Little Miss Jocelyn
Encyclopedia
Little Miss Jocelyn is a British
TV sketch comedy
written by and starring Jocelyn Jee Esien
. The show is made up of studio sketches and hidden camera
footage in which unsuspecting members of the public become part of a sketch.
in the United Kingdom
on 22 August 2006. The show was also available in the UK via Internet streaming one week before transmission. On 21 March 2007 the BBC announced that a second series of six episodes had been commissioned and that the show would be moved to BBC Two
. The second series was filmed in the summer of 2007 and began airing on 10 January 2008 on BBC Two
. On 11 June 2009, BBC confirmed that they would be axing the show from their schedules.
who gives people tickets for things like sleep
ing in the car or breaking down. She often appears in strange places, such as the back seat, glove compartment or boot of a car, a coffin or the screen of a cash machine. She often gives lengthy speeches about her services as a traffic warden, insisting that she works for The Queen. She pronounces her words incorrectly, for example, she pronounces 'vehicle' as 'Ve-hickle' and 'illegally' as 'illegal-lully' She usually ends with: "this is going to take a loo-oo-oong time".
Florence - an overweight dietitian
who uses Juju
to help people lose weight. One of her catchphrases is "umm-hmm" (used repetitively), and "...or dream of this!", said while doing outrageous things, such as ripping open someone's shirt. She usually ends the session with: "save yourself, save yourself, save your se-e-elf!".
Sheson - a Nigerian bus driver who regularly sings 'In The Name of Jesus'. She has criticised her passengers on a regular basis. Several scenes include telling a female passenger with a dog to 'take her sheep off her bus' accusing her of making the bus look as if it is Noah's Ark, another scene not allowing a lady with a pram to board her bus, branding it as a spaceship, before closing the door on a man who queries if the bus stops at a certain place. Another man asks the same but is on board the bus, and refuses permission for him to talk to her when he queries her when the bus is in transit. She also had a mat in one scene for her passengers to wipe their feet on which said 'I Can See Your Knickers'. She also criticised two men for not thanking her to stop at a request stop by calling them homosexuals.
Paulette - a spoilt middle-aged woman who screams and cries when she doesn't get her own way.
Fiona - a middle-aged woman who works in an office
and tries to conceal the obvious fact that she is black
, however this rarely works and her "blackness" is obvious.
Madame President - the first black female president of the USA. She speaks slang instead of regular English.
Mrs Omwukupopo - a Nigerian woman who is constantly in marriage counselling with her several husbands, and who often tries to make a move on the counsellor, or insult
them, calling them a "pimp
" or "prostitute
".
Helen - a woman who is often seen in important places, such as at a wedding or an interview, where she rubs her buttocks
along the floor. When the surrounding people look confused, she states, "I've got worm
s".
Liz - a savage and the girlfriend of Prince William who he met on his mission in Third World
. Liz is often coming with William to several charities, telling jokes that offend people but are funny to Prince William.
Gladys Kingston - an old Jamaican woman who is going through a divorce
because her husband cheated on her. This makes her hate men or anyone of the male gender, whether young or old.
Gladys is 40 years old and just divorced her husband who left her for a younger woman, to raise a son on her own. In one episode, she scolds her nephew, Josh, saying that her niece is her favourite. She is also a teacher in a primary school. She told a boy to stand at the corner on one foot. She also wishes her husband was dead.
Prim - a revolting white South African woman, originally from Johannesburg who wanders around Brixton trying to find a black maid.
Hortense - a woman in her early to mid fifties who often sees people with babies (including her niece) insisting that she take a look at them, thinking them to be beautiful. However, on two of the three times she appears (all in S1 E6) she finds the baby ugly so says "What a lovely...pram" or "What a lovely...rattle". In her third and final appearance, she says: "Oh! What an ugly baby!".
Sharonisha - a teenage
schoolgirl
who is seen with her friends on a bus, sometimes driven by Sheson. She is seen talking to or about other passengers and asking them questions. Sharonisha usually makes a big speech about how something her friend
said doesn't make sense. She often calls other passenger
s "pefodiles".
Ignatius - a Nigerian driving instructor who teaches the people who took his lessons how to drive a vehicle in a very hazardous, inappropriate manner. Ignatius is also extremely inexperienced at his job, not if knowing the names of car equipments (e.g. he calls the gear-stick the "pully-puller"). Ignatius will also allow his ten-year-old son Toby to get behind the wheel, in an effort to teach him the family trade. He has also confessed that he lives in the UK illegally as he has no visa to prove it.
There is also a character in the supermarket or sometimes on a sweet stall, CASH HELPER...she attempts to add the prices of the items in her head. Says "if you don't use it, you'll lose it..."
woman in either the UK or USA to be given her own sketch show.
However, after the second series, a poll conducted by the British Comedy Guide
website named the show the "Worst British TV Sketch Show of 2008".
) on 25 September 2006, and in Australia (Region 4
) on 23 April 2007.
The second series was released on DVD in the UK on 29 September 2008 but is missing some scenes.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
TV sketch comedy
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
written by and starring Jocelyn Jee Esien
Jocelyn Jee Esien
Jocelyn Jee Esien is a Black British comedian, of Nigerian origin, perhaps best known for her part in the hidden camera show 3 Non Blondes, and her own comedy sketch show, Little Miss Jocelyn.-Biography:...
. The show is made up of studio sketches and hidden camera
Hidden camera
A hidden camera is a still or video camera used to film people without their knowledge. The camera is "hidden" because it is either not visible to the subject being filmed, or is disguised as another object...
footage in which unsuspecting members of the public become part of a sketch.
History
The first episode aired on BBC ThreeBBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on 22 August 2006. The show was also available in the UK via Internet streaming one week before transmission. On 21 March 2007 the BBC announced that a second series of six episodes had been commissioned and that the show would be moved to BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
. The second series was filmed in the summer of 2007 and began airing on 10 January 2008 on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
. On 11 June 2009, BBC confirmed that they would be axing the show from their schedules.
Selected characters
Jiffy - a dysfunctional Nigerian traffic wardenTraffic warden
A traffic warden is a non-warranted officer employed by a statutory authority in jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Ireland, to assist in regulating the flow of traffic.- Ireland :...
who gives people tickets for things like sleep
Sleep
Sleep is a naturally recurring state characterized by reduced or absent consciousness, relatively suspended sensory activity, and inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles. It is distinguished from quiet wakefulness by a decreased ability to react to stimuli, and is more easily reversible than...
ing in the car or breaking down. She often appears in strange places, such as the back seat, glove compartment or boot of a car, a coffin or the screen of a cash machine. She often gives lengthy speeches about her services as a traffic warden, insisting that she works for The Queen. She pronounces her words incorrectly, for example, she pronounces 'vehicle' as 'Ve-hickle' and 'illegally' as 'illegal-lully' She usually ends with: "this is going to take a loo-oo-oong time".
Florence - an overweight dietitian
Dietitian
Dietitians supervise the preparation and service of food, develop modified diets, participate in research, and educate individuals and groups on good nutritional habits. The goals of dietitians are to provide medical nutritional intervention, and to obtain, safely prepare, serve and advise on...
who uses Juju
Juju
A Juju is a supernatural power ascribed to an object.Juju may also refer to:-Geography:* Juju , one of seven districts on the island of Rotuma in Fiji* Juju , a village in the district of Juju on the island of Rotuma-Albums:...
to help people lose weight. One of her catchphrases is "umm-hmm" (used repetitively), and "...or dream of this!", said while doing outrageous things, such as ripping open someone's shirt. She usually ends the session with: "save yourself, save yourself, save your se-e-elf!".
Sheson - a Nigerian bus driver who regularly sings 'In The Name of Jesus'. She has criticised her passengers on a regular basis. Several scenes include telling a female passenger with a dog to 'take her sheep off her bus' accusing her of making the bus look as if it is Noah's Ark, another scene not allowing a lady with a pram to board her bus, branding it as a spaceship, before closing the door on a man who queries if the bus stops at a certain place. Another man asks the same but is on board the bus, and refuses permission for him to talk to her when he queries her when the bus is in transit. She also had a mat in one scene for her passengers to wipe their feet on which said 'I Can See Your Knickers'. She also criticised two men for not thanking her to stop at a request stop by calling them homosexuals.
Paulette - a spoilt middle-aged woman who screams and cries when she doesn't get her own way.
Fiona - a middle-aged woman who works in an office
Office
An office is generally a room or other area in which people work, but may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty. When used as an adjective, the...
and tries to conceal the obvious fact that she is black
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
, however this rarely works and her "blackness" is obvious.
Madame President - the first black female president of the USA. She speaks slang instead of regular English.
Mrs Omwukupopo - a Nigerian woman who is constantly in marriage counselling with her several husbands, and who often tries to make a move on the counsellor, or insult
Insult
An insult is an expression, statement which is considered degrading and offensive. Insults may be intentional or accidental...
them, calling them a "pimp
Pimp
A pimp is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing a location where she may engage clients...
" or "prostitute
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
".
Helen - a woman who is often seen in important places, such as at a wedding or an interview, where she rubs her buttocks
Buttocks
The buttocks are two rounded portions of the anatomy, located on the posterior of the pelvic region of apes and humans, and many other bipeds or quadrupeds, and comprise a layer of fat superimposed on the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles. Physiologically, the buttocks enable weight to...
along the floor. When the surrounding people look confused, she states, "I've got worm
Worm
The term worm refers to an obsolete taxon used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals, and stems from the Old English word wyrm. Currently it is used to describe many different distantly-related animals that typically have a long cylindrical...
s".
Liz - a savage and the girlfriend of Prince William who he met on his mission in Third World
Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...
. Liz is often coming with William to several charities, telling jokes that offend people but are funny to Prince William.
Gladys Kingston - an old Jamaican woman who is going through a divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
because her husband cheated on her. This makes her hate men or anyone of the male gender, whether young or old.
Gladys is 40 years old and just divorced her husband who left her for a younger woman, to raise a son on her own. In one episode, she scolds her nephew, Josh, saying that her niece is her favourite. She is also a teacher in a primary school. She told a boy to stand at the corner on one foot. She also wishes her husband was dead.
Prim - a revolting white South African woman, originally from Johannesburg who wanders around Brixton trying to find a black maid.
Hortense - a woman in her early to mid fifties who often sees people with babies (including her niece) insisting that she take a look at them, thinking them to be beautiful. However, on two of the three times she appears (all in S1 E6) she finds the baby ugly so says "What a lovely...pram" or "What a lovely...rattle". In her third and final appearance, she says: "Oh! What an ugly baby!".
Sharonisha - a teenage
Adolescence
Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...
schoolgirl
Schoolgirl
A schoolgirl is a girl attending either primary or secondary school, generally aged between four and eighteen years old.-Academic performance:This has led in some countries to calls for greater equality for education in the school system...
who is seen with her friends on a bus, sometimes driven by Sheson. She is seen talking to or about other passengers and asking them questions. Sharonisha usually makes a big speech about how something her friend
Friendship
Friendship is a form of interpersonal relationship generally considered to be closer than association, although there is a range of degrees of intimacy in both friendships and associations. Friendship and association are often thought of as spanning across the same continuum...
said doesn't make sense. She often calls other passenger
Passenger
A passenger is a term broadly used to describe any person who travels in a vehicle, but bears little or no responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination....
s "pefodiles".
Ignatius - a Nigerian driving instructor who teaches the people who took his lessons how to drive a vehicle in a very hazardous, inappropriate manner. Ignatius is also extremely inexperienced at his job, not if knowing the names of car equipments (e.g. he calls the gear-stick the "pully-puller"). Ignatius will also allow his ten-year-old son Toby to get behind the wheel, in an effort to teach him the family trade. He has also confessed that he lives in the UK illegally as he has no visa to prove it.
There is also a character in the supermarket or sometimes on a sweet stall, CASH HELPER...she attempts to add the prices of the items in her head. Says "if you don't use it, you'll lose it..."
Reception
The first series was nominated for a BAFTA for 'Best Comedy Programme'. Esien was also praised for being the first blackBlack people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
woman in either the UK or USA to be given her own sketch show.
However, after the second series, a poll conducted by the British Comedy Guide
British Comedy Guide
The British Comedy Guide or BCG is a British website covering all forms of British comedy, across all media. At the time of writing, the BCG has published guides to more than 1,200 individual British comedies - primarily TV and radio situation comedy, sketch shows, comedy dramas, satire, variety...
website named the show the "Worst British TV Sketch Show of 2008".
DVD releases
The first series was released on DVD in the UK (Region 2DVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
) on 25 September 2006, and in Australia (Region 4
DVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
) on 23 April 2007.
The second series was released on DVD in the UK on 29 September 2008 but is missing some scenes.