Talk:Black Books

2 specials?
Someone back in January (no username) has added that there are 2 specials in the infobox... see the following diff... http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Black_Books&diff=263059352&oldid=262895425 Are there actually 2 specials? And special what? Series/Episodes? I don't know of any myself - should this be removed? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.57.229.111 (talk) 19:34, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

BBC
It says this was made by Channel 4 originally but the BBC have their own Black Books site- did it migrate to BBC or do the channels share programs or something? I'm obviously not from Britain. Thanks. DarkSideOfTheSpoon 15:59, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
 * That page at the BBC web site is just their comedy guide and covers programs from a variety of sources whether they have anything to do with the BBC or not. DamienG 20:14, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
 * I see. On the Amazon page for the season 1 DVD it says "Studio: BBC Warner". Any idea why? Thanks. DarkSideOfTheSpoon 06:04, 1 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I would imagine the BBC brought the international DVD rights or something. This happens all the time with films and TV shows. DamienG 09:11, 1 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I see. New subject: is there any sort of name given to Bernard's "hairstyle?" DarkSideOfTheSpoon 13:33, 1 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Dunno... Mad scamp? ;-)  DamienG 21:35, 1 August 2006 (UTC)


 * He has a bad case of "irish hair" (yes, it is an appropriate term, and as far as I know its not even offensive). He also "styles" his hair as a demonstration of irish hair on the liveshow "monster". 212.17.87.133 13:39, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

are you frightened of my finger words?

in the intro...notting hill is in west london, not north london--212.240.35.234 22:39, 23 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Ah. I'll change the article. Thanks. M A Mason 23:13, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

Re: the name of the card. It has been a long time since I watched the episode, but wasn't the card named because it made a silly noise? I've just done a more extensive google than I did at the time that I reverted the change, it would appear there is no conclusive answer. Joe D (t) 19:59, 1 April 2006 (UTC)


 * I was under the impression that it was a "duty-to-do", and that the beeping noise was to add humour to the way it is spoken. For the record, I am not 199.248.185.2 who originally changed it to "duty-to-do". &mdash;midg3t 22:58, 1 April 2006 (UTC)


 * I've just changed it to 'doo-ti-to-doo', which is given in the subtitles to the episode. Seems to me the best source we're going to get. Unless they publish th scripts or something. M A Mason 20:27, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

Second-hand?
I'd like a reference indicating the shop is specifically a second-hand book shop. Independent retailers often offer second-hand services, but this doesn't make them second-hand shops. Chris Cunningham 09:39, 27 April 2006 (UTC)


 * It isn't just a second-hand bookstore. Remember the episode where Bernard gets depressed at the prosect of having to order more books, so Manny does it for him.  Surely Manny is phoning through to a suplier of new rather than used books.  Also, "Temp-apocalypse", the book by Danny Spudge and the travel book by the Oh-So-Smug adventurer (whose name escapes me) were all clearly new releases.  Oh darn!  I haven't signed in.  Think the description of the shop need re-wording. CSM1701 here.  Chris 83.217.190.69 09:15, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

David Walliams?
I was watching the 1st series of Black Books at a friend's house earlier, and i'm sure David Walliams had a cameo in one of the episodes. If it was him, he was a breif customer in the shop. JaffaCakeLover 00:51, 19 November 2006 (BST)

He plays a customer who objects to bernard smoking in series 1 episode 6 "hes leaving home"

Theme music
I am just listening to the album 'Rain Dogs' by Tom Waits for the first time, and I was wondering whether the Black Books theme music is based on the song 'Jockey Full of Bourbon' (or even perhaps excerpted from it, minus vocals)?


 * Yes, what is the theme music? It certainly sounds like Swordfishtrombones-era Tom Waits. Richard W.M. Jones 00:09, 19 January 2007 (UTC)


 * I've herad Bailey (Manny) composed it. He's an adept guitarist, and often worked parodies of other people's works into his standup, so it's plausible. Of course, hard confirmation would be nice. --Thomas B&#9816; talk 01:45, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed a similarity to the theme song and Tom Waits. I'm a huge Tom Waits fan and a Black Books fan and I had to play both one after the other to be satisfied that they aren't exactly the same, but it would not be hard for me to believe that the theme song of the show is not at least influenced by the Waits song. CJ. Beatfootprints (talk) 04:00, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Spoilerific
Some of the character blurbs on the page give away plot details (especially of the last episode) - particularly Bernard's one ... adding a spoiler thing. LupusCanis 21:09, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

Full names
How does one edit the table at the bottom, i want to remove "Enid Franchesca" from her name because it is irrelevant as her true character name is Fran Katzenjamma (sp).--Paradox CT 02:33, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
 * So why leave in Bernard's, but not Fran's? And why not "Emannuel" for Manny, since that's what his fuill name is? Either we have full names, or we don't. Nick Cooper 08:17, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
 * It's Template:Black_Books. I don't see why the link names should be any different to the article titles. --McGeddon 12:54, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
 * I'm not talking about the template, I'm referring to the table in the "Characters" section on this page.
 * I was unsure about that one, but ill edit them both. i think ludwig was mentioned in more than one episode but i could be wrong. But your right, bernard should have ludwig removed as well. thanks. --Paradox CT 23:44, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Ludwig was only mentioned in one episode. Im a big fan, I know for sure, ive watched it manny times. --Simpsons fan 66 07:52, 12 August 2007 (UTC)

Pilot
would anyone know a link for the pilot that it says the show was first broadcast on? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.47.126.134 (talk • contribs) 18:09, 12 May 2007


 * It doesn't say it was broadcast. In fact, considering the nature of the Riverside Studios, it's not clear whether it was used as recording or a live venue in this instance, or indeed if it was used to screen a previously recorded but unbroadcast pilot. The fact that this "pilot" has not turned up as a DVD extra does suggest that it is either not available for rights or other reasons, which would be more likely if it had never been transmitted (cf. the Blackadder pilot), or that it wasn't actually recorded in the first place. Nick Cooper 10:58, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

Episode notability
Many or all of the existing individual episode pages for appear to fail the notability guidelines for television episodes, and have been tagged accordingly. These articles can be improved through the inclusion of real-world information from reliable sources to assert notability. Overly long plot summaries should be edited, to a maximum length of approximately ten words per minute of screen time. Trivia should be integrated into the body of the article, or removed if it is not directly relevant. Quotes and images should only be used as part of a critical analysis of the episode. You might also consider merging any notable information onto the "List of episodes" or season pages. Otherwise, when these pages come up for review in fourteen days, they may be redirected, merged or deleted. If you want any help or further information, then come to Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Television/Episode coverage. Thanks. Gwinva 16:11, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

Trivia section
I made an edit earlier today, with accurate information, which was then undone 2 hours later by 86.157.134.63, with "as trivia sections are not allowed" as the reason for edit.

Why is this? Who says trivia is not allowed? They're ok on other pages, so why not here? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.157.134.63 (talk) 17:24, 18 January 2008 (UTC)


 * See Trivia sections. ISD (talk) 17:27, 18 January 2008 (UTC)


 * In most cases you can work "trivial" facts into the article - the Swedish title would be better in a section about overseas versions of the series, if you felt like making a start on one. Dumping stuff into a catch-all "trivia" section just encourages future editors to add their own random factoids; it's much better if we can steer people in a productive direction. --McGeddon (talk) 17:38, 18 January 2008 (UTC)


 * The edits were undone by ISD not 86.157.134.63 which is you Nil Einne (talk) 05:22, 14 September 2010 (UTC)

'Killed off'
There have been three series of Black Books, each with six episodes. Moran has stated that there will be no more series,[2] and The Times reports the series has been "killed off".[3] The 2 statements made in this point are not backed up by the 2 references. 'stated' is not the same as hinted, and the 'killed off' statement is not as clear cut as insinuated here when you continue reading the Times Article. 92.28.152.253 (talk) 23:19, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

Rooms above?
Wasn't there something about the rooms above moving about in a magical way or am I imagining this? Shouldn't this be added if so? 78.144.203.171 (talk) 17:36, 5 September 2010 (UTC) 17:36, 5 September 2010 (UTC)
 * I think you might be confusing events happening in the season 2 episode "Fever". Check List of Black Books episodes. --Saddhiyama (talk) 09:21, 14 September 2010 (UTC)

Featured Article
I think this article should be nominated to be a Featured article. Its really well written and provides some expert background information. I don't want to nominate it yet unless someone else felt the same way. Any thoughts? (Lexiyh (talk) 14:36, 12 January 2011 (UTC))
 * No, this article is definitely not up for FA, not even GA. The cast section gives basically no information and there is no real reception section to speak of, there's also a serious lack of references. Take a look at some FA articles for comparison, Firefly (TV series), House (TV series), Making Waves (TV series), The Wire, etc.  X  eworlebi (talk) 15:23, 12 January 2011 (UTC)

Fair enough. Those are some good points. I think I just saw what was good about it rather than the bits that were missing. Lexiyh (talk) 16:49, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

Theme by Tom Waits?
Is the theme by Tom Waits, or is it just supposed to sound as if it were? If so, has the composer ever sent Tom a dollar? Readers of this article want to know! Chrisrus (talk) 01:46, 25 September 2011 (UTC)
 * The theme is generally credited to Jonathan Whitehead. While plenty of people call the theme a Tom Waits rip-off, it's more of a Marc Ribot rip-off since it's Ribot's distinctive guitar work on Waits' '80s albums that most people identify as the "Tom Waits sound". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.191.61.94 (talk) 13:39, 22 February 2012 (UTC)

For me: It sounds more like a slowed down version of Norwegian Wood by The Beatles

It's a pastiche of Tom Wait's first self-produced albums: specifically, Victor Feldman's marimba from Swordfishtrombones; and Marc Ribot's guitar and Michael Blair's percussion from Rain Dog's Jockey Full of Bourbon. --Elledeiae (talk) 05:14, 11 June 2020 (UTC)

Shop address
I note (from Season 3, Episode 5) that the address of the shop is "13 Little Bevan Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1". Note sure if this is relevant to the article, but if so, feel free to add it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.246.132.178 (talk) 22:14, 4 June 2012 (UTC)

Dark enough?
Shouldn't "Black Books" be included in the list in British dark comedy? --UliE1350 (talk) 21:29, 31 December 2015 (UTC)

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Problems
"Moran's view of bookshops as doomed enterprises." But then you go on to quote him not talking about "bookshops", but *second-hand* bookshops. So you're misrepresenting what he said by claiming he has a view that "bookshops are doomed enterprises". Are you saying that he thinks (despite the highly profitable bookshop Amazon) that highly profitable High Street bookshops are doomed enterprises?

"while Linehan said his belligerent personality reflected". Whose belligerent personality? Linehan's? No. Change it to "while Linehan said that Bernard's belligerent personality reflected". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:600:9F80:7140:88A7:7FF5:CD37:9AE7 (talk) 08:32, 22 January 2019 (UTC)