The Life of Rock with Brian Pern


Brian Pern: A Life in Rock is a British comedy spoof-documentary series about a fictional ageing rock star, Brian Pern, the former frontman of the 1970s progressive rock group Thotch. Series 1, titled The Life of Rock, with Brian Pern, was originally broadcast in three weekly parts on BBC Four from 10 February 2014. A second series of three episodes was promoted to BBC Two and broadcast from 9 December 2014, retitled Brian Pern: A Life in Rock. A third series of three episodes Brian Pern: 45 Years of Prog and Roll was broadcast on BBC Four from 14 January 2016.
The series is written by Rhys Thomas and Simon Day, and stars Simon Day, Michael Kitchen, Paul Whitehouse and Nigel Havers in supporting roles alongside Day. The character of Brian Pern is an affectionate parody of Peter Gabriel. "There is more than one influence in that character," Gabriel told Mark Blake, "but I am definitely one of them. I'm flattered by it."

Cast

Main cast

In addition to Gabriel's cameos, the series features a range of musicians playing themselves including Roger Taylor, Phil Collins, Jools Holland, Rick Wakeman, Rick Parfitt, Chrissie Hynde, Tim Rice, Billy Bragg, Roy Wood, Paul Young, Mark King, Noddy Holder, Martin Kemp, Melanie Chisholm, Chas Hodges, Dave Peacock and Mike Batt.
The following actors and television or radio personalities have appeared as themselves in guest roles: Roger Moore, David Arnold, David Baddiel, Noel Edmonds, Miranda Sawyer, John Humphrys, Dan Cruickshank, Mike Read, Jack Whitehall, Martin Freeman, Kathy Burke, Alex Jones, Dan Snow, Matthew Wright, Alan Yentob, Paul Gambaccini, Tony Blackburn, Simon McCoy, Annie Nightingale, Dermot O'Leary, Kirsty Young and Ian Wright.

Production

The commissioning of the series was announced by Janice Hadlow on 22 August 2013 at the Edinburgh International Television Festival under the name of Rock Ratatouille.

Origins

Comedian Rhys Thomas created the character of Brian Pern in 2008 when he was asked by BBC Comedy commissioner Simon Lupton to come up with an idea for the first batch of Online-Exclusive comedy sketches the BBC Comedy Website was developing. A fan of Peter Gabriel, Thomas was a frequent visitor to Gabriel's website where the singer would post a monthly video blog about his current projects. At this time other rock musicians from the same generation were doing the same, such as Brian May and Brian Eno.
Once the idea was commissioned, Thomas approached his fellow Fast Show and Down the Line collaborator Simon Day to play Brian Pern. Day was also a fan of Gabriel. Following a successful run on BBC Online, a second batch of sketches were commissioned. With a small increase in budget, extra cast members were brought in: Lucy Montgomery as Majita and Paul Whitehouse as guitarist Pat Quid. The relationship between Pat and Brian is based on that of David Gilmour and Roger Waters.
Thomas created the part of Brian's manager John Farrow for Michael Kitchen. Thomas had been developing a comedy drama for BBC One with Kitchen and offered him the part in the second series of online specials of Brian Pern. Thomas has stated in various interviews that John Farrow is an exaggerated version of Queen manager Jim Beach, whom Thomas had worked with for many years following his involvement with the band.

Episode list

Series 1 - The Life of Rock with Brian Pern

Series 2 - Brian Pern: A Life in Rock

Series 3 - Brian Pern: 45 Years of Prog and Roll

A Tribute - At the BBC