1 Leicester Square

1 Leicester Square
Titlecard for 1 Leicester Square
Genre	Chatshow
Presented by	Russell Brand
Opening theme	"Moby Dick" by Led Zeppelin
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
Production
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	45–48 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	MTV UK
Original run	2 April 2006 (2006-04-02) – 31 December 2006 (2006-12-31)
External links
Website

1 Leicester Square is a British chatshow hosted by Russell Brand which ran from 2 April to 31 December 2006 on MTV UK. The show featured celebrity guests, musical entertainment and various asides featuring the presenter. The show was widely viewed as a vehicle for the comeback of Brand after his sacking from MTV in 2001.

Format

The show begins with an announcer introducing Brand. Controversially, he was once introduced as being "bigger than Jesus" in reference to a misquoted claim by John Lennon claiming that The Beatles were bigger than Jesus. After entering Brand sits in a flamboyantly upholstered chair with a zebra fabric for the seat covering. He then introduces the musical act for the show and they will play a track. After this, an announcer will introduce the first guest (usually the biggest star) with a comically fabricated fact or anecdote about them. The guest will then be interviewed whilst they sit on a sofa next to Brand. After this interview, there is usually a commercial break.

After the break, Brand usually interviews the musical act that is on the show this week in another area of the studio. This is usually punctuated with a sketch and Daniel and Len's Video Review (see below). This interview is typically followed with another interview by Brand next to a mock bar with another celebrity. After this interview there is another commercial break.

The last portion of the show is taken up with the segment For Pity's Sake Help Us (see below), followed by another performance from the guest musical act.

Guests

The show has featured many guests on it. These include:

Zach Braff Christina Aguilera Rob Brydon Steve Coogan Tom Cruise Carmen Electra Jamie Foxx Noel Gallagher Boy George Anthony Head David Hasselhoff Tom Jones Stephen Merchant Dannii Minogue Graham Norton

Ross Noble Will Ferrell Nerina Pallot Busta Rhymes Stephen Merchant Alicia Silverstone Christian Slater Uma Thurman Tara Palmer Tomkinson Tim Westwood Tenacious D Matt Willis Julian Barratt Noel Fielding Adam Sandler

The show has occasionally featured interviews that are pre-recorded, outside of the studio. Guests that have been interviewed in this fashion include: -

• Kate Bosworth
• Kelly Brook
• Brandon Routh
• Kevin Spacey

Musical acts

Musical acts that have appeared on the show include: -

Dirty Pretty Things Embrace Gnarls Barkley Guillemots The Kooks The Ordinary Boys Orson

The Streets Wolfmother The Zutons The Game Amy Winehouse Mcfly The All American Rejects

Short features

In series 2 of the show, all of the short features have been removed from the show with the exception of For Pity's Sake Help Us. Daniel and Len later appeared on Russell Brand's Got Issues, introducing each show with a skit loosely connected to the week's topic.

Daniel and Len's Video Review

Daniel and Len's Video Review is a weekly feature of the programme in which there are typically three different reviews of videos that have been recently released. The actual reviewing takes a backseat to discussion of developments in the lives of Daniel and his grandson Len (who despite his small size is in fact a teenager). Daniel is played by Russell Brand and is portrayed as an old man, whilst Len (played by Brand's friend and BBC Radio 2 colleague Matt Morgan) is portrayed as a very pale boy. There is an ongoing theme of Daniel's struggle to seduce Elaine, a social worker who was assigned to look after Len. Dogtanian was also frequently referred to, being championed by Len and damned by Daniel after he lived in their house, strutting around in a vest top 'giving it the big I am'.

Pimp My Application

Pimp My Application is a spoof of the popular MTV UK show Pimp My Ride UK. It has only appeared once on the show. Russell Brand parodies Tim Westwood, giving him a hook for a hand, a peg leg and a squawking voice. Brand lampoons the show by using over-exaggerated street speak when describing how they are going to 'pimp' up a person's CV when he is applying for a job.

For Pity's Sake Help Us

This is a feature that Brand always ends the show with, save the last musical performance. Audience members are asked if they have any problems and these are then answered by some of the celebrities that have appeared earlier in the show.

The Rats

The Rats is a sketch that is performed before each of the commercial breaks and at the end of the show. Two rats are crudely manipulated and given human voices. They will usually engage in a short, humorous conversation that loosely relates to a topic of discussion in the previous segment.

Minor characters

Gatwick

Gatwick is a model of a man that loosely resembles Prince Charles and is occasionally used by Brand as a prop on the show.

Dan the Researcher

Dan is the show's mysterious researcher that Brand alludes to after fabricating or bringing up an obscure fact about his interviewee.

External links

• 1 Leicester Square at the Internet Movie Database