Claim: Beautiful People starting airing in 2009.

Beautiful People was a British comedy drama television series based on the memoirs of Barneys creative director Simon Doonan . The series takes place in Reading , Berkshire , in 1997 , where thirteen-year-old Simon Doonan and his best friend Kylie dream of escaping their dreary suburban surroundings and moving to cosmopolitan London `` to live amongst the beautiful people '' . The first episode aired on BBC Two on 2 October 2008 and recorded overnight ratings of 1.5 million viewers and positive critical reaction . Episodes are self-contained , but do follow a loose story arc throughout the course of each series . The second and final series finished airing on 18 December 2009 .