The House From 'Spaced' Is Up For Sale, For £4m!

[Malcy]

Anyone got a spare £4m?

https://ww2.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/46762448

[DrGreggles]

Anyone got a spare £4m?

Not unless I sell up in Cambridge! ;-)

[Serge]

Funnily enough, I'm about to start a rewatch of 'Spaced' in a bit! I might hijack this thread to write about it.

I did used to work not too far from the Spaced house and always meant to go and check it out, but somehow never got around to it.

[Malcy]

Funnily enough, I'm about to start a rewatch of 'Spaced' in a bit! I might hijack this thread to write about it.

I did used to work not too far from the Spaced house and always meant to go and check it out, but somehow never got around to it.

Apparently the owners were very good with anyone who rocked up to see it and take pictures etc. Due a rewatch myself. Have watched the first episode twice in the past year planning on watching the rest but never got round to it.

[Serge]

I know there's a bit in the documentary in the box set where a couple of 'Spaced' fans turn up to look at the house while Pegg & Stevenson are filming some inserts for the doc, and they can hardly believe that they're actually seeing Tim & Daisy in their natural habitat!

I think it's referenced on the commentaries, but it always jumps out like a sore thumb that the rent on the flat is a mere £90 pw (which would be £390 pcm), which, even in 1999, just would not have happened.

I'd never spotted it before, but in one of the scenes where they're all sitting in the flat talking, we drop in halfway through a conversation where Marsha is very vehemently going on about someone using a pet dog as a replacement in their minds for a failed relationship - which is exactly what Daisy does a few episodes later. (Of course, in the scene in question, it turns out that Marsha is the other partner in the failed relationship, which in her mind was still very much active....)

I used to adore Daisy/Jessica, now I find her one of the most annoying people in the World.

[idunnosomename]

Apparently the owners were very good with anyone who rocked up to see it and take pictures etc. Due a rewatch myself. Have watched the first episode twice in the past year planning on watching the rest but never got round to it.

So currently it has a single owner? Surely it'll be bought by a developer who will turn it into luxury flats?

[kidsick5000]

It's good for schools if you are looking to start a family. Next door to the primary school and directly opposite the secondary school.

I used to adore Daisy/Jessica, now I find her one of the most annoying people in the World.

Wait, the character or the actress or both?

[Serge]

Both. Daisy (the character) basically reminds me of too many annoying people I knew in London, and having seen shows with Stevenson/Hynes as herself (most notably that Dangerous Car Drives thing she did with Hugh Bonneville a few years back), I can see that Daisy is very closely modelled on the real Jessica. I suppose Pegg/Tim is the same, but a lot of his annoying habits are the same as mine, so don't bother me so much.

Watching episode three, I can't help but notice that this show about a bunch of 20-something Londoners is consistently hijacked by the 40-something Julia Deakin, who is fantastic as Marsha. The moment where Brian first walks away from her at Vulva's party and she gives him a sad little look over her shoulder as he does so is amazing.

Walliams was always annoying, but I do like the delivery of the word, "Pud-ding!"

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

So currently it has a single owner? Surely it'll be bought by a developer who will turn it into luxury flats?

"It's not a bedsit, it's a flat."

Walliams was always annoying, but I do like the delivery of the word, "Pud-ding!"

My friends and I have a Pavlovian habit of pronouncing it that way whenever the subject of dessert is raised. Spaced was kind of a big deal to us. A right place at the right time sort of thing (a lot of us were media studies wankers and/or potheads). I rewatched it all a couple of years ago with one of my housemates, who'd never seen it. I was half expecting it to all be a bit tiresome these days, but was delighted to find it was actually funnier than I remembered.

[magval]

I'm in the saying-Pud-Deeng-aloud club too, and I too thought it wouldn't be as good on a rewatch to find to my delight that it works far better as an adult than it did when it first went out. I must only have been about 12, 13.

[Gulftastic]

Great DVD commentaries, too. I might do a full re-watch myself. It's been a while.

[magval]

The American commentaries are really good too, found them online somewhere once. Didn't listen to the Kevin Smith ones but the rest were beezer. Great car listening but would make much more sense if you knew how to attach them to a video file and watch them in context.

[Serge]

Oh, and Daisy mispronounces 'Bowie' in episode 4 of series 1, so damned forever in my eyes (and I don't care if it's to make the joke work.)

It did strike me that Twist is probably the weakest, most under-developed character in the show, basically the female equivalent of Mike/Nick Frost, in that Katy Carmichael is Stevenson's best friend and got the role largely because of that, though they always put more work into Mike - and Carmichael is a good actress, who has done other good work, it's just that Twist doesn't really add anything to the show. Even Colin has more character development than her.

The 'rescuing Colin' episode has always been a favourite of mine, especially the scenes where Brian and Mike bond with Charles Dale's security guard. Also: "Do you wanna bourbon?"

Admittedly I hate the films, but surely even Star Wars fans must get sick of the constant referencing in the show?

[kidsick5000]

Admittedly I hate the films, but surely even Star Wars fans must get sick of the constant referencing in the show?

You have to remember that in the first series, the prequels had yet to happen. Even when the second series came out, the wasn't the nerd/geek culture prominence there is today. Even the internet wasn't that big a deal back then.
So this was the one of the few places that did reference SW. Looking back, the did it in a much smarter way than many others try to today.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Kevin Smith had been ploughing the same furrow for a few years and I guess the special editions in '97 and the upcoming Phantom Menace had brought Star Wars back into the mainstream - but yeah, it still felt pretty novel at the time for Tim to be into nerd culture, but otherwise a (mostly) normal bloke, instead of an awkward social pariah.

If it weren't for Spaced, would Marvel be the biggest thing in cinema now?

Yes. Yes it would.

[Bazooka]

90% of the house is made up of cavity wall insulation comprised of obvious cultural references.

[kidsick5000]

Kevin Smith had been ploughing the same furrow for a few years and I guess the special editions in '97 and the upcoming Phantom Menace had brought Star Wars back into the mainstream - but yeah, it still felt pretty novel at the time for Tim to be into nerd culture, but otherwise a (mostly) normal bloke, instead of an awkward social pariah.

Worth noting that even the US has yet to hit this note. Even the bafflingly nerd loved, nerd-hating Big Bang Theory paints anyone with a passing fascination in fastasy as an idiot unable to function in regular life.

[madhair60]

Rewatched this whole series about a year ago and was astonished by how badly every single female character is treated. Daisy's always getting yelled at and shit on for really mild stuff. Meanwhile Tim's similar foibles are treated as quirky and fun.

[the]

Spaced is like a soap opera with a few smirks in it. It's not really a 'jokey' sitcom - save for the odd bit of slapstick, anything humourous that happens in it is couched in characterisation and drab normality. It just sort of hums along.

I find it more interesting just as a snapshot of time - the very arse end of the pre-internet world, a world where things like big beat and Vids still get made.

The worst thing about it is the overuse of references. Watching it gives me a regular feeling of "this bit that doesn't quite make sense must be a reference to something I haven't seen, or else why would it be happening". Which just feels naff.

[Sebastian Cobb]

It's probably the best thing he's ever done, but Spaced is still just a grain of sand on Pegg's beach of average performance.

[Better Midlands]

It's probably the best thing he's ever done, but Spaced is still just a grain of sand on Pegg's beach of average performance.

I'm always surprised how successful he is, I mean he's alright.
Good for him though.

[Icehaven]

I'm always surprised how successful he is

So was he initially.

Vaguely related, I haven't watched Eastenders for years but do they all still live in 3 storey houses that'd be worth millions but work in launderettes, cafes and market stalls?

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

If you find Pegg's ubiquity annoying, just think about this: The role in Mission Impossible 3, that served as his big break in Hollywood, was originally meant for Ricky Gervais...

Rewatched this whole series about a year ago and was astonished by how badly every single female character is treated. Daisy's always getting yelled at and shit on for really mild stuff. Meanwhile Tim's similar foibles are treated as quirky and fun.

I think Marsha is treated quite sympathetically at least in the second series. Twist, less so. One refreshing thing is that none of the female characters are relegated to being the straight woman, rolling their eyes at the more entertaining men.

I had a pretentious theory that, despite him and Daisy ostensibly being co-leads, Tim was the true main character and the dramatic heft of the show was him learning to trust women again after his breakup at the start. This is reflected in the way that Mike and Brian embody different aspects of Tim's personality* (and facial hair) whereas this doesn't seem to be the case with Daisy, Twist and Marsha. I'm not sure it actually holds up to scrutiny though.

*^{Brian is his artistic side, obviously. Mike is his geeky/arrested manchild side, to the point that Mike is exactly the same as he was a kid, right down to the moustache.}

[Dannyhood91]

My favourite thing about this show is the soundtrack.

[Jerzy Bondov]

The 'rescuing Colin' episode has always been a favourite of mine, especially the scenes where Brian and Mike bond with Charles Dale's security guard. Also: "Do you wanna bourbon?"

I like Mike's Antonio Banderas style 'Let's blay' and I say it a lot

[surreal]

You have to remember that in the first series, the prequels had yet to happen. Even when the second series came out, the wasn't the nerd/geek culture prominence there is today. Even the internet wasn't that big a deal back then.
So this was the one of the few places that did reference SW. Looking back, the did it in a much smarter way than many others try to today.

If I remember correctly they asked for permission to use the Star Wars soundtrack and references for the first season but Lucasfilm said no.  When they asked for the second season they saw how much love for the movies was in the first season so said yes - but then of course the big set piece was a pastiche of Return of the Jedi with Tim burning all of his stuff.

Worth it for the ending of the last-but-one episode which mimics Empire brilliantly though...

[Malcy]

The first time i watched the episode with the food fight i mentally did the Bugsy Malone song on the piano thing and then a split second later it happened! Although now I've typed that i'm wondering was that Spaced?

[surreal]

The first time i watched the episode with the food fight i mentally did the Bugsy Malone song on the piano thing and then a split second later it happened! Although now I've typed that i'm wondering was that Spaced?

It was.

[Malcy]

It was.

Cheers. Doubted myself for a moment.

[Serge]

Rewatched this whole series about a year ago and was astonished by how badly every single female character is treated. Daisy's always getting yelled at and shit on for really mild stuff. Meanwhile Tim's similar foibles are treated as quirky and fun.

Really? I don't get this at all. Daisy and Tim have regular slanging matches, and Daisy generally gives as good as she gets. (And in the argument that's backed by a computer game in the final episode of series one, it's notable that it ends with 'Daisy Steiner WINS'.) The one time when I can think that more than one person has a go at her is when she inadvertantly puts the drawing of Damien Knox back into Tim's portfolio, but even then, Tim apologises to her. Tyres shouts at her and Tim equally. And Daisy, Mike (and even Brian, if I remember rightly) all pull Tim up on his behaviour over the course of the series.

Nobody ever really has a go at Marsha (other than Amber), surely?

Worth it for the ending of the last-but-one episode which mimics Empire brilliantly though...

Funnily enough, when I first saw that scene, I really enjoyed it. Finding out it was an extended 'Empire' homage really took the shine off it for me.

Watched the final two episodes of series one this evening. The clubbing episode is another great one. Although I never really went to those sort of clubs (I was more the indie/'60s/'70s-style clubgoer in the late '90s), there were enough touchstones there to take me right back. It's odd to think that Tyres is essentially Michael Smiley playing himself at that point, but now he's gone on to become a prolific and well-regarded character actor. I would never have seen him playing O'Neill in 'A Field In England' if you'd told me that's what he'd have gone on to do.