Jennifer Garner (Alias’ Sydney Bristow) and David Tennant (the 10th Doctor) are set to hit the small screen on the upcoming HBO Original comedy series Camping. Premiering on 15 Oct at 10am on HBO GO and HBO – as well as HBO On Demand, the series based on the British series of the same name from 2016 by Julia Davis.
This 8-episode rendition is written and executive produced by Girls’ creator Lena Dunham, Jenni Konner and John Riggi. In it, Garner and Tennant play wife and husband – Kathryn and Walt.
“To celebrate her husband Walt’s 44th birthday, the obsessively organised and aggressively controlling Kathryn gathers together her meek sister, her holier-than-thou ex-best friend and a free-spirited tagalong – and what was supposed to be a delightful, back-to-nature camping trip quickly becomes a weekend of tested marriages and woman-on-woman crime that won’t soon be forgotten.”
Camping follows a group of old friends as they arrive at the underwhelming Brown Bear Lake campsite to celebrate a landmark birthday, sparking heightened emotions, latent tensions (sexual and otherwise) and memories they’d rather forget. Other series regulars include: Juliette Lewis (“Cape Fear”), Arturo Del Puerto (“Independence Day: Resurgence”), Ione Skye (“Fever Pitch”), Janicza Bravo (“Divorce”) and Brett Gelman (“Stranger Things”). The recurring cast includes Bridget Everett (“Trainwreck”).
“When we saw Julia Davis’ hilarious UK Camping, we knew this was the most fun concept for writers and actors,” said Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner. “We are so excited by our cast. We are so excited by this story. We are so excited to make you never want to go to the woods again.”
The Characters
Kathryn McSorley-Jodell (Jennifer Garner) is a controlling LA mom who is far less cheerful than her Lululemons imply. She directs the weekend’s proceedings with an iron grip, until she’s faced with a woman who undoes all her best-laid plans. Walt (David Tennant) is an obedient husband and a loving father, the reliable lynchpin of his male social group, but below that reality lurks a subtle but growing discontent about what he’s just signed up for.
Jandice (Juliette Lewis) is a woman of many talents: a DJ, a reiki healer and a certified public accountant. Her life may seem ideal, but the reality is far less. Smack dab in the middle of a midlife crisis, the recently separated Miguel (Arturo Del Puerto) now expresses his instability through a youthful wardrobe and very strange life choices.
Carleen (Ione Skye) has spent her life in the shadows as Kathryn’s sister. Timid and terrified, she must rely on her own strange passions, such as crocheting, to get her through the lonely days. Nina-Joy (Janicza Bravo) is the friend you go to for everything: best massage, best jeans, best oatmeal. But her tension with Kathryn over a breach of confidence threatens to topple the weekend.
George (Brett Gelman) is loyal, goofy and infinitely game. He’s as obsessed with his best friend, Walt, as he is with his wife, Nina-Joy, and just under the surface of this affable boom operator simmers barely repressed rage that can stop any singalong. Harry (Bridget Everett) is the tough-talking, nature-loving queen of the campsite; her passion for her wife, Nan, is surpassed only by her passion for all other women and an assortment of arms.
Camping launches its eight-episode season same time as the US on Monday, October 15 at 10am, with a same day primetime encore at 11pm, exclusively on HBO GO and HBO. The series will also be available on HBO On Demand (StarHub TV Ch 602).
