Phoenix Nights: A Tribute to a Vanishing British Institution

By: Fergal Kinney

Phoenix Nights' wry portrayal of a northern working men’s club found a home with audiences but was shunned by critics. Two decades after it first aired, it remains a vital celebration of a vanishing working-class culture too often ignored on screen.

Small

When the second and final series of Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights was released into 2002’s lucrative home DVD market, it became the fastest-selling British television DVD in the format’s history, outselling Ricky Gervais’ The Office by two to one. But where The Office lingered in popular memory through streaming, regular repeats, and an American remake, […]

Medium

When the second and final series of Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights was released into 2002’s lucrative home DVD market, it became the fastest-selling British television DVD in the format’s history, outselling Ricky Gervais’ The Office by two to one. But where The Office lingered in popular memory through streaming, regular repeats, and an American remake, […]

Large

When the second and final series of Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights was released into 2002’s lucrative home DVD market, it became the fastest-selling British television DVD in the format’s history, outselling Ricky Gervais’ The Office by two to one. But where The Office lingered in popular memory through streaming, regular repeats, and an American remake, […]

When the second and final series of Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights was released into 2002’s lucrative home DVD market, it became the fastest-selling British television DVD in the format’s history, outselling Ricky Gervais’ The Office by two to one. But where The Office lingered in popular memory through streaming, regular repeats, and an American remake, […]

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