Josh (TV series)

Last updated

Josh
Josh Series 1 Titlecard.jpg
Genre Sitcom
Created by Josh Widdicombe
Written byJosh Widdicombe
Tom Craine
Directed by David Schneider
StarringJosh Widdicombe
Elis James
Beattie Edmondson
Jack Dee
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series3
No. of episodes19 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producerStephen McCrumb
ProducerSimon Mayhew-Archer
Production location London
Running time25–28 minutes
Production company BBC
Release
Original network BBC Three / BBC One
Picture format 16:9 1080i
Audio format Dolby Digital
Original release29 August 2014 (2014-08-29) (pilot)
11 November 2015 (2015-11-11) 
6 November 2017 (2017-11-06)

Josh is a British sitcom television series about three young adults who share a flat near Holloway Road in north London. [1] The series was created by and starred comedian and namesake Josh Widdicombe. A pilot episode aired in 2014 as part of the BBC "Comedy Feeds", and a full six-episode series aired from 11 November to 16 December 2015 on BBC Three. [2] A second series of Josh was released from 22 September 2016 on Three's then online-only channel. [3] The day that the final episode of series two aired on BBC One, the BBC announced it had commissioned a third series, which was released on 2 October 2017. [4]

Contents

Characters

Critical reception

In their review of Josh, The Independent commented that there was "nothing original or remarkable about the set-up – or much of the script – but there's promising chemistry between its stars." They said that the main actors were far too old to be convincing 20-something university pals. However, they singled out Edmondson as "very watchable", saying her "comic timing stuck out". [6]

The Arts Desk was scathing about the series, saying "It's horribly bland and it's difficult to see how Josh can avoid suffering the ignominy of lasting only one series". [5]

The Guardian thought there was "a nice chemistry" between the three main characters and the series was funny "in a nice, cosy, safe, familial, familiar kind of way". [7]

Chortle said "the comedy, which returns to BBC Three tomorrow despite a tepid critical response last year, is technically competent and adheres to all the rules of the genre: the scenes are tight and each line works towards a gag. But it’s also bland, lacking a strong personality or deeper purpose other than to deliver contrived lines. Nothing much has changed since the first series."

DVD releases

A DVD set containing the episodes of the first series was released on 5 September 2016. [8] A second series DVD set was made available on 31 October 2016. [9] A third series DVD set was made available on 13 November 2017. [10]

Related Research Articles

<i>Absolutely Fabulous</i> British television series

Absolutely Fabulous is a British television sitcom based on the French and Saunders sketch, "Modern Mother and Daughter", created by Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. The show was created and written by Saunders, who also stars as one of the main characters with Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha.

<i>Bottom</i> (TV series) British sitcom television series

Bottom is a British sitcom created by Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson that ran for three series on BBC2 from 1991 to 1995. It focuses on Richard "Richie" Richard (Mayall) and Edward Elizabeth "Eddie" Hitler (Edmondson), two unemployed, crude, and perverted flatmates living in Hammersmith, London, who aspire to better themselves. Bottom became known for its chaotic, nihilistic humour and violent slapstick comedy. In 2004, Bottom was ranked 45th in a BBC poll for Britain's Best Sitcom.

<i>Some Mothers Do Ave Em</i> British TV sitcom (BBC1, 1973–78)

Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em is a British sitcom broadcast on BBC1, created and written by Raymond Allen and starring Michael Crawford and Michele Dotrice. It was first broadcast in 1973 and ran for two series, including two Christmas specials in 1974 and 1975. After a three-year absence, the programme returned for a third series in 1978 and again in 2016 for a one-off special. The series regularly garnered 25 million viewers and was broadcast in 60 countries.

<i>The Young Ones</i> (TV series) British sitcom

The Young Ones is a British sitcom written by Rik Mayall, Ben Elton, and Lise Mayer, starring Adrian Edmondson, Mayall, Nigel Planer, Christopher Ryan, and Alexei Sayle, and broadcast on BBC Two for two series, first shown in 1982 and 1984. The show focused on the lives of four dissimilar students and their landlord's family on different plots that often included anarchic, offbeat, surreal humour. The show often included slapstick gags, visual humour and surreal jokes sometimes acted out by puppets, with each episode also featuring a notable selection of guest stars and musical numbers from various performers.

<i>My Family</i> British sitcom

My Family is a British sitcom created and initially co-written by Fred Barron, which was produced by DLT Entertainment and Rude Boy Productions, and broadcast by BBC One for eleven series between 2000 and 2011, with Christmas specials broadcast from 2002 onwards. My Family was voted 24th in the BBC's "Britain's Best Sitcom" in 2004 and was the most watched sitcom in the United Kingdom in 2008. As of 2011, it is one of only twelve British sitcoms to pass the 100-episode mark. In April 2020, BBC One began airing the series from the first episode in an 8 pm slot on Friday nights; along with this all 11 series were made available on BBC iPlayer.

<i>The Royle Family</i> British TV sitcom 1998–2012

The Royle Family is a British sitcom produced by Granada Television for the BBC, which ran for three series from 1998 to 2000, and specials from 2006 to 2012. It centres on the lives of a television-fixated Manchester family, the Royles, comprising family patriarch Jim Royle, his wife Barbara, their daughter Denise, their son Antony and Denise's fiancé David.

<i>Birds of a Feather</i> (TV series) British television sitcom

Birds of a Feather is a British sitcom originally broadcast on BBC One from 16 October 1989 to 24 December 1998, then revived on ITV from 2 January 2014 to 24 December 2020. The series stars Pauline Quirke and Linda Robson, with Lesley Joseph, created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran who also wrote many of the episodes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doon Mackichan</span> British actress, comedian and writer

Doon Mackichan is a British actress, comedian and writer. She co-created, wrote and performed in the double-Emmy-award-winning Smack the Pony. She frequently collaborates with Armando Iannucci and Steve Coogan, having played multiple characters in The Day Today, Brass Eye and Alan Partridge, and has also appeared in Toast of London and Two Doors Down. Mackichan was nominated for Best Female Comedy Performance at the 2014 British Academy Television Awards for her performance in Plebs and won critical praise for her performance alongside John Malkovich in Bitter Wheat in 2019.

<i>The IT Crowd</i> British television sitcom

The IT Crowd is a British sitcom originally broadcast by Channel 4, written and directed by Graham Linehan, produced by Ash Atalla and starring Chris O'Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson, and Matt Berry. Set in the offices of the fictional Reynholm Industries in London, the series revolves around the three staff members of its IT department: computer programmer Maurice Moss (Ayoade), work-shy Roy Trenneman (O'Dowd), and Jen Barber (Parkinson), the department head/relationship manager who knows nothing about IT. The show also focuses on the bosses of Reynholm Industries: Denholm Reynholm and later, his son Douglas. Goth IT technician Richmond Avenal, who resides in the dark server room, also appears in a number of episodes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Crosby</span> English comedian and writer

Matthew Crosby is an English comedian and writer.

<i>Not Going Out</i> British TV sitcom

Not Going Out is a British television sitcom that has aired on BBC One since 2006 and is the second-longest-running British sitcom, behind Last of the Summer Wine. It stars Lee Mack and Sally Bretton with Geoffrey Whitehead, Deborah Grant, Hugh Dennis, and Abigail Cruttenden.

<i>Outnumbered</i> (British TV series) British TV sitcom

Outnumbered is a British sitcom about the Brockman family, starring Hugh Dennis as the father, Claire Skinner as the mother and their three children played by Tyger Drew-Honey, Daniel Roche and Ramona Marquez.

<i>Mrs. Browns Boys</i> Irish television sitcom

Mrs. Brown's Boys is an Irish television sitcom created by and starring Brendan O'Carroll and produced in the United Kingdom by BBC Scotland in partnership with BOC-PIX and Irish broadcaster RTÉ.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ade Edmondson</span> English actor, comedian, musician and writer (born 1957)

Adrian Charles "Ade" Edmondson is an English actor, comedian, musician, writer and television presenter. He was part of the alternative comedy boom in the early 1980s and had roles in the television series The Young Ones (1982–1984) and Bottom (1991–1995), which he wrote together with his collaborator Rik Mayall. Edmondson also appeared in The Comic Strip Presents... series of films throughout the 1980s and 1990s. For two episodes of this he created the spoof heavy metal band Bad News, and for another he played his nihilistic alter-ego Eddie Monsoon, an offensive South African television star.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josh Widdicombe</span> English comedian and presenter

Joshua Michael Widdicombe is an English comedian, presenter and actor. He is best known for his appearances on The Last Leg (2012–present), Fighting Talk (2014–2016), Insert Name Here (2016–2019), Mock the Week (2012–2016) and his BBC Three sitcom Josh (2015–2017). He also won the first series of Taskmaster in 2015 and the show's first Champion of Champions special in 2017. During the 2020 Covid 19 lockdown, Widdicombe started the Parenting Hell podcast with fellow comedian Rob Beckett.

<i>Citizen Khan</i> Family-based British sitcom

Citizen Khan is a British sitcom produced by the BBC and created by Adil Ray. Five series have been shown so far. It is set in Sparkhill, South Birmingham, described by its lead character, a British Pakistani man Mr Khan (Ray), as "the capital of British Pakistan". Citizen Khan follows the trials and tribulations of Mr Khan, a loud-mouthed, patriarchal, cricket-loving, self-appointed community leader, and his long suffering wife and daughters Shazia and Alia. In Series One, Kris Marshall starred as Dave, the manager of Mr Khan's local mosque. The first name of Mrs Khan is Razia; however, Mr Khan's first name is never revealed.

Pompidou is an experimental British television comedy series for BBC Two created and written by comedians Matt Lucas with Julian Dutton and Ashley Blaker & James Foster and Jon Lamont. It began airing on 1 March 2015 on BBC Two.

<i>Still Open All Hours</i> BBC television sitcom

Still Open All Hours is a British sitcom created for the BBC by Roy Clarke, and starring David Jason and James Baxter. It is the sequel to the sitcom Open All Hours, which both Clarke and Jason worked on throughout its 26-episode run from 1976 to 1985, following a 40th Anniversary Special in December 2013 commemorating the original series. The sitcom's premise focuses on the life of a much older Granville, who now runs his late uncle's grocery shop with the assistance of his son, continuing to sell products at higher prices alongside seeking to be with his love interest.

<i>Uncle</i> (British TV series) British television series

Uncle is a British sitcom written and directed by Oliver Refson and Lilah Vandenburgh. Originally broadcast between 2014 and 2017, it stars Nick Helm, Daisy Haggard, Elliot Speller-Gillott and Sydney Rae White, and features original songs by Helm.

Beatrice Louise "Beattie" Edmondson is an English actress. She played the main character, Kate, in the BBC Three sitcom Josh.

References

  1. s2 e5
  2. "Josh". BBC Three. BBC. December 2015.
  3. "Josh". BBC Media Centre. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  4. "BBC Three sitcom Josh commissioned for a third series" . Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  5. 1 2 Leel, Veronica (12 November 2015). "Josh, BBC Three". The Arts Desk. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  6. Newall, Sally (11 November 2015). "Josh, TV review: Beattie Edmondson's comic timing stuck out" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 17 June 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  7. Wollaston, Sam (19 November 2015). "Toast of London review: not as well done as it was, but Toast is still delicious". theguardian.com. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  8. "Josh - Series 1 DVD". Amazon. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  9. "Josh - Series 2 DVD". Amazon. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  10. "Josh - Series 3 DVD". Amazon. Retrieved 14 November 2017.