Youth Hostelling With Chris Eubank' - From Partridge Pitch To Production
After being mooted by a TV sitcom character 17 years ago, an innocuous tweet led to one of British TV's most enthusiastic memes finally being fully realised. We sat down with Lucky Generals co-founder Andy Nairn to find out how he brought the project from pitch to launch in less than six days!
There are some concepts so tantalising it's impossible not to be electrified by their provocative promise. Die Hard… ON A BUS! Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito… ARE TWINS!! The Rock… IS THE TOOTH FAIRY!!! However, one such premise was slipped into a cult British television show 17 years ago and, despite fan enthusiasm and plenty of years to get it made, its potential was left unrealised. Until now…
OK, we understand that many SourceEcreative members a) aren't based in the UK and b) don't have an encyclopaedic knowledge of British sitcoms so the gag in making 'Youth Hostelling With Chris Eubank' may be lost on you. Here's a quick history: Close to twenty years ago, Steve Coogan (English comedy actor/writer – you might know him from Tropic Thunder and Night at the Museum) and Armando Iannucci (writer/director of Veep, amongst other greatness) brought their popular character Alan Partridge to TV in the (now cult) sitcom 'I'm Alan Partridge'. In a scene from the first episode, Alan, a disgruntled former chat-show host, is told he hasn't got a second series with the BBC and in an act-of-desperation reels off a list of increasingly pathetic television concepts. Amongst them - 'Youth Hostelling With Chris Eubank'. Caught up yet? Good.
Flash forward 17 years and several memes later and something magical happens - Eubank, as famous for his flamboyant upper-class style as his Middleweight World Champion boxing stint, sends an innocuous reply to a fan's tweet:
@CarlPackman Can you please explain the link between me and youth hostels?
? Christopher Eubank (@ChrisEubank) August 9, 2015
Followed by:
I have been seeing this for a very long time yet have never really understood it! Can someone explain what all the fuss is about?
— Christopher Eubank (@ChrisEubank) August 10, 2015
Seeing an opportunity, London-based agency Lucky Generals immediately set the wheels in motion to make the dream a reality. Their clients, the newly-won Hostelworld, were the perfect match and, after a few phone calls and explanations, the key players were set. After a Monday shoot and Tuesday edit, the film launched on Wednesday (less than a week after the tweet!) and the UK press and online community went wild. The Partridge dream was real.
We geeked out upon seeing the spot and then lost our one remaining mind when we found out how quickly it was put together, so immediately grabbed Lucky Generals co-founder Andy Nairn and quizzed him on getting Eubank in a hostel, the power of Partridge and when we're likely to see Monkey Tennis.
OK, admit it – did you construct a career in advertising and start up an agency to make this happen?
Ha ha. In a way, this is exactly why we started Lucky Generals. Maybe not specifically to create "Youth hostelling with Chris Eubank" but to produce work that has some cultural impact, not just advertising.
How did the project come about? Was it something you'd been considering for a while?
The project came about by chance. We'd won the Hostelworld account in January and launched a new positioning, identity and campaign, based on the unique social appeal of hostels, using the line "Meet The World". So when we spotted a lot of social media noise around the resurgence of this old Partridge joke, it felt like a great fit and an opportunity to do something fun.
Did you have to explain the concept to non-Partridge-lovers in the agency / the client? Was there a fear that people just wouldn't get the gag?
Luckily, a lot of people either remembered the original episode in question (which we were all astonished to learn was from 17 years ago – it felt much more recent) or were familiar with the joke, as it's become a bit of a long-running social meme. The gag had also gained another blast of publicity the previous week, so it was fresh in people's minds. All this meant we weren't too worried about our audience not getting the joke.
How hard was it to convince Hostelworld to sign off on the concept? Judging from previous work, they seem like clients who know their audience pretty well and aren't afraid to take risks.
Yes, at the risk of sounding like a complete crawler, our clients were great. Our launch campaign (featuring travellers skinnydipping in Mexico) had been brave, but this approach had been vindicated by some great commercial results. So we were all feeling pretty bullish as a team. Luckily, they loved the idea immediately and crucially, they knew that they'd have to move quickly, without lots of complicated approvals, to make it happen.
Probably the biggest elephant in the room – how the heck did you convince Chris Eubank to do it? Was he aware of the 20-year-old comedy pitch?
Chris was aware of the joke. In fact, he revealed people had been asking him about it for years. But he freely admitted he didn't really get it. Understandably so, given it was deliberately random. But he was up for doing something from the start. The only potential snags were timing (we needed to film him immediately, so there was a lot of diary juggling) and fending off other offers (there was a lot of interest from other travel brands and media companies). Fortunately, Chris seemed to like our tenacity and positivity, so we won the day.
Once he was signed up, how did you decide what you wanted him to do?
Everything happened very quickly. The original story (with a punter tweeting Chris) broke on Thursday, we contacted Chris on Friday, we spent the weekend sorting logistics, and filmed him on Monday. We then edited the film on Tuesday and released it on Wednesday. So to be honest, we really decided what to do, on the day.
How was the shoot? Was everything pretty scripted or did you let Mr Eubank do his thing?
Totally unscripted. Chris is such a character that we just let him do his thing!
Is there an alternative cut with more Kumbaya?
God no! We shot a lot of material but we won't be releasing the Musical any time soon.
The footage and the edit have their tongue firmly in their cheek (the quotes in particular are hilarious). Was Chris happy to be so fully part of the joke? Were there any moments where you thought it might go too far?
Chris was amazing. Such a good sport. He didn't ask for one single change to the edit we sent him.
How was the post process? How long did the whole thing take from concept to delivery?
As above, the whole thing took about 5 days from concept to release. If it hadn't been for a pesky weekend, it might have been even quicker. Of course, before we get too happy with ourselves, we should remember that the original Partridge sketch was 17 years ago, so arguably we've been a bunch of slackers.
Are you pleased with the response so far? Having the creators of Partridge tweeting the link must have been a lovely touch.
Yes, Messrs Iannucci, Schneider and Coogan (through his production company) all tweeted approvingly, which was really great. I suspect the whole thing has been pretty surreal for them too!
Online demand is there – will we be getting a full series?! If not, any ideas for Arm Wrestling with Chas and Dave? Inner-City Sumo? Monkey Tennis?!?
We're staying resolutely tight-lipped about the prospect of a full series, although it's clearly what the nation wants (the Guardian has called for the BBC to commission it and Armando Iannucci has said that Sky should go for it, if the BBC doesn't). We're scanning our client list for possible cockney/sumo/monkey links, as I write this.
What's up next for you guys?
A quick rest then relaunching Pot Noodle, making some more mischief for Paddy Power and creating Twitter's first advertising campaign, for starters. Phew!
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