Nighty Night is a British dark comedy sitcom written by and starring
Julia Davis. It was first broadcast on 6 January 2004 on
BBC Three before moving to BBC2. The show follows narcissistic sociopath Jill Tyrell (Davis) as she learns her husband Terry (
Kevin Eldon) has cancer and develops an obsession with womanising doctor Don Cole (
Angus Deayton) who has a wheelchair-bound wife, Cath (
Rebecca Front).
This series contains examples of:
- Alliterative Name: Terry Tyrell
- Ax-Crazy: Jill kills Don's latest mistress by smashing her face in with a hammer.
- The Baby Trap: Attempted in series 2, where Jill tries (and fails) to get impregnated by Don moments before he gets a vasectomy. She then accuses Don and Cath's 12-year-old son of raping her.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Series 2 ends with Cath getting arrested, Sue getting killed and Jill riding off with Don, who puts up no resistance due to being concussed.
- Black Comedy: And how! There's jokes about cancer, rape, domestic abuse and murder.
- Black Comedy Rape: Glenn as his backstory by his deceased wife and when he is in a secure unit, Lynda being forced to give her abusive boyfriend a blow job and Jill trying to seduce a 12 year old boy
- Black Widow: Jill tries to be one to get Glenns money but never succeeds in killing him
- The Brute: Lynda's series 2 boyfriend. He establishes himself by forcing his erection down Lynda's throat with no warning whatsoever.
- Comedic Sociopath: When Terry shows signs of recovering, Jill decides to kill him to keep the lie going. She tries the same thing on Glenn upon marrying him for his inheritance.
- Crapsack World: There are very few nice characters on Nighty Night and they get frequently abused. There's little justice for anyone on the show
- Cringe Comedy: Plenty of numerous moments, but Jill decorating Cath's place with semen-filled condoms is one particularly stand-out moment.
- Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: Surprisingly averted with Glenns deceased wife. Her abuse may be played for laughs but its made clear she was a dangerous rapist and abuser
- Drivento Suicide: One of Jill's unfortunate clients, after getting divorced and given a botched makeover that caused her blind date to walk out on her.
- Everyone Has Standards: Don may take Cath for granted and would cheat on her if given the chance, but he won't abandon Cath when she's pregnant.
- Faking the Dead: The main plot of series 1, with Jill telling everyone her husband succumbed to a cancer that turned out to be benign and milking it for sympathy.
- False Friend: Jill towards Cath. She acts cheerful and supportive all the while
- False Rape Accusation: Jill to Bruce but since he's 12 she's hardly taken seriously
- Girlon Girl Is Hot: Lynda's abusive boyfriend wants to see her and Jill have lesbian sex and Don enjoys watching women kissing each other at the retreat
- Groin Attack: Glenn gets a playful one from Jill.
- Hypocritical Humor: Frequently. "I'm not a malicious woman and I will strike down the first person who says that I am."
- Insane Troll Logic: You could write a book on Jills ludicruos attempts to shift blame away from herself
- It's All About Me:
Jill Tyrrell: Why does everything happen to me!
Terry Tyrrell: Look, love, it'll be okay. It's not really that bad. It's me who's got the cancer.
- Karma Houdini: Jill, who sets fire to everything she touches, but is apparently flame retardant.
- Kickthe Dog: Don in series 2 planning to run off with disabled wifes best friend just as his wife has given birth to their third child. Too many from Jill to count
- Not So Great Escape: Glenn digs a tunnell from his cell at the secure unit to the sewers and travels for hours to finally find himself . . . back at the cell he escaped from
- Phrase Catcher: Jill always greets Cath with a "Hiya Cath!"
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Jill's attitude towards black people is about 100 years out of date. She once blamed a pile of faeces lying on Cath's front lawn on a visitng vicar just because he had African heritage.
- Put Off Their Food: Don when Jill talks about Glenn needing his nappy changed
- Rapeas Backstory: Glenn and Jill supposedly but she appears to be lying
- Running Gag: "We'll settle up later. Otherwise it just gets nasty"
- Sexual Karma: Averted with Cath who is nice but doesn't like sex. Played with regarding Jill whose husband can't bring himself to have sex with her.
- Stalkerwitha Crush: Jill towards Don and to a lesser extent Glenn towards Jill.
- The Sociopath: Whenever Jill does wrong by someone else, expect her to make it seem either innocent or good for them.
