7.5Season 3 • Episode 6
LatestManny and Fran drag Bernard along with them to a party, but the drunken aftermath dredges up secrets and bitterness.
Black Books centres around the foul tempered and wildly eccentric bookshop owner Bernard Black. Bernard’s devotion to the twin pleasures of drunkenness and wilful antagonism deepens and enriches both his life and that of Manny, his assistant. Bearded, sweet and good, Manny is everything that Bernard isn’t and is punished by Bernard relentlessly just for the crime of existing. They depend on each other for meaning as Fran, their oldest friend, depends on them for distraction. Black Books is a haven of books, wine and conversation, the only threat to the group’s peace and prosperity is their own limitless stupidity.
Acting
Dylan Moran's barely contained contempt for existence itself.
Writing
Graham Linehan's precision-tooled surrealism.
Production
The physical comedy of a space designed to repel customers.
Creators
Dylan Moran, Graham Linehan
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The bookshop exterior was filmed at a real store called Black Books—no, seriously—and they kept the name.
This is basically 'Withnail & I' as a sitcom, and Moran apparently based Bernard on every bookseller he ever met in Dublin.
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