How to Start Your Own Country
This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2012) |
How to Start Your Own Country | |
---|---|
Genre | |
Created by | Danny Wallace |
Presented by | Danny Wallace |
Theme music composer | Banks & Wag |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 1 |
No. of episodes | 6 |
Production | |
Executive producers | Garfield Kennedy Julian Pearson |
Producer | Lee Philips |
Production location | London |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Production company | Leafstorm Ltd. |
Original release | |
Network | BBC Two |
Release | 3 August 6 September 2005 | –
Related | |
Are You Dave Gorman? |
How To Start Your Own Country is a British six-part
The series was released on DVD in the UK on 18 June 2007.
Episodes
"Birth of a Nation"
Danny investigates
"Citizens Required"
With the help of an advertising agency, Wallace chooses a design for the flag of his country. He records a national anthem, which is played during his interview on Iain Lee's LBC show.
"For King and Country"
Danny Wallace meets the SAS (Second Amendment Sisters) and meets the King of Fusa. He also goes to the Principality of Seborga.
"State of a Nation"
Wallace visits two very different '
A sombre visit to
"The Bank of Danny"
When he struggles to pay his
"The United Nations"
Wallace attempts to enter the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athens with a song called "Stop the Muggin', Start the Huggin'".
In an attempt to officially become a country, he travels to
This final episode ends with a gathering of citizens in Leicester Square, where Wallace reveals that the country is to be called "Lovely".
Citizen TV
A show called Citizen TV, also presented by Danny Wallace, was shown to digital viewers after each episode, giving news and discussions about the country.
Kingdom of Lovely
Kingdom of Lovely | |
---|---|
Unrecognized Bow, East London | |
Claimed by | Danny Wallace |
Dates claimed | January 1, 2005 | –May 19, 2013
Wallace named his micronation the Kingdom of Lovely. Like several other micronations it is a partly Internet-based project that claims a small amount of territory.[1] Wallace proclaimed himself King and, at its peak, 58,165 "citizens" were registered on the micronation's website citizensrequired.com. This site is no longer active.
The sole official territory of Lovely was Wallace's flat in Bow, East London, but citizens of Lovely were invited to declare a room, or some other building or land belonging to them, to be an embassy for the country by taking a photograph displaying Lovely's flag there.
The show depicted Wallace attempting to acquire various accoutrements of statehood for his fledgling nation. These included:
- The country's name. Wallace solicited ideas online and put his two favourites "Home" and "Lovely" to a vote.
- A national holiday: "Lovely Day" on 2 September, celebrating the nation's naming.
- A flag featuring a blue stripe and a red stripe at erratic angles on a white background.
- A pixelated coat of arms to reflect the Internet-based nature of the micronation
- A Latin motto: Die Dulci freure (sic – the correct Latin is fruere), meaning "Have a nice day".
- A national anthem performed by Banks & Wag.
When the owners of a private island in Ireland rejected Lovely's currency (The "Interdependent Occupational Unit (IOU)") as a basis for sale, Wallace tried to start his nation by "invading"
During the broadcasting run of How to Start Your Own Country, additional material was broadcast to
Wallace attempted to submit a song of his own composition, Stop The Mugging, Start The Hugging, as the Lovely entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. The contest's scrutineer, Svante Stockselius, met with Wallace and was sympathetic to his cause but informed him that Lovely could not enter the Contest as it has no national television or radio station of its own and therefore could not join the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Wallace then submitted his song to the BBC (which is an EBU member who supports the UK entry to the contest), in an attempt to receive their backing – their judges, however, were unimpressed.
The series also showed Wallace's attempts to gain official recognition for Lovely at the United Nations, which was established to be the true mark of statehood. These efforts were unsuccessful, largely because of Lovely's lack of independent territory, Wallace's own flat being within the UK. Despite all this, Wallace appeared before his citizens in full regal attire in the final episode, declaring that their new country now had more citizens than seven internationally recognized countries, including Vatican City, Monaco, and Liechtenstein.
The Guardian Angel, a Lovelian citizen-run newspaper, operated between September 2005 and September 2007.[2]
On Wallace's website, he describes the show as gaining "an almost-too-loyal fanbase, several of whom take against me when I am unable to dedicate my entire life to running a small country from my flat."[3]
See also
- Micronations
- List of micronations
- Flags of micronations
- Micronations: The Lonely Planet Guide to Home-Made Nations
References
- ISBN 1-74104-730-7.
- ^ "The Guardian Angel". thega.org. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
- ^ Wallace, Danny. "History". Retrieved 14 November 2021.
External links
- How To Start Your Own Country at IMDb