Two men and a little lady

Outside of the Kramer/Elaine/Costanza triptych at the centre of Seinfeld, there can scarcely be a more bizarre collection of characters in the world of TV sitcoms than the trio of young and restless eccentrics in Black Books. Currently in the middle of its third series, Channel 4’s acclaimed cult hit revolves around the life of misanthropic book-shop owner Bernard Black (superbly essayed by Dylan Moran), who week-in, week-out seeks – or rather dodges – adventure in the company of brow-beaten, feckless hippy Manny (Bill Bailey), and neurotic, oddball loner Fran Katzenjammer, played by Tamsin Greig.

Fittingly, Greig’s CV is not without eyebrow-raising incongruity, since aside from Black Books, her other most notable role is in The Archers, the cosy Radio 4 farming drama which enjoys huge popularity amongst vicars, tea-shop owners and basket weavers throughout Blighty. Remarkably, Greig contends that there is a slim-but-definite audience crossover between both programmes.
“They’re completely different worlds, really,” she acknowledges, “but there is a little section of the Venn diagram of underground bods who listen to The Archers and also like Black Books. Though I think it’s fair to say that it’s a fairly small section of the Venn. They’re interesting characters who dwell in that twilight zone!”
Coming from someone who plays the none-more-strange Fran – a woman who’s lived so long in the twilight zone she should have long since lost her skin pigmentation and gone blind – there is more than a hint of the pot calling the kettle black here. Selfish, confused and needy, Greig’s character is perhaps not the most sympathetic of individuals.
“What do you mean she’s not sympathetic?” protests Tamzin in mock-indignation. “She wears nice dresses and she makes an effort for the world, I would have thought. She travels, she goes into bookshops – though admittedly she doesn’t buy anything! But I suppose it’s impossible to deny her eccentricities. In a way, she’s even more dysfunctional than Bernard and Manny. They both have jobs and solid homes and an ongoing relationship, albeit a destructive one. Fran doesn’t have any of that. She doesn’t have a job, we don’t know what her home is like, and she doesn’t have any connection with friends, so in society’s eyes she’s totally beyond the pale.”
In the past, Black Books has boasted an impressive array of guest stars, including Johnny Vegas, Jessica Stevenson, and perennial Hoot Press favourite, Human Remains/Marion And Geoff co-creator, Rob Brydon. The third series once again features a formidable supporting cast, with cameos from Trainspotting/24 Hour Party People’s Keith Allen – who famously terrorised London high-society during the Britpop era in the company of Brit-art enfant terrible, Damien Hirst, and Blur bassist, Alex James – and The Office’s Lucy Davis (interestingly, also a cast regular on The Archers).
There are also contributions from old-stagers Annette Crosby and Sam Kelly, who play Manny’s parents.
“They are just a class act,” enthuses Greig. “I don’t think they really knew what had hit them when they came into rehearsals. It’s not quite One Foot In The Grave or ‘Allo ‘Allo, which of course is where they made their names. There are no fixed words until about half-an-hour before we go in front of an audience; nothing is finalised for a very long time. The general story of each show is all planned out, but people who come in on the first day having learned every single word realise very early on that it may have been a wasted effort. Stuff is always being changed, because we’re always ready to have better words and better gags.
“But Annette and Sam adapted absolutely brilliantly, they were amazing. I wondered whether or not it might all be a bit bemusing for them, but that wasn’t the case at all. There was one scene – I don’t know whether or not it’s in the final cut of the episode – where they go to bed at the end of the day, and it’s the most tender scene I’ve ever seen in a sitcom. It’s just beautiful, and you realise you’re watching incredibly accomplished actors.”
Hoot Press recalls Spinal Tap’s June Chadwick once commenting that “when we were doing certain scenes, such as the debate over the black album cover, I’d really have to come up with a way to distract myself, because if you listened too hard you’d just crack up laughing.”
Given the improvisational nature of the show, do the cast of Black Books experience similar problems on set?
“I’m very bad at keeping a straight face,” admits Tamsin. “And that’s my job, really, to be near very funny men and not laugh, and basically I’m very, very bad at my job. It’s unbearable, and no matter what I do, I can’t disguise it. Although I suppose Dylan and Bill lapse occasionally too, and in many ways it’s even worse if I know they’ve gone. We might as well all just go home, and I might as well go and be a plumber. It’s an absolute delight, and also a horror to me, because I like to think that I can do my job and I’m in control of myself, and at the end of the day, I’m really not.”
One can’t help but wonder if Tamsin prefers the homely, bucolic environs of The Archers or the dark and twisted urban milieu of Black Books. Satisfyingly, Greig deconstructs the question with an oblique simile, thus bringing our conversation to a suitably off-kilter conclusion.
“They’re so different – it’s like asking if someone would like to eat an orange or play the piano,” she replies. “Both are as delicious, and as difficult. Getting the pith off some oranges is really difficult. And also, I can’t play the piano.”

Black Books is currently showing Thursday evenings at 10pm on Channel 4