murphy, for Orange, disagreed with the late airing time, saying that "surely this is the kind of please-everyone programme that would fit neatly into the just-past-Sunday-teatime slot."[9] For CultBox, David Lewis gave a three star review, saying that the balance between comedy and drama "doesn't quite work" and "while the dialogue sparkles, the action does not."[10] In the Radio Times, Alison Graham was extremely negative, stating "After ten minutes of this gormless show you’ll feel as if you’re caught up in a dreadful theme-park ride that hurls you through dank tunnels of cliché."[11] She later summarized her feelings on her Radio Times blog with the simple statement, "It made me want to die."[12]

The Daily Telegraph listed all three episodes in their "TV Highlights" section for the day. However, they did not give it wholehearted support, describing episode one as a type of comedy that "has seen better days" but was "not without charm".[13] Episode two received the comment "Admittedly it isn't often very funny, but it's warm and entertaining enough."[14] Finally, episode three gained this assessment, "It's not groundbreaking, but Sue Johnston is as reliable as ever, and at least it doesn't have a laughter track."[15]

Sugartown was released on region 2 DVD on 5 September 2011.

• Sugartown at BBC Programmes
• Sugartown at British Comedy Guide
• Sugartown at IMDb
• Sugartown on the Shed Media Scotland website