Treatment for “Spaced”
by Catharine Dorsett
“Spaced” follows the misadventures of twenty-somethings, Tim Bisley (Simon Pegg) and Daisy Steiner (Jessica Hynes) as they pursue lives in London. Tim and Daisy are brought together by a chance meeting in a cafe and they soon discover they are both flat-hunting. A spur of the moment decision sees them entering a make-believe relationship to meet the demands of an advertisement for an affordable flat in Tufnell Park. We see their unnecessary and over-enthusiastic planning as they prepare to meet the landlady and resident of the flats, Marsha Klein (Julia Deakin).
As Tim and Daisy settle into their new flat, we get to know them a bit more. Tim is an aspiring graphic artist, working in a comic book store while writing his own material. He has a somewhat negative attitude but his youthful spirit brings about strange activities and humorous situations. He has a great imagination, finding himself having zombie game induced hallucinations and plotting extravagant reconnaissance missions. Due to his recent breakup from Sarah, who slept with Tim’s friend Duane, Tim has a tendency to be a bit sensitive. The breakup left him insecure and miserable but with the help of Daisy and others, he soon perks up.
Daisy is an optimistic fun-loving girl, somewhat oblivious to the harsher things in life and has a tendency to procrastinate. Her supposed ambition is to become a journalist but her favourite pastimes tend to involve as little writing as possible. With an attention span of a goldfish she gets bored easily and seeks out adventures wherever possible. During the series she adopts a dog called Colin, who soon becomes the ‘baby’ of the household. He also manages to cause a bit of drama in Daisy’s life.
Dwelling in the downstairs flat is Brian (Mark Heap), a paranoid conceptual artist. His intense and bizarre demeanor can lead one to think he is psychotic and creepy but he is in fact just a bit shy and timid. His artistic techniques are worryingly experimental and create humorous situations and conversations. He appears to be a tormented fellow, particularly by Marsha’s inappropriate crush on him.
Although older than the others, Marsha enjoys the youthful company and seems to think she is still a twenty-something herself. She is quite a sexual creature, which is enhanced by her alcoholism. She lives with her teenage daughter Amber, who throughout the series consists of just a loud blur as she runs and shouts through the house.
Frequent visitors to the flat include Mike (Nick Frost) and Twist (Katy Carmichael). Mike is an integral character to the show. He is Tim’s best friend, an army enthusiast, constantly ready for war. His militant attitude gets him in peculiar situations such as stealing a tank to invade Paris. His relationship with Tim is visually amusing and touching to see.
Twist is a shallow and confident lady who calls her launderette career a fashion career. Being Daisy’s best and possibly only friend, Daisy always speaks very highly of her. Twist begins seeing Brian and their relationship takes interesting turns throughout the series.
Together, these characters make an odd bunch and their constant quirkiness brings about a surreal and intriguing set of events. With rapid-fire editing and constant references to pop culture, this hilarious series is a ‘must see’.
This is a thoughtful outline, covering all the areas I would expect and gives a clear account of the series. It's a too detailed though covering too much plot and character talk. It needs to zip off the page, like the series. This reads almost like a short story, where as it needs to just "sell" the idea, give you a feeling for the whole series, your last paragraph should be the hub of the outline
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