The Complete Black Books Collection

BAFTA Awards
2005 - Situation Comedy Award - Nira Park, Martin Dennis, and Dylan Moran
2001 - Situation Comedy Award - Nira Park, Graham Linehan, and Dylan Moran

Bernard is inspired by a real bookshop owner in Dublin whom 'Dylan Moran' described as "he looks like he's swallowed a cup of sour milk and peed himself at the same time. He has this green bilious expression, years of displeasure have shaped his face".

Series 1
Episode 1 - When Bernard?s dishonest accountant goes on the run, Bernard finds himself having to fill in his own tax forms. Perhaps some sort of crippling injury is the way out. Or perhaps the strange bearded guy who comes into the store looking for The Little Book of Calm will provide the key. Meanwhile, Fran discovers ?a Thing.?

Episode 2 - Manny has to navigate the twin perils of a strange boss and an equally strange clientele when he starts work at Bernard?s bookshop. Bernard, having offered him the job while drunk, does his best to get rid of his new employee by offering a one-day trial to see if the suspiciously modern-looking Manny is up to scratch.

Episode 3 - The discomforting presence in the bookshop of an oddly sensual cleaner forces Bernard and Manny to abandon the store and accept a house-sitting job. There, they quickly manage to drink an unbelievably expensive bottle of wine. Meanwhile, Fran?s date with an available, attractive, charming man is exactly the sort of disaster you?d expect.

Episode 4 - Manny, hyper after a night of drinking too many espressos and watching an entire boxed-set of classic Brit detective series, The Sweeney, is mistaken for a policeman after his high-speed pursuit of a robber. Meanwhile, Bernard is snubbed by some people who invited him to a dinner party the previous evening, and he begins to realize that something unpleasant must have happened.

Episode 5 - The installation of a new security system for the shop that neither Bernard nor Manny can operate results in Bernard being locked out for the evening, while Manny is locked in. Meanwhile, Fran has a reunion with an unbelievably sexy voice.

Episode 6 - Manny becomes a runaway when Bernard?s relentless bossiness gets too much for him. But life is tough on the street and Manny finds himself being cared for by a strange and hairy photographer. Back home, Manny?s absence is keenly felt, leading to tension between Bernard and Fran.

Series 2
Episode 1 - Ever keen to distract herself, Fran takes up piano. Ever keen to delude himself, Bernard falls in love. All Manny wants is a break, but genius finds no rest as Fran lies to a sweet old blind man and Bernard, the recluse, deceives his adoring public.

Episode 2 - Fran can?t sleep in this heat, Bernard needs a girlfriend to stop him from staring, and Manny can?t say what will happen if it gets to 88 degrees. Bernard helps Fran by brushing up on the law and finds himself a ?summer bunny.? Meanwhile, Manny is worried about the reliability of his magic hot water bottle.

Episode 3 - Manny uses his underworld connections to find Fran mysterious employment. In return, all Bernard and he have to do is educate a psychopath, but will they succeed in teaching dodgy Danny to read?

Episode 4 - Unemployed and restless, Fran takes comfort in the discovery of her exotic newfound cousins. In pursuit of Michelin stars, Manny and Bernard transform the infested bookshop into a restaurant... but nothing can stop the creatures from taking over the shop.

Episode 5 - Fran tries to discover her inner karma at the advice of her disapproving friend Eva. Bernard finds proof that Manny is mad, and Manny discovers a new found confidence and his ?inner king.?

Episode 6 - Bernard and Manny can?t hear themselves argue because of the builders next door. Fran suggests they all take a holiday, but how will the three of them fare when they attempt to venture abroad together? Series 3
Episode 1 - Fran comes back from holiday to discover that Manny has resigned and is now working next door at Goliath Books. Left to his own devices, Bernard has let things slip a little. He is living amid a pile of rubbish, rotting food and dead badgers. Fran wants to get Manny back in Black Books so he can clear up and make her tea, but Evan, the manager of Goliath, has plans for Manny and has no intention of letting him go. Spaced star and zombie-nemesis, Simon Pegg, makes a guest appearance.

Episode 2 - It's International Children's Book week in Black Books. Bernard and Manny decide that they can do better than the trash that children are offered these days. They are going to write their own kid's classic and retire Rowling-rich. Fran is off on a hen weekend with her best friends from school so there's no way she's going to fall out with them. Is there? Watch out for two familiar ladies' faces as Lucy Davis ("The Office") and Olivia Colman ("Peep Show") each make a cameo.

Episode 3 - Manny's parents come to stay. They are a perfectly nice middle-aged couple with one or two slightly annoying habits. Bernard wants rid of them, preferably the day before yesterday. Fran is rather grumpy about pretending to be Manny's girlfriend to corroborate Manny's letters home, in which his life's achievements have been somewhat exaggerated. Sitcom veterans Annette Crosbie (One Foot In The Grave) and Sam Kelly ('Allo 'Allo!) guest star.

Episode 4 - Manny has put a bet on the Grand National for Bernard. Bernard claims not to be interested in gambling and then immediately becomes completely addicted to it. Fran, looking for work, needs a short-term job to appear employable. Bernard hires her and sets her off against Manny to compete for sales person of the century to replenish his dwindling funds. All the while Bernard is losing more and more money and the people he is borrowing his gambling funds from are becoming scarier and scarier. Another familiar face, Brit actor Keith Allen, makes a guest appearance.

Episode 5 - Manny is extremely proud of the festival of travel writing that he has organised. He has invited the famously charming explorer Jason Hamilton to give a talk. Fran soon falls for his twinkling eyes and lavish hair. Manny is ragingly jealous. Bernard is more concerned about the rent charges he has to pay to his new neighbour. Rather than face a lengthy court case, he hires a professional assassin to dispose of this vermin. Jason Hamilton is played by "Madness Of King George" star Julian Rhind-Tutt.

Episode 6 - It's Friday night. Manny and Fran are determined to go out and do something for once. Bernard would rather stay at home, get drunk and ignore his friends. Manny insists that they go to a particular party. But why? And anyway, who is the best dancer? Watch out for Mel Gibson. He's not in the programme, but you can never be sure he isn't going to suddenly appear in your living room.

Black Books centers around the foul tempered and wildly eccentric bookshop owner Bernard Black (Dylan Moran). Bernard's devotion to the twin pleasures of drunkenness and willful antagonism deepens and enriches both his life and that of Manny (Bill Bailey), his assistant. Bearded, gentle, sweet and good. Manny is everything that Bernard isn't and is punished by Bernard relentlessly just for the crime of existing. They depend on each other for meaning as Fran (Tamsin Greig), their oldest friend, depends on them for distraction. Black Books is a haven of books, wine and conversation, the only threat to the group's peace and prosperity is their own limitless stupidity.