VIVA BLACKPOOL SEQUEL

Posted Sep 15, 2006 by Walt Belcher

Updated Sep 15, 2006 at 09:31 AM

  Last year, the BBC America presentaton of “Viva Blackpool” a musical mystery/sexy soap really blew me away.

  It was one of the best miniseries in recent years.  A sequel is coming in October:

    David Morrissey (State of Play, Basic Instinct 2) is back in “Viva Blackpool: Ripley’s Return,” a magical musical movie sequel to the Golden Globe-nominated and Peabody Award-winning original series Viva Blackpool. In this innovative show, even characters in mourning pop out of heavy drama mode to sing along, karaoke-style, with hits from Johnny Cash, Queen, Dusty Springfield and Tom Jones. Ripley’s Return premieres Saturday, October 28, 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

As the story opens, gambling man Ripley Holden, returning from Las Vegas as Reverend Ripley, attends the Blackpool funeral of his close friend, Patrick, who won a World Cup trophy in a crooked card game. Ripley’s already lined up a buyer for the legendary trophy, which was stolen from Westminster Hall in the ‘60s and has been in criminal hands ever since. But when aggressive sports agent Steve Pollard (Keith Allen, De-Lovely) moves in with a higher bid, a ferocious bidding war erupts.

This is all good news for Ripley, who has opened a successful Vegas-style wedding chapel in Blackpool with his daughter Shyanne (Georgia Taylor). Together they perform themed wedding ceremonies from Blue Hawaii to country-western and Harry Potter, dreaming of turning their single chapel into a nationwide chain. The money from the sale of the trophy would make their dream a reality. All Ripley has to do is get the trophy from Patrick’s elderly mother, Mrs. Berry (Annette Crosbie, One Foot in the Grave), and sell it to the highest bidder. But he’s horrified when he sees that she has placed Patrick’s ashes in the trophy, the centerpiece of a shrine to her beloved son.

Meanwhile, Ripley’s fallen hopelessly in love with walking temptation, Kitty De-Luxe (Megan Dodds, MI-5), who was jilted at his chapel. The glamorous blonde wants Ripley to invest the trophy money in her ice show, Paradise Lost on Ice. But the more Ripley gets to know Kitty, the less the pieces add up. A quick search through her bag reveals the key to a storage locker. Although it will break his heart, Ripley has to know what she’s hiding. Is Kitty the perfect woman for Ripley, a con artist — or both?