Gus Murdoch
Gus Murdoch’s Sacred Cows is a mockumentary written by and starring Stephen Carlin and broadcast on BBC7.
Stephen Carlin plays alter ego investigative journalist Gus Murdoch. Murdoch’s aim is to tackle various sacred cows of British culture by debunking myths, shattering preconceptions and championing universal truths. Thus he hopes to join the pantheon of journalistic greats Dimbleby, Humphrys, Paxman etc. Murdoch however invariably becomes side tracked with his own personal obsessions, distracted by trivial disputes and waylayed by petty one-upmanship, showing himself to be as flawed as the interviewees he seeks to exploit. The interviewees themselves turn out to be a host of weirdoes, dullards and freaks that constitute the great British Public.
Pilot Episode
Gus Murdoch attempts to debunk the National Lottery by posing the question “National Lottery. Is it a Sacred Cow or is it just literally just a cow?” To answer this Gus has plumbed the depths of Britain to find the biggest lottery losers he can. He doesn’t have to look very far.
Written by: Stephen Carlin
Starring: Stephen Carlin, Neil Edmond, Sally Grace, Renton Skinner, Lotty Wilcox
Produced by: Tilusha Ghelani
originally broadcast 28 March 2007
Episode 1: The Pub
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00fcbgm
Like former tycoon Robert Maxwell, is the British boozer lying face down in the water as a lifeless corpse? Gus visits three very different boozers to take a health check on the British pub in the 21st century.
Written by: Stephen Carlin
Starring: Stephen Carlin, Rachel Atkins, Christopher Douglas, Chris Pavlo, Renton Skinner, Dan Tetsell
Produced by: Tilusha Ghelani
originally broadcast 2 November 2008
Episode 2: The Bank Holiday
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00fgq45
Gus suspects that we have all been the subject of a massive dupe and bank holidays aren’t really special after all. They’re just another day. Gus pulls no punches as he asks the British public to take the truth like a man... or a woman (because they have equality now and are just as entitled to have their day ruined by Gus as anyone else).
Written by: Stephen Carlin
Starring: Stephen Carlin, Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Neil Edmond, Helen Longworth, Chris Pavlo, Lotty Wilcox
Produced by: Tilusha Ghelani
originally broadcast 9 November 2008
Episode 3: Football
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00fl0jv
The most fly-on-the-wall of all the episodes. Gus spends a week in the company Leicester County Football Club who have just signed the talented waster Lee Delaware. Delaware is an accident waiting to happen. Of course it’s going to go wrong, we just not sure how.
Written by: Stephen Carlin
Starring: Stephen Carlin, Stephen Critchlow, Helen Longworth, Neil Edmond, Chris Pavlo, Marc Wilcox
Produced by: Tilusha Ghelani
originally broadcast on 16 November 2008
Episode 4: Roads
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00fn9hk
Roads are the arteries of this nation but like the arteries of a middle aged man from a socially deprived area have they become clogged and blocked? Is Britain about to suffer an acute myocardial infarction (heart attack)? Gus meets the men and women who keep Britain road network running 24, 7, 52.
Written by: Stephen Carlin
Starring: Stephen Carlin, Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Neil Edmond, John Rowe, Renton Skinner
Produced by: Tilusha Ghelani
originally broadcast on 23 November 2008
