Sunday, September 19, 2021

CELEBRATING 70 YEARS! : HOTEL BABYLON .. BBC .. UK .. 2006 ..

BBC Presents

HOTEL BABYLON

Starring

TAMZIN OUTHWAITE as Rebecca Mitchell

MAX BEESLEY as Charlie Edwards

NATALIE MENDOZA as Jackie Clunes

DEXTER FLETCHER as Tony Casemore

EMMA PIERSON as Emma Thornton Wilton

MICHAEL ATTWELL as Derek Crisp

MICHAEL OBIORA as Ben Trueman

MARTIN MARQUEZ as Gino Primorola

RAYMOND COULTHARD as James Schofield

IAN BONAR as Dave Wiltshire

DANIRA GOVIC as Tanya Mihajlov

Guest Stars

KEVIN BISHOP as Adam Crisp

GEORGE ROSSI as Lenny

LES DENNIS as Himself

JULIA T WALLACE as Helen Merchant

Special Guest Star

JOAN COLLINS as Lady Imogen Patton

Series 1 - Episode 7

Directed by Keith Boak

Life is never dull for management and staff at Hotel Babylon, what with a mystery hotel inspector, a battleaxe of an auditor not to mention a thief who is stealing from the well heeled guests..

This series was a big hit for the BBC, pulling in five million viewers an episode and lasted for four seasons and was based on a bestselling book by Imogen Edwards Jones.

BBC PRESS :

Indulgence, decadence and debauchery – a tantalising insight into the world of the ultimate service industry in an exciting new drama series for BBC ONE.

With guest stars including Joan Collins, Steven Berkoff, Rachael Stirling, Anthony Head, Keith Allen, Susie Amy, Lisa Faulkner, Ian Kelsey, Steve Pemberton, AnaMaria Marinca, Les Dennis, Michael Maloney, Liam Cunningham and many more…

Based on Imogen Edwards-Jones' searing exposé of life behind the scenes of the luxury hotel industry in London, Hotel Babylon takes us on a journey beyond the glamour and façade of the smiling faces and glittering chandeliers and into the frenetic, non-stop world of the staff.

Outhwaite plays Rebecca Mitchell, the hotel's driven and ambitious General Manager who is determined to keep the profit margins more than above average.

Running a tight ship ensures that guests and staff are rewarded. But is work taking its toll on her private life? Head Receptionist Charlie begins to wonder when he suspects Rebecca may actually be living in the hotel and not at home with her husband.

Joan with Tasmin Outwaithe & Max Beesley

Beesley plays Charlie Edwards, who introduces us to the world of Hotel Babylon – a world of fantasy and indulgence; a world where you can be who you want to be as long as you have the money to pay for it… and know who to ask!

But Charlie has ambitions and when he applies for the job of Deputy Manager he finds stiff competition in the shape of the gorgeous Anna (Emma Pierson), who is desperate to move from a rival hotel.

Other characters in the hotel include Tony (Dexter Fletcher) the colourful and discreet concierge.

A good concierge is like a magician - he can organise the best seats to the hottest show in town at the last minute and will take care of any personal crises that happen along the way - ultimately ensuring your visit to Hotel Babylon is as shiny as your credit card!

Gino (Martin Marquez) is the flamboyant Head Barman. The bar is his baby and he will stay open all night if it means selling his beloved brandy, not to mention his precious stash of Cuban cigars.

Receptionist Ben (Michael Obiora), always on the lookout for the latest boy band checking in, and Jackie (Natalie Mendoza), the straight-talking, stunning Head of Housekeeping who has to deal with the mornings after the night before, make up the rest of the front of house team.

For Gareth Neame, Executive Producer, it is his first production at Carnival films since leaving the BBC (where he was Head of Drama Commissioning) and becoming the company's Managing Director.

He says: "Imogen really tapped into something timely and exciting in her book, exposing the goings-on in front of and behind the scenes in a London five-star hotel; and this series, with sharp writing and an impressive young cast, will have a similar impact on BBC ONE and lift the curtain on a very new workplace for the audience."

Jane Tranter, Controller, Drama Commissioning, BBC, says: "The characters in Hotel Babylon are sexy and engaging, and the concept really original. My ambition is that it strikes another fresh, contemporary note for the BBC ONE audience."

Scandal on room service

Fun and shenanigans abound in BBC's new hotel drama

Scandal on room service

Fun and shenanigans abound in BBC's new hotel drama

Liz Hoggard

Sun 29 Jan 2006

Every season, there's one TV show that divides the chattering classes. Is it diaphanous, glossy fun or the end of modern culture as we know it? Welcome to BBC1's Hotel Babylon, a guide to the luxury five-star hotel industry. Aimed firmly at the Footballers' Wives market, the eight-part drama is based on the hit book by Imogen Edwards-Jones, an exposé of hotel mark-ups and scams (anyone for a £750 shot of vintage Cognac?), of guests having sex in the corridors and chAnd London's luxury hotels are full of extraordinary stories. People enter and exit stage left, giving us a glimpse of their chaotic inner lives. A luxury hotel is an indulged, controlled environment whereas TV generally prefers to confine itself to the square, the close, the street. Social realism it ain't. But like Stephen Frears's Dirty Pretty Things, we witness the social divide between guests and staff - the asylum seekers and foreigners, lost souls of the hotel industry, who slop out the toilets in the early hours.

I could add that Hotel Babylon tackles 'issues' including depression, addiction and borderline Asperger's (a wonderful performance from The League of Gentlemen's Steve Pemberton as a businessman). In the best tradition of trash TV, Hotel Babylon 'rescues' Thursday nights.ambermaids cleaning the glasses with spit.

Hotel Babylon is a highbrow soap about the underbelly of luxury. It is shiny and fast and neither stands up to, nor expects, close scrutiny. In short, it conforms to the 'grammar' of postmodern, high-concept TV. Like Hustle and Spooks, it is densely plotted with slick opening titles, jump-cut editing and features pretty people doing louche things. It also has an impressive ensemble cast including Max Beesley (fresh from the critical triumph of BBC3's Bodies) and Dexter Fletcher. Even Tamzin Outhwaite doesn't disgrace herself. 'Some of the more negative press that the show's received reflects that weird English failure to grasp the concept of entertainment TV,' says Beesley, who plays Charlie, the hotel's deputy manager. 'We're not doing Richard III.'

Future guest stars include Steven Berkoff, Les Dennis, Romanian actress Anamaria Marinca (so mesmeric in Sex Traffic) and that triumph of style over irony, Joan Collins. Now tell me you're not tempted.