The Goes Wrong Show

The Goes Wrong Show is a British comedy series developed by Mischief Theatre, which began broadcasting on BBC One on 23 December 2019.[5] It was announced in 2020 that the BBC has renewed the show for a second series.[6]

The Goes Wrong Show
Genre	Comedy[1]
Created by	Mischief Theatre
Written by	Henry Lewis Johnathan Sayer Henry Shields[2]
Directed by	Martin Dennis[2]
Starring	Henry Shields Henry Lewis Jonathan Sayer Dave Hearn Charlie Russell Bryony Corrigan Nancy Zamit Chris Leask Greg Tannahill[2]
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	6
Production
Executive producer(s)	Hilary Strong, Kenton Allen, Kenny Wax, Saurabh Kakkar, Matthew Justice[2]
Producer(s)	Jim Poyser[2]
Editor(s)	Mark Lawrence[2]
Running time	30 minutes[3]
Production company(s)	Mischief Screen, BigTalk Productions[4]
Release
Original network	BBC One[5]
Picture format	1080i HDTV
Original release	23 December 2019 (2019-12-23) – present
External links
Website

History

The Play That Goes Wrong is a 2015 play by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields of Mischief Theatre. It received strong critical and audience acclaim.[7]

A television series, using the same writers and cast, was released in 2019 as The Goes Wrong Show.[8][9] It consisted of six half hour episodes, which aired on BBC One between 23 December 2019 and 31 January 2020.[10] Each episode had a different theme, including a period romance, spy thriller, a deep south melodrama and a Christmas fable.[11]

In addition to the writers, the show also stars regular Mischief performers including Charlie Russell, Bryony Corrigan, Dave Hearn and Nancy Zamit.[12]

#GoesWrongAlong

On 3 April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mischief Theatre began a watch-along of the episodes of the show on Twitter (with the hashtag #GoesWrongAlong), beginning with "90 Degrees". The watchalongs started at 7pm.[13]

Episode No.	Title	Date of watch-along
1	90 Degrees[13]	3 April 2020[13]
2	Harper's Locket[14]	10 April 2020[14]
3	The Pilot (Not The Pilot)[15]	17 April 2020[15]
4	The Spirit of Christmas[16]	24 April 2020[16]
5	The Lodge[17]	1 May 2020[17]
6	A Trial To Watch[18]	8 May 2020[18]

Cast

• Chris Bean, played by Henry Shields
• Robert Groves, played by Henry Lewis
• Dennis, played by Jonathan Sayer
• Max, played by Dave Hearn
• Sandra, played by Charlie Russell
• Vanessa, played by Bryony Corrigan
• Annie, played by Nancy Zamit
• Trevor, played by Chris Leask
• Jonathan, played by Greg Tannahill

Production

The Goes Wrong Show was announced by the BBC on 22 February 2019. The show was commissioned by BBC’s Controller of Comedy Commissioning, Shane Allen, and Charlotte Moore, Director of BBC Content.[19] In one of the episodes, the cast are filmed upside down.[20]

Each episode of the first series was recorded in the Dock10 Studios in Salford, Greater Manchester.[21]

Episodes

No. overall	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Original air date	U.K. viewers (millions)
1	1	"The Spirit of Christmas"	Martin Dennis	23 December 2019 (2019-12-23)	N/A
A play about Santa Claus and his elves attempt to bring happiness to a sad little girl and her constantly fighting parents.
2	2	"The Pilot (Not The Pilot)"	Martin Dennis	3 January 2020 (2020-01-03)	N/A
A Second World War drama that sees Army officers cracking German codes in a top secret facility.
3	3	"A Trial to Watch"	Martin Dennis	10 January 2020 (2020-01-10)	N/A
A courtroom drama that sees fictional defence lawyer, Karl McKennon, taking on his ex-wife Becky as he defends an ex-cop accused of murdering his brother.
4	4	"The Lodge"	Martin Dennis	17 January 2020 (2020-01-17)	N/A
A 1960s-set horror that sees a young family visit the home of widow Albert Fortenoy.
5	5	"Harper's Locket"	Martin Dennis	24 January 2020 (2020-01-24)	N/A
A period romance drama that sees the love between two characters.
6	6	"90 Degrees"	Martin Dennis	31 January 2020 (2020-01-31)	N/A
A drama set in the Deep South of America. The title of the episode reflects to the temperature in Tennessee however designers of the set misinterpreted degrees as a right angle instead of measurement of temperature.

Reception

The first series received generally positive reviews. Radio Times' Huw Fullerton said that "The Goes Wrong Show ... is actually the laugh-out-loud new project from the Mischief Theatre company".[22] Tim Dowling from The Guardian praised the show's farce and the amount of behind-the-scenes effort that went into making it work.[23] Ian D. Hall of Liverpool Sound and Vision named A Trial To Watch "one of the finest examples of farce to made it [sic] to television in years".[24]

Another positive review for the opening episode came from Michael Hogan's review in The Telegraph. He said "This old-fashioned, family-friendly comedy trod the line between seasonal cheer and black humour with aplomb. It was like Mrs Brown’s Boys but funny."[25]

When reviewing the Christmas episode, Steve Bennett from Chortle said "while every mistake here is, of course, meticulously planned, they are pulled off with enough flair, commitment and occasional ingenuity to break all but the most cynical of viewers to laughter."[26]

The show received a five-star review from Suzi Feay of the Financial Times, who said, "This stuff has to be directed and performed with pinpoint accuracy if it’s to succeed. Fortunately, it’s perfectly, deliberately, terrible.”[27]

In a negative review, Lottie Young of the Evening Standard called the first episode "embarrassingly bad" and argued that "the formula [of slapstick comedy] is more fossilised than old-fashioned."[28] Rupert Hawksley from i News said that "theatre does not always translate well to television" and noted the script as being "dreadful".[29]

Following the success of the first series, the BBC commissioned a second series, which is scheduled to air later in 2020.[30]

DVD release

The Goes Wrong Show had a DVD release for its first series on 10 February 2020.[31]

References

1. Carr, Flora (10 January 2019). "The Goes Wrong Show on BBC1". Radio Times. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
2. "The Goes Wrong Show cast and crew credits". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
3. "The Goes Wrong Show". Big Talk Productions. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
4. "BBC One - The Goes Wrong Show, Series 1, The Spirit of Christmas". BBC. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
5. Saunders, Emma (20 December 2019). "The Goes Wrong Show: When TV festive frolics go awry". BBC News. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
6. Darvill, Josh (10 January 2020). "The Goes Wrong Show cast, episodes and when it's next on TV". TellyMix. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
7. "Everything you need to know about The Play That Goes Wrong". Official London Theatre. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
8. Gans, Andrew (22 February 2019). "BBC Will Air 6-Part Series The Goes Wrong Show, Based on The Play That Goes Wrong". Retrieved 2 April 2019.
9. "BBC One - The Goes Wrong Show".
10. The Goes Wrong Show, retrieved 13 February 2020
11. "BBC One - The Goes Wrong Show - Episode guide". BBC. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
12. Watson, Fay (3 January 2020). "The Goes Wrong Show cast: Who stars in new BBC comedy series?". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
13. Mischief (3 April 2020). "Take part in our watchalong party of the #GoesWrongShow tonight by hitting play at 7pm on the 90 Degrees episode on @bbciplayer! Be sure to join in using the hashtag #GoesWrongAlong! #StillMakingMischief". Twitter. @mischiefcomedy. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
14. Mischief (10 April 2020). "Ready for our next watchalong party of the #GoesWrongShow? TONIGHT we're going to be watching Harper's Locket. Here's how to join in! #StillMakingMischief #GoesWrongAlong pic.twitter.com/NsYwxJf39k". @mischiefcomedy. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
15. Mischief (17 April 2020). "Remember to tune in tonight to our #GoesWrongAlong party at 7pm! This week we're watching The Pilot (Not The Pilot) on @bbciplayer! We promise you lots of mischief! #StillMakingMischief pic.twitter.com/aDPszLqQsY". @mischiefcomedy. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
16. Mischief (24 April 2020). "Tonight. 7pm. Join our weekly watchalong party of the #GoesWrongShow right here! Tonight we are watching The Spirit Of Christmas! Here's how to join in! #GoesWrongAlong #StillMakingMischief pic.twitter.com/Z6Q2u0Toa9". @mischiefcomedy. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
17. Mischief (1 May 2020). "It's our #GoesWrongAlong TONIGHT! And this week, we'll be watching... THE LODGE. *Dramatic music* Here's how to join our watchalong party at 7.00pm #GoesWrongAlong #StillMakingMischief pic.twitter.com/eU8y3E66M2". @mischiefcomedy. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
18. Mischief (8 May 2020). "Reasons to join our FINAL #GoesWrongAlong at 7.00pm tonight... Missing it would be criminal, Robert would throw the book at you, And "Anything You Can Act, I Can Act Louder" is very heavy We rest our case! #StillMakingMischief pic.twitter.com/IJYzyCSmmq". @mischiefcomedy. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
19. "BBC - BBC Comedy announces six part series for BBC One - The Goes Wrong Show - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
20. "The Goes Wrong Show stars filmed upside down". independent. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
21. "New six part series for BBC One - The Goes Wrong Show to be filmed at dock10". www.dock10.co.uk. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
22. "The Goes Wrong Show – The Spirit of Christmas review: "A brilliantly funny festive treat"". Radio Times. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
23. Dowling, Tim (23 December 2019). "The Goes Wrong Show review – a terribly brilliant festive farce" – via www.theguardian.com.
24. Ian D. Hall (12 January 2020). "The Goes Wrong Show: A Trial To Watch. Television Review". Liverpool Sound and Vision. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
25. Hogan, Michael (23 December 2019). "The Goes Wrong Show, review: knockabout festive fun – and funnier than Mrs Brown's Boys". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
26. Bennett, Steve. "The Goes Wrong Show : Reviews 2019 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
27. "'Tis the season for a wicked send-up in Cinderella: After Ever After and The Goes Wrong Show | Financial Times". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
28. "You'll need more than Christmas spirit to endure The Goes Wrong Show". Evening Standard. 23 December 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
29. "BBC sitcom The Goes Wrong Show really did go wrong with OTT performances ★★". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
30. "News: The Goes Wrong Show To Go Rong Again". Beyond The Joke. 14 February 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
31. Dennis, Martin (10 February 2020), The Goes Wrong Show, Lionsgate Home Entertainment, retrieved 13 February 2020

External links

• The Goes Wrong Show at BBC Programmes
• The Goes Wrong Show on IMDb
• The Goes Wrong Show at British Comedy Guide