Series 2 (2006)
| No. | Episode | Celebrity guest star(s) | UK viewers | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | "Orlando Bloom" | Orlando Bloom |
3.62 million | 14 September 2006 (2006-09-14) |
| Andy's new sitcom, When The Whistle Blows, is being filmed, whilst Maggie appears as an extra in a courtroom drama with Orlando Bloom and Sophia Myles. Andy begins to get worried, as his script has been reworked into a sitcom filled with broad humour and an over-reliance on catchphrases. When his attempts to intervene result in him being threatened with the possibility of returning to the status of a mere extra, Andy backs down and is forced to make and star in a show he hates. Meanwhile, Orlando Bloom refuses to believe that Maggie does not find him attractive and waxes lyrical about his dislike for Johnny Depp and Darren attempts to persuade Andy to give Shaun his role. | ||||
| 8 | "David Bowie" | David Bowie | 3.84 million | 21 September 2006 (2006-09-21) |
| The critical response for When the Whistle Blows is entirely negative but Andy gets encouragement from the public as he is recognised in the street and in his local pub – though he isn't eager to endlessly repeat his catchphrase from the show. Shaun takes Andy to a celebrity bar he used to frequent, where Andy finds himself on the receiving end of opposite treatment from the people there who openly mock and disdain him. Andy tries to talk with David Bowie and explains his situation, however this backfires as Bowie proceeds to make up a song ridiculing him. In the end, Andy reluctantly returns to his local pub to seek recognition from the people he had previously disdained, being forced to come to terms with the fact that the fans he has aren't the fans he wants. | ||||
| 9 | "Daniel Radcliffe" | Daniel Radcliffe |
3.46 million | 28 September 2006 (2006-09-28) |
|
Andy receives a bit part in a new fantasy film starring Daniel Radcliffe, who fancies himself a teenage Romeo and tries to seduce every woman he meets – including Maggie, and blaming it on someone else every time he gets caught. Over lunch, Daniel invites himself to join Andy and Maggie and accidentally flicks a condom onto the head of Dame Diana Rigg. Andy takes Maggie out for a meal and inadvertently offends the mother of a Down's syndrome teenager in a restaurant, leading to an increasingly hysterical reaction in the British media, who take his comments out of context. Andy manages to quell the anger, but back on the film set, he gets into a fight with actor Warwick Davis over remarks Andy privately made to Maggie – which she later repeats to Davis' fiancée. During the altercation, Andy accidentally knocks Davis unconscious, leading to the loss of his bit part and further embarrassment from the tabloids. |
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| 10 | "Chris Martin" | Chris Martin |
3.6 million | 5 October 2006 (2006-10-05) |
| Andy makes a charity appeal video and meets Chris Martin from Coldplay, who appears as a shameless self-promoter interested only in advertising his album. Martin requests to make a cameo on When the Whistle Blows and appears on the show to play Fix You despite Andy insisting against it. Despite angry reviews at the shameless celebrity appearance on his sitcom, Andy is nominated for a BAFTA. During the award ceremony, Andy manages to upset both Richard Briers and an ex-girlfriend, who goes on to humiliate him from the stage. Co-nominee Stephen Fry wins the award in Andy's category and privately rebukes Andy for his sitcom's use of laughter tracks, silly wigs and catchphrases. As if things couldn't get any worse, Darren manages to get himself and Andy banned from all BAFTA events when they are caught alongside a drug-taking Ronnie Corbett. | ||||
| 11 | "Sir Ian McKellen" | Sir Ian McKellen |
3.66 million | 12 October 2006 (2006-10-12) |
| With the critical reaction to his sitcom getting more scathing, Andy asks Darren to find him some serious theater work as a way of regaining some reputation. He is recommended to Ian McKellen, and is cast in a play about a homosexual relationship – "A Month of Summers". With his upper school school friends led by Jonathan Cake turning up for the first night, and McKellen's sudden decision that he should kiss his male co-star, Andy feels increasingly uncomfortable to the point of leaving the play midway through the first performance. Darren asks Maggie on a date, which comes to an awkward conclusion. | ||||
| 12 | "Robert De Niro" | Robert De Niro |
3.85 million | 19 October 2006 (2006-10-19) |
|
Convinced that he has outgrown his sitcom and his agent, Andy becomes detached from his friends after appearing on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and becoming friends with Ross. Andy is also getting very sick of Darren's incompetence and sets him a task... find a way for him to meet Robert De Niro or be fired. Despite making excuses, Andy is coerced into visiting a boy (Corey J. Smith) who is in hospital with cancer and asks Maggie to go with him. Robert Lindsay, who appeared on the Ross show with Andy, is incensed that he, the more famous and talented actor (according to him), was not asked to visit the ailing child and gate-crashes the scheduled visit. Lindsay becomes livid when the sick child shows no recognition of Lindsay's earlier work, especially his appearances as Wolfie on 70s sitcom Citizen Smith. Just as Andy is about to fire Darren when he catches him masturbating over a pornographic pen, Darren tells Andy he has arranged a meeting with De Niro. The meeting time conflicts with one of Andy's scheduled visits to the sick boy, but guilt at the burden he is imposing on Maggie combined with his suspicion of Darren's empty promises forces Andy to keep his appointment with the boy at the cost of meeting De Niro. Lamb is able to pacify De Niro with the pornographic biro, and at the hospital, Andy receives a call from Lamb and De Niro, who invite Andy to meet up at a pub, which he and Maggie accept. |
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