Tourist Trap (TV series)

Last updated

Tourist Trap
Genre Comedy
Written by Sian Harries, Tudur Owen, Gareth Gwynn
Directed by Keri Collins
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2 + 1 Rugby Special + 1 Stay At Home Radio Special
Production
Executive producerRab Christie
Production company The Comedy Unit
Original release
Network BBC One Wales

Tourist Trap is a Welsh TV mockumentary-style comedy series following the fictional tourist board WOW Wales. [1] Sally Phillips heads the cast as the director of the organization. [2] The show was first broadcast on BBC One Wales in 2018 as part of the channel's Festival Of Funny. [3] As of 2024, the series is available to stream for free in the UK on BBC iPlayer. [4]

Contents

Production

Tourist Trap shares a production company (The Comedy Unit), executive producer (Rab Christie) [5] and some members of its production team with the stylistically similar shows Scot Squad and Soft Border Patrol , [6] which are broadcast on BBC Scotland and BBC Northern Ireland respectively. All three are semi-improvised sketch-shows, filmed in a mockumentary style and initially comprised stand-alone scenes set within the individual departments of the fictional organizations they follow. However in the Six Nations special and series 2 of Tourist Trap, the show began to deviate from this template as episodes would sometimes incorporate a narrative and the show also saw members of individual departments appear in other team's scenes. [6]

The show reflects contemporary Welsh events including the rugby team's performance, [7] the appearance of a new Banksy artwork in Port Talbot [8] and the increased popularity in DNA tourism. [9]

In June 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a single radio edition of the show was broadcast on BBC Radio Wales. Using the same format as the television show, The Stay At Home Radio Special dealt with the characters having to work from home and interact via telephone and Zoom as the organization changed its message and asked tourists to not visit Wales during lockdown. [10]

Cast

Guest appearances as themselves

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References

  1. Tourist Trap recommissioned
  2. Sally Phillips Tourist Trap
  3. "BBC - A month of comedy comes to BBC Wales - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  4. "BBC iPlayer - Tourist Trap".
  5. 1 2 3 Tourist Trap (TV Series 2018– ) - IMDb , retrieved 8 March 2020
  6. 1 2 "How we write Tourist Trap - BCG Pro". British Comedy Guide. 28 October 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  7. "BBC One - Tourist Trap, Tourist Trap Rugby Special". BBC. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  8. "BBC One - Tourist Trap, Series 2, Episode 1". BBC. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  9. "BBC One - Tourist Trap, Series 2, Episode 2". BBC. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  10. "BBC One - Tourist Trap, The Stay At Home Radio Special". BBC. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  11. "Tourist Trap cast and crew credits". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 8 March 2020.