Major Production: Tennis Club episode 2: The Budget

At the moment I am going through all six episodes of Tennis Club and writing down the ins and outs of the story in detail so I can know clearly what direction the series would take. Yesterday I spent time thinking about the comedy which would go into the second episode  as well as the plot and how I could form a beginning, middle and end. Below is a summary of what happens in the episode.

In this second episode it is about how Toby adjusts to his new found leadership in the club and how he tackles the first major problem; the budget. One night Toby comes home from work to find Bobbers and Ross making themselves at home in his house (obviously uninvited). Since he's here Toby takes the time to ask Bobbers to give him all the information about the club, which according to Bobbers only needs to be written down on a piece of paper within 20 seconds. One of the main issues that Toby finds is that there is no budget to buy new equipment or hire out a tennis court for the clubs activities. When Toby asks Bobbers where the money went (or if it was even there in the first place) he tells him that it was all spent on the fancy leaflets which he printed out and a fuck load of pick 'n mix from Wilkinsons. Toby shocked at Bobbers' irresponsibility tells the guys that they need to get their act together and find a way to get money for the club. The next day Toby is at work, his workmate Katie notices that he's selling vast amounts of his stuff on ebay, she suggests that instead of selling his possessions that he should start up a kickstarter (a way for people to fund you via the internet) or even just patrol the streets asking people to spare some change. Toby agrees with her and decides to do both. On the weekend we see Toby, Bobbers and Ross outside their local supermarket with a bucket begging people for change. When asked by an elderly woman what their cause is, Toby instantly replies that it's for a tennis club trying to get money for supplies, to which people just walk away without giving any shrapnel. Bobbers says that it's because their cause isn't "touching" touching enough, so him and Ross agree to change the cause to "under-privileged children who want to play tennis", over the next few minutes though this becomes over exaggerated and becomes "children with terminal illnesses" although Toby feels extremely guilty about this, it seems to be bringing in a lot of money. Not long after the trio notice that there isn't as many people giving as there were before. Ross notices that there's an old woman who much like them is raising money to fight leukaemia. Bobbers gets in a huff and tells to lady to "get off their turf" as they were there first and on the side of children against terminal illness, she's on the side of illness. She points out that Bobbers' bucket says money for tennis equipment, regardless Bobbers tells her to piss off, to which she does. Moments later Bobbers and Toby realise that Ross is no longer with them, they decide to search the car park to see where he's run off to. Bobbers then notices the old charity woman from earlier talking to a policeman. He puts two and two together, pushes the bucket of change into Toby's arms and legs it. Toby looks confused, just then he gets a tap on the shoulder and turns to find the policeman, he asks Toby what he's up to to which Toby replies "it's not what it looks like"

We're now at Toby's apartment, Bobbers and Ross are getting an earful from Toby about leaving him behind. Toby now has a £2000 fine and was ordered to hand over the money which they collected in that day, he tells them both to pay him back what they owe (which will probably never happen). Toby then checks on how the kickstarter campaign is doing, much to his surprise he has gained £20 to fund the tennis club (wouldn't be too bad if he didn't lose £2000 today). They guys ask him what he's going to spend it on.

We’re back at the wasteland we saw in the first episode, Toby is spraying the some white stuff on the floor (looks like spray paint). He seems really happy about his purchase as he finishes doing an exact length tennis court, he seems really up for playing today despite the crappy equipment, but just as he offers the guys to play the sound of thunder and lightning can be heard in the background as it starts to pour down. “Nah we’re alright mate” is Bobbers’ response to Toby as him and Ross walk away from the tennis course which is now melting away in the rain. Toby is stood there once more looking like a pillock he utters the words “god dammit” as he stands there in the pouring rain by himself.