Pulling is a British sitcom, produced by Silver River Productions and broadcast on BBC Three. It is about three single female friends who live in Penge, south-east London. It was co-written by Sharon Horgan and Dennis Kelly and stars Horgan as Donna, Tanya Franks as Karen, Rebekah Staton as Louise and Cavan Clerkin as Karl. Pulling was the last comedy show developed by Harry Thompson before his death. The first series of six episodes was first shown in 2006 on BBC Three, then repeated on BBC Two in early 2008. A second six-episode series of Pulling aired on BBC Three from 23 March to 27 April 2008 and a final one-hour episode aired on BBC Three on 17 May 2009. In Australia, series one and two was first aired back-to-back on ABC2 each Thursday at 10pm from 5 March 2009 although the final one-hour episode is yet to be screened by the network. Repeats have been screening on rotation through UKTV. In 2007, the series was BAFTA nominated for Best Situation Comedy while Horgan won a British Comedy Award for Best Comedy Entertainment Actress in 2008. In the same year, it was announced that Pulling had been cancelled by BBC Three.
Main characters
In writing the series both Sharon Horgan and Dennis Kelly agreed that the main roles needed to be female and have the funny lines.
Horgan: "There was nothing out there for me; I had to give myself a break! Peep Show has very funny female characters but they're generally girlfriends or incidental women who are just helping the story along."
Kelly: "When we were writing Pulling, we wanted to make sure the comedy was with the women. Even with comedies that are about women, it's often the blokes who get the funnies. In Pulling we even err too much the other way and make the men too two-dimensional. But it was important for the women to get the funny lines." The main characters are :
Donna
She is in a five-year relationship with Karl, to whom she is engaged.
29 years old at the start of the series.
Works in an office.
Louise
Naive, unrealistically hopeful.
Works in a cafe
Happens to find herself in bizarre situations, e.g. meeting up with voyeurs in a carpark believing it to be a dating site, and stalking a man who frequents her cafe.
Despite having good ratings, good reviews and a BAFTA nomination, the BBC did not commission a third series of the sitcom in 2007. Both Sharon Horgan and Dennis Kelly claim not to know why another series was not commissioned and Dennis Kelly claims the pair "cried and threw ourselves at their feet" asking for another series. The BBC then agreed to a one-hour special to at least wrap up the storylines.
2009 episode
#
Title
Original airdate
Home media
Both series have been released on DVD, although the final episode has only been released as a digital download in the UK. The final episode was included in the Region 4 DVD set available in Australasia.
