The Wrong Door

"The Wrong Door" is a comedy sketch show, first aired on BBC Three on 28 August 2008. The programme is the first comedy show in which almost all of the sketches have a CGI element.Fact|date=September 2008 The show also contains strong language, adult humour and toilet humour.

Cast

Unusually for a sketch show, the programme lacks a core cast of performers, although some actors recur in different roles throughout the series. Among the performers involved are Brian Blessed, Matt Berry, MyAnna Buring, Michael Fenton Stevens, Neil Fox, Simon Greenall, Laurence Hobbs, Rasmus Hardiker, Pippa Haywood, Humphrey Ker, Burt Kwouk, Alex MacQueen, David Reed, Thom Tuck, Lorna Watson and Lloyd Woolf.

Episodes

Each episode in the series has a different narrative strand running through it.

Episode one: The World's Most Annoying Creature. In an attempt to create the perfect soldier, a bioweapons lab creates the World's Most Annoying Creature, which promptly escapes. First shown 28 August 2008.

Episode two: Njarnia. Edmund and Lucy wander through the back of their self-assembly wardrobe and find themselves in the magical, but slightly rubbish, world of Njarnia (a parody of Ikea). First shown 4 September 2008.

Episode three: The Smutty Aliens. A woman is abducted by aliens with rude names and a phallic spaceship. First shown 11 September 2008.

Episode four: The Train Pirates. A group of ordinary commuters are transformed into pirates, led by Brian Blessed. First shown 18 September 2008.

Episode five: The Wizard of Office. Dorothy is transported to an offoice in Oswestry after a storm in a twist on the Wizard of Oz. Also the London Underground is infested with Pac Man and a restaurant has a problem with its Death by Chocolate. First shown 25 September 2008.

Episode six: Bondo.The secret clown agent Bondo tries to take down a ninja plot to destroy the Train Pirates and Xotang needs a holiday. First shown on 2 October 2008.

Production

The Wrong Door is directed by Ben Wheatley, and written by him and Jack Cheshire, plus a large writing team, including Phillip Barron, John Camm, The Dawson Brothers, Ollie Aplin, Tim Inman, Susy Kane, Will Maclean, and Bert Tyler-Moore. (A full credits list can be found at the BBC's own Wrong Door website).

Recurring sketches

As with many sketch shows, this show has a number of recurring characters and sketches throughout every episode.

Philip and Melanie

Melanie has boyfriend trouble. Philip is rather insensitive and many of her friends and family think he's "a wanker". He left his previous employment at Nottingham Trent University due to a number of anger management issues. He has a curious habit of tearing people to pieces, being, as he is, a large carnivorous dinosaur.

The Philip and Melanie sketches are examples of deadpan humour and often involve other characters in the scene treating the couple as if it were perfectly normal for a young female human to be dating a dinosaur, yet picking up on other curiosities such as their age gap.

Xotang

Xotang the giant robot is often found destroying the environments around him to do everyday tasks (eg. destroying the London skyline in search of his keys).

Gamer Girl

Gamer Girl is a stereotypical gamer character, described by the official website of the show as a "classic example of the perils of console addiction". Gamer Girl sketches often involve her world merging with that of the game she is currently playing or vice-versa.

Superhero Tryouts

A parody of the popular talent show genre of television, Superhero Tryouts is a fictional television show looking for the next popular superhero. Hosted by Captain Justice, Lady Libido and Doctor Fox, the show is plagued by mediocre superheroes such as 'The Human Spider' who excretes web-like substances from his anus, and 'Moose-Boy', who has no obvious super powers at all, other than his own theme tune. There was also a reference to Batman,saying that he was The Raven with a body honed to perfection and his name being Bobby something.

Reception

Initial reviews for episode one were mixed. There were enthusiastic reviews in The Guardian, Heat magazine and The Times; a review in the Daily Record described it as "inventive, exhilarating, rude and sometimes astonishing sketch show combines sharp writing and performing with sci-fi standard special effects to create a whole new breed of futuristic comedy". [ [http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/entertainment-catch-all/2008/08/23/don-t-miss-86908-20708084/ Daily Record] ] However, elsewhere it was not so well received; Metro gave it one star whereas a review in The Scotsman described it as having "agonisingly poor material". [ [http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1537245/television_review_bobbys_your_man_for_quackhunting/ The Scotsman - Television Review: Bobby's Your Man for Quack-Hunting] ]

The programme's launch episode's ratings, however, were very good, gaining 546,000 (a 3.5% share), the highest ever audience for the launch of a comedy on BBC Three. Despite this the second episode and beyond dropped off of the channel's top 10 weekly ratings according to BARB statistics. [ [http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/2008/08/viewers_go_through_the_wrong_door.html Broadcast: Viewers opt for The Wrong Door] ]

Further reading

*Cheshire, Jack (7 August 2008). " [http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/technology/onlocation/2008/08/on_location_the_wrong_door.html On Location: The Wrong Door] ", "Broadcast", EMAP. Retrieved on 19 August 2008.

References

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wrongdoor The Wrong Door] official site
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/tv/wk35/thu.shtml#thu_wrongdoor BBC press release] announcing the series
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