shameless

[luke]

new series starts 26th january

scatter!

[faceless]

I've never watched it, but I keep hearing it's good, so I'll give it a go

[minterdan]

Its Definatley worth watching face but i would start from the beggining series 1 and 2 are comedy classics imho

[faceless]

ok, I'll queue it up for download tonight

[Stones]

Yeah, go from beginning. I need to start watching again, I think I've only see the first 2 series'.

[Skylace]

Luke I must say I am loving your new avatar!

[Kezza]

I freakin' love "Shameless" -- one of my fave episodes was when Frank got selected for jury duty and he was saying hello to a load of defendants awaiting trial in the dock. Hilarious! Can't wait for the new series!

[luke]

do they show shameless in america kezza? i read that they're thinking of doing an american version of it - that'll be interesting to see

glad you like it sky

[Kezza]

[luke]

David Threlfall: 'Celebrity? I hate the f@#$**! word!'
David Threlfall talks to James Rampton about life as a foul-mouthed national treasure




I have just pulled into Shameless Central. Sited on an industrial estate in Wythenshawe, Manchester, this newly constructed studio houses all the sets for the hit Channel 4 drama, which returns next week for its seventh season. Over there is the Jockey pub, complete with obscene graffiti daubed on the loo wall; and here is the back entrance to the home of the central family, the Gallaghers, adorned with all manner of fly-tipped rubbish. Outside is parked a pink stretch limo, the gleefully over-the-top ride which the Gallagher's neighbour, Micky Maguire, has pimped for his own nefarious purposes.

Even amid the encircling gloom of a December evening, the whole place reeks of the Chatsworth Estate's defining quality, its sheer joie de vivre. It lifts the spirits and reminds you of Frank Gallagher's joyous paean of praise to the "Chatsworth buccaneers" at the start of every episode: "First and foremost, the most vital necessity in this life is they know how to throw a party! Heh, heh... Scatter!"

It is this unabashed exuberance that makes Chatsworth residents such fun people to spend time with, and which has turned Shameless into one of the most iconic and original series of the last decade, with one national newspaper last week voting it among the greatest TV dramas of all time. And no one epitomises that unashamed lust for life better than Frank.

Above the Chatsworth police station – whose reception is decorated with crime-prevention posters warning "When you're out on the lash, don't flash the cash" – are the production offices for Shameless. They are decorated with no fewer than three fetching glass mosaics of the dipsomaniac Frank in his trademark pose: hair lank, eyes bleary, fag alight, flicking Vs at the viewer. It is the definitive Shameless image.

David Threlfall, the actor who has brought Frank so memorably to life over the past six years, and who has also directed several episodes of the programme, comes down the corridor to greet me. Gesturing to the mosaics, I ask if he has one hanging in pride of place over his mantelpiece at home. Threlfall looks horrified at the very idea. "It's like Bill Hicks used to say: 'When Jesus Christ comes back, he doesn't want to see figures of himself around people's necks.' I don't want to see Frank when I get home. Shit, you have to leave him at the door. You do not want him coming home with you!"

This is Threlfall all over – sharp and self-deprecating. He is, simply, everything that Frank is not. But for all that, the actor is very grateful to his dishevelled alter ego, as you might imagine. On the surface, Frank is not a character we should warm to at all; indeed, he is an egotistical workshy yob, who is addicted to benefits and booze and who would sell his grandchild for the price of a pint. And yet, in Threlfall's portrayal, Frank has become one of the most popular characters in modern television.

It is a bravura piece of acting to make someone so loathsome, so loveable. Fans can quote verbatim from his rambling pontifications, and there is a roaring trade in T-shirts quoting his most celebrated homily: "Make poverty history! Cheaper drugs now!" Regular viewers revel in the rough poetry of Frank's bar-room philosophising and the keenness of his warped wit. At one point, Frank sighs to his earnest daughter, "Debbie, love, you're as miserable as Morrissey eating Kentucky Fried Chicken at an animal-rights festival." On another occasion, when his son Lip tells him, "You're covered in sick," Frank replies quick as a flash: "Son, you are ugly. Tomorrow, I will be clean." Even his drunken meanderings are engaging. He once railed at a fish: "Now you know what I feel like. Stop whingeing! Drink more!"

As Threlfall and I sit down in a meeting room upstairs at Shameless HQ, the mosaic of Frank is still giving us the V-sign from the wall, but we carry on regardless. The 56-year-old actor gives very few interviews and is averse to blowing his own trumpet. "There have been some approaches for me to write my autobiography," he says, glumly, before adding: "Don't be silly! I'm quite shy in public."

But today Threlfall seems very much at ease. He has sloughed off Frank and is dressed in his "civvies" – a grey collarless shirt and black combat trousers. Sitting with his feet up on the sofa, the actor seems as relaxed and poised as Frank is restive and plastered.

So what has the character of Frank given him, then? "Gallstones," Threlfall deadpans. "No. Frank has made me more recognisable. People really do seem to love him. He's a licensed fool. People tune into him and say, 'I didn't think anyone else thought that.' They come up to me all the time and say, 'My cousin's just like Frank!' And I reply, 'You're proud of that, are you?' "

The resounding success of his screen creation has also endowed Threlfall with a greater sense of artistic liberty. "Paul Abbott [the creator of Shameless] has described me as 'someone who will take the ball and run with it'. Tony Garnett [the veteran TV producer] recently criticised scriptwriters for writing to order because the people above them are living in a perpetual state of fear. So it's harder all over to get things made. But the type of show that Shameless is does give you a certain freedom. It encourages you to go with your instincts as an actor and a director."

The truth is that Threlfall has long been well-regarded within the industry – he was Emmy- and Tony- nominated as long ago as 1979 for his performance as Smike in a memorable RSC production of Nicholas Nickleby – it's just that Frank made him a star. And in 2006 – 27 years after playing Smike – he finally won the Best Actor gong at the Royal Television Society Awards. Crucially, though, the acclaim has not gone to his head.

These days, Threlfall lives a tranquil life in the south-east of England with his wife, fellow actor Brana Bajic, and their two young sons. He pretty much shuns the limelight. And, suffice to say, he will not be appearing any time soon alongside the cage-fighters and ex-boyfriends of Katie Price on Celebrity Big Brother. "Celebrity? I hate the word!" snorts the actor.

"We never go out on the social scene," he continues. "I do get invited to a few movie premieres, but I never fancy them. If you go to those parties where you have to stand for hours with a plate in one hand and a glass in the other, you just come away thinking, 'God, my calves ache!' I suppose I'm a social misfit, but if it's a choice between that or a night in with the family, I'd always go for the night in with the family."

Threlfall – who grew up Manchester, where his father worked as a plumber – is mightily relieved that fame did not alight on him when he was younger. "I'm glad it's happened to me later on," he says. "If it had happened to me earlier, I'm sure I'd have done some stupid stuff – don't even ask me what but I'd probably have screwed up! Now I have spent enough time with myself to understand how I – and the business – operate."

When he's not acting, Threlfall spends much of his time editing or preparing to direct his next episode. So, does he ever relax, I wonder? "It's hard being away from the kids," he replies, "I think they actually like me as well as love me. So when I'm back home, I just see the family. I do normal things like walk the kids to school in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon. I'm pretty dull!"

Threlfall trained at Manchester Polytechnic School of Drama before making his professional debut – opposite Ray Winstone – in Alan Clarke's 1977 film Scum. He takes his work very seriously indeed. The director Trevor Nunn once called him "a handful" and Threlfall confesses that, "I frighten directors a bit because I have to try everything out before settling on how I'm going to do it. So, in rehearsal, I might be Rasputin one day and Mother Teresa the next!"

He thinks, though, that his outlook has mellowed somewhat with the passing years. "I'm still as intense as I was as a younger man. But with time comes a certain relaxed approach. Some people [on Shameless] have gone through various difficult things. I say to them, 'This is only a play – go and sort it out.' You have to have balance about what goes on in the world."

Which is one reason why Threlfall has signed up to help with the campaign to free Tibet and to be an ambassador for Save the Children. "Save the Children's work is focused on children and health – pretty fundamental stuff. Children are our future, as the song says. When you have children yourself, it arouses this primal thing within you. And now, because this show has made me recognisable, I can do something about it. I'm really pleased to be involved in a low-key way... he said, as he went into print about it!"

Threlfall is the first to acknowledge that the path of his career has not always run so smoothly, however. "I went through a bad patch a few years ago. For a couple of years, I couldn't give it away. I was within a day of becoming a motorbike dispatch rider when Jude Kelly rang with the offer of Odysseus Thump at West Yorkshire Playhouse."

Today, though, he is viewed as a small-screen titan. His Shameless co-star Pauline McLynn – who plays Frank's new love interest, Libby, in the latest series – describes him as "brilliant, perhaps the top actor in the country".

He certainly boasts a certain chameleon quality, equally able to play characters from opposite ends of the social spectrum – from the Duke of Drunks (Frank Gallagher in Shameless) to the Duke of Edinburgh (Prince Philip in The Queen's Sister).

But despite this versatility – and popularity – Threlfall says he's not taking anything for granted. "When Shameless stops, I hope the people who give out jobs won't just focus on Frank," he says. "There's a 20-odd-year back catalogue before that. I'm always striving to do different things. You always want the other thing, the thing that you're not doing at that moment. The grass is not necessarily greener on the other side – it's just different. It's more of a concrete patio!

"I'm well aware that fashions come and go," he continues. "What's popular can change just like that. Longevity is the thing to aim for. The secret is to keep your head down, wear a tin hat and avoid the bullets."

The new series of 'Shameless' starts at 9pm next Tuesday on Channel 4

from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/david-threlfall-celebrity--i-hate-the-f-word-1873945.html

[Kezza]

Great article - thanks for the post, Luke. I'm looking forward to the new series next week!

[faceless]

Wedding bells for Frank in new Shamleless series
By Ian Wylie
May 26, 2010
menmedia.co.uk

Shameless is to celebrate its 100th episode in a record-breaking new series. Filming of 22 new episodes - the most ever - began this week at the Wythenshawe HQ of the Channel 4 hit. The award-winning drama, created by Hale-based Paul Abbott, returns to the screen next year with the Chatsworth estate having another party.

It’s Frank Gallagher’s (David Threlfall) stag night - he is getting married to narcoleptic librarian and third bride-to-be Libby (Pauline McLynn). But as the clock strikes midnight, Frank disappears without a trace leading to a 'magical mystery tour into the previously unexplored outer limits of his drink and drug-addled mind'.

With Frank absent, a dark cloud settles on The Jockey regulars when a previous Mrs Frank Gallagher, Monica (Annabel Apsion), returns from 'buying a loaf of bread'. Having been away for so long, she looks set to lay claim to her family - but will Libby use more than just her precious words to stand up to her? And will Frank get back in time for his latest wedding?

Elsewhere, Mimi Maguire (Tina Malone) and her surprise new baby daughter Cilla have moved back into the Maguire household - but who’s the daddy? Shane Maguire (Nicky Evans) and working wife Kelly (Sally Carman) decide to set up a new security business in local schools. While Micky Maguire (Ciaran Griffiths) discovers a surprising talent as happy surrogate father to his little sister.

The eighth series also sees the arrival of a new family - the Powells - who move in between the Gallaghers and the Maguires. Fun and fiery housewife Avril will be played by Bodies actress Karen Bryson with the role of her partner, trainee teacher Jackson, taken by Occupation star Emmanuel Ighodaro. Newcomer Kira Martin plays their teenage daughter Letitia. Also new to the estate is Aidan, a refugee from a traveller family, played by Robbie Conway.

There will be plenty of future fireworks with episode 18 in the 2011 series marking the century of episodes. Channel 4 Commissioning Editor Roberto Troni said: “Imagine a Britain without Chatsworth? It doesn’t bear thinking about. After the high of the previous series, there was no way we could deny the brilliant Shameless team the opportunity to surprise, shock and entertain us all over again. Shameless is back and it’s going to be bigger and even better than before.”

Producer Lawrence Till said: “Shameless 8 builds on the success of the show, with Channel 4 commissioning 22 episodes, which is a wonderful endorsement that our characters and stories retain their ambition and commitment to tell rollercoaster tales in an imaginative and surprising way. Shameless continues to evolve and we invite the audience to join us on the Chatsworth Express.”

The series is filmed within a purpose built complex on the Roundthorn industrial estate which contains both exterior and interior sets. Producers Company Pictures signed a five year lease in 2007 to take over the site. Shameless was previously made on location in West Gorton with studio sets inside a Salford warehouse.

[faceless]

Shameless Star Arrested Over 'Hit-and-Run'
August 16, 2010
Damien Pearse,
Sky News Online

Shameless star Elliott Tittensor has been arrested after a teenager was seriously injured in an alleged hit-and-run incident. The actor is said to have failed to stop when his BMW Z4 hit the 18-year-old man on Kentish Town Road in north London at 2am on Sunday. Police sources told the Press Association that Tittensor had been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. But Scotland Yard would only confirm that the 20-year-old star had been arrested and questioned in connection with the collision.

The teenager suffered head injuries and was taken to hospital by ambulance. Reports suggested he had been blinded. Kentish Town Road was temporarily closed due to the incident. Tittensor, who plays Carl Gallagher in the Channel 4 show, handed himself in at a police station an hour and a half later. His girlfriend, Skins actress Kaya Scodelario, was reportedly in the car at the time and is being treated as a witness.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Police were called at 2.02am on Sunday 15 August to Kentish Town Road to reports of a collision involving a BMW Z4 and a pedestrian. An 18-year-old man was taken by London Ambulance Service to hospital suffering from head injuries. His condition is serious but stable. The male driver did not stop at the scene. He later handed himself into officers at a central London police station at approximately 3.30am and was arrested in connection with the collision." Tittensor was subsequently bailed to return to a central London police station at a date in mid-September.

The actor came to public attention when he appeared alongside his identical twin brother, Luke, in Brookside. Luke went on to play Daz Eden in Emmerdale, joining the cast in October 2003. When Shameless started in 2004, the brothers at first shared the role of Carl Gallagher.

[faceless]

[faceless]

The American series started this week on Showtime. I've not watched it yet, but I've not seen anything from that channel that wasn't made well.

Episode 1