Happy Patrick

Happy Patrick is a British absurdist comedy-drama television programme created by Frank Magnum which aired on from 13 January 2012 to 15 June 2018. The show revolves around a pessimistic young man named Patrick Sanford (Kearney Forbes) and the absurd situations he finds himself and his neighbours regularly involved with.

Happy Patrick was chiefly written by Magnum. It is noted for generally episodic storytelling and loosely connected story-lines. It ran for 55 episodes across five series, each series consisting of 11 episodes. The show drew in high ratings, and it was consistently one of ITV's most viewed shows during the 2010s.

The programme has received positive reception from critics and audiences alike. It has been praised for its story, humour, visual effects, character development, and diverse main cast.

Premise
The show is set in the fictional city of Wickington,, and follows Patrick Sanford, a cynical and pessimistic young man who finds himself stuck in various surreal and absurd situations in his day-to-day life.

Episodes include elements from several fiction genres, including, , , , and.

Series 1 (2012)
Series one introduces four of Patrick's neighbours: aspiring musician Marissa Langston (Laurie Layne), author Michael Anderson (Nathan Griffin), job-seeking "ladies' man" Drake Lee (Benny Cheng), and slacker Julian Bennett (Robert Desmond).

There were no actual story-lines in the first series, as the storytelling is generally episodic in these episodes, though, the last two episodes follow Julian's journey towards self-discovery and his eventual realisation that he is gay and has feelings for Patrick, who—being a straight man—rejects him, though the two stay friends.

Series 2 (2014)
Marissa's actress, Laurie Layne, departed from the show after series 1. Starting in series two, she is replaced with Marcie Cameron (Christine Keystone), who is extremely similar in character to Marissa.

The final four episodes of this series introduced a story-line in which Patrick contracts a deadly virus known as "necrodeadlyosis", and it follows his recovery journey. Three of those episodes are about Drake finding a cure.

Series 3 (2015)
Series 3 introduces guest character Logan Lawrence (Bruce Cochran), and begins with a story-line revolving around Logan and Marcie. Later, it introduces a story about Patrick attempting to start a relationship with Michael's ex-girlfriend, Tricia Harris (Adebisi Oyedepo).

Series 4 (2016)
In series 4, Bruce Cochran reprises his role as Logan Lawrence, who is now a main character. This series also introduces main character Anthony Raymond (David Jay Stone). As with the first series, series four's storytelling is also episodic, aside from a story-line in the first two episodes of the series in which Patrick attempts to make amends for his dysfunctional relationship with his father, Dr Marvin Sanford (special guest Donald Hoyt), and finds out he divorced his mother, Nicole (special guest Genevieve Macgregor). This series also introduces guest character Daniel Abraham (Michael Malcolm), a supposedly psychotic young man who thinks he is a telepath and is quickly revealed to be a real mind reader.

Series 5 (2018)
Series 5 introduces main character Jennifer Robinson (Evelyn George), and turns Daniel Abraham into a recurring character. It is one of the more serialised series, opening with a two-episode story about Julian being kidnapped by a gang called the Wickington Demons and being rescued by Patrick and Jennifer.

Afterwards, Jennifer comes to terms with her attraction to Patrick and decides to ask him on a date, which ends with the two fighting an invading alien race, all whilst Drake returns to his old neighbourhood——to visit his parents, Stephen (Leonard Kang) and Michelle (Valerie Cheung). The series concludes with all of the main characters—along with Drake's parents and Patrick's father—working as a team to fight "the Destroyer", a man attempting to take control of the multiverse by violent means.