Phoenix Nights

Network: Channel 4
Years: 2001–2002
Seasons: 2
Episodes: 12

Peter Kay's love letter to the northern working men's club: a warm, filthy, riotously funny ensemble comedy that made a nation quote 'garlic bread?!' for a decade.

WorkplaceNorthernEnsemble

Created by Peter Kay, Neil Fitzmaurice, Dave Spikey

The Review

Our verdict

Rating

9.2/10

Set in the fictional Phoenix Club in Farnworth, Bolton, Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights is a sitcom about a wheelchair-bound club owner, his hapless doormen and a rotating cast of terrible cabaret acts. It should not have worked. It worked completely.

Kay's Brian Potter is a comic creation of Falstaffian scope: bitter, scheming, wounded and, when the moment demands it, genuinely moving. Every line lands, every side character has an inner life, and the northern club setting gives the whole thing a texture no London-based sitcom could ever match.

Cast & Creators

Who made this one

Names linked to their Laughter File are part of the archive. Follow the thread.

Peter Kay
Brian Potter
View Laughter File →
P
Paddy McGuinness
Paddy
D
Dave Spikey
Jerry St Clair
N
Neil Fitzmaurice
Ray Von

Memorable Episodes

Episodes to revisit

01
The Grand OpeningS1 · E1
The Phoenix rises from the ashes. Literally.
02
The TributeS2 · E2
Max & Paddy's first big showcase — the seed of a spin-off.
03
The Charity NightS2 · E6
Max and Paddy's finest hour.