95 reviews
Really surprised that this has so many panning it. It's different, funny, with the two 'mains' a delight. Gone to a lot of trouble with the costumes/settings. It's delightfully daft. Not a classic (akin to Porridge) but better than many so called sit-coms, and certainly equal to Ghosts (which I also enjoyed) which has better critiques? Frankly I am happy to have this 'daftness ' on the screen at the moment.....
- timothy-price-794-581328
- Mar 9, 2022
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- mary-wilkinson1
- Mar 11, 2022
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A very good take on the mockery of witch-hunting back then anyway. It's witty and funny. You can see the plot will thicken as you warm to the characters. Good comedy for adults which is great. Looking forward to more episodes 😀
I watched it in one evening and it didn't send me to sleep.
I'm still very much awake. A state of being which appears to be of importance to some other reviewers.
I can't wait for IMDb to catch up with who appears in each episode, since I'm useless at remembering names of actors and the names of other stuff I've seen them in. Definitely a few from Ghosts, at least one League of Gentlemen, and I'm sure I spied a Kurrupt Fm player in there too.
Overall, a pleasant evening. Thanks BBC.
I'm still very much awake. A state of being which appears to be of importance to some other reviewers.
I can't wait for IMDb to catch up with who appears in each episode, since I'm useless at remembering names of actors and the names of other stuff I've seen them in. Definitely a few from Ghosts, at least one League of Gentlemen, and I'm sure I spied a Kurrupt Fm player in there too.
Overall, a pleasant evening. Thanks BBC.
A slow start, but stick with it. The subject matter didn't grip me to begin with but the story develops to becomes less about the situation and more about the characters. Some great one-liners and a super cast too.
- adamgwyndavies
- Mar 10, 2022
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I would say that I cannot understand why some reviews are absolutely panning this wonderful funny, and original comedy. It is quite clear that those who have spent time writing these incensed reviews have absolutely no sense of humour, and completely missed the gag. How on earth can it be labelled woke!? The cameo in After Life 3 introduced me to Tim Key, and this fulfilled my expectations. Wonderfully funny show!
- nickegoldsmith
- Mar 12, 2022
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I don't like reviewing after only one episode, so I may update this later...
It's the middle of the 17th century and witch mania is rampant. An itinerant and somewhat incompetent witchfinder happens upon an opportunity to advance in his profession and so takes a suspected witch off to see the Witchfinder General.
If the first episode is any indication of things to come, we're in for a lot of silliness. This isn't exactly brilliant comedy, but it's pleasant enough and may well improve over time. There are worse ways to spend half an hour.
If the first episode is any indication of things to come, we're in for a lot of silliness. This isn't exactly brilliant comedy, but it's pleasant enough and may well improve over time. There are worse ways to spend half an hour.
- trademarcdesigns
- Mar 8, 2022
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A lot of reviews are taking this comedy too seriously... It's akin to the BBC series Ghosts and a comedy of errors and sillyness.
The cast is from some of the best British comedy over the last 20 years and the Cameos work perfectly.
Love it.
The cast is from some of the best British comedy over the last 20 years and the Cameos work perfectly.
Love it.
- darwiniantheory-264-356183
- Mar 8, 2022
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"Hunderby" it's not but it has its moments and the cast is top notch. Certainly worth watching. It's truly astounding how many reviewers here seem to get bent out of shape by the number of black and Asian actors in the cast. What a nasty little biggoted country the UK has become.
- aluntaylor
- Mar 10, 2022
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In a 2020 period drama set in India, the BBC trumpeted the fact it had an all Asian cast playing the Asian characters. (No white actors)
When it comes to period dramas/comedies set in Britain, the BBC is quick to change the ethnicity of the characters.
This is inconsistent and a double standard.
Personally, I love realism in period dramas/comedies with appropriate settings, casting and costumes for the period and location.
I notice one person calling people they disagree with "idiots" - a typical "cancel culture" response. Please remember, everyone is entitled to their own view.
This is inconsistent and a double standard.
Personally, I love realism in period dramas/comedies with appropriate settings, casting and costumes for the period and location.
I notice one person calling people they disagree with "idiots" - a typical "cancel culture" response. Please remember, everyone is entitled to their own view.
Really looking forward to this, but it's turning out to be such a disappointment. The script just isn't funny and the woke casting is completely ridiculous and pointless. The BBC haven't had a decent comedy for well over a decade now, maybe they need to look back and remember how it used to be done.
- drumdrum77
- Mar 27, 2022
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The Witchfinder
It was a great series from start to finish, brilliant script, and fabulous comic timing, there was a real warmth to the characters and wonderful cameo performances from so many well known actors, and you could see everyone was having a great time.
It seemed complete so it would be challenging to create a second series, however they managed it with Upstart Crow, maybe that was more farce and repetitive but I would love if they could.
The two main leads Tim & Daisy clicked from the start, I shouldn't make a comparison but she reminds me of Dawn French or maybe it's just the delivery, these two were great and the whole ensemble delivered in spades.
This was brand new comedy, brand new ideas and a brave project. I'm giving this a firm 8 outta 10 for really making me laugh, I think people will warm to this but like anything new, people are supercritical witch is very unfair lol.
It was a great series from start to finish, brilliant script, and fabulous comic timing, there was a real warmth to the characters and wonderful cameo performances from so many well known actors, and you could see everyone was having a great time.
It seemed complete so it would be challenging to create a second series, however they managed it with Upstart Crow, maybe that was more farce and repetitive but I would love if they could.
The two main leads Tim & Daisy clicked from the start, I shouldn't make a comparison but she reminds me of Dawn French or maybe it's just the delivery, these two were great and the whole ensemble delivered in spades.
This was brand new comedy, brand new ideas and a brave project. I'm giving this a firm 8 outta 10 for really making me laugh, I think people will warm to this but like anything new, people are supercritical witch is very unfair lol.
- martimusross
- Mar 13, 2022
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The objections to the authenticity of the cast aside, this is an original idea that's well developed and produced. It could be funnier, but the absurdity of the situation itself facilitates humorous dialog and the actors are great, especially Daisy May Cooper. It's not a 9 or 10, but IMO it isn't a total dud either.
- supermellowcali
- Mar 16, 2022
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You would think after 10 minutes of rehearsal the cast would have mentioned there was no funny bits which kind of what makes a comedy. There is much dialogue but absolutely nothing funny about it. It is like watching the proverbial car crash to see how bad it it might become.
Someone should be sacked and the writers should return their fee.
Someone should be sacked and the writers should return their fee.
- seagreen-23618
- Mar 16, 2022
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I noticed after the first episode it was made by the writers of Partridge. My review might change after the whole series but atm I'm finding it very average. I did laugh out loud at the "it be****s with the word C" bit though.
I like Tim Key and the lass from This country (a great show) but they need to step it up through the series (starting episode 3 now, as I say, this review may change after all 6 rpisodes).
I like Tim Key and the lass from This country (a great show) but they need to step it up through the series (starting episode 3 now, as I say, this review may change after all 6 rpisodes).
I can understand some of the comments on here but some reviewers are taking this series out of context...bear with me and it'll make sense! The writers of this series have been writing for coogan for 30 years now. This was written 10 years ago for Coogan 10 years ago. He's been busy doing the Saville biopic for about 3 years now (covis delays) so they stuck in Tim key instead. Key is usually excellent but as this was written for coogan it doesn't work well. Now...watch 5 mins and imagine it was coogan as the main character. This would have been brilliant!
- anandpsharma-39359
- Mar 24, 2022
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It's nice for a new comedy to make our TVs that's not American. It has a touch of Monty Python about it. I really enjoyed it. Good comedy actors and good script.
The Gibbons brothers finally break out of their Partridge prism and give us this strange 17th Century witchfinding road trip. It's bristling with amazing comedy faces but never quite finds a tonal constant between dark humour and dramatic weight. Key & Cooper make a solid dual lead though and I did gradually warm to the vibe over the episodes. This may end up as a forgotten curio, and I think was unfairly drubbed, but for fans of comedy character actor spotting and dark puritan grifting it's worth a gander.
- owen-watts
- Apr 23, 2022
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Dunno who that bell end was slagging this off because of Brexit - but he deserves to go live in France along with their humour vacuum coz this is brilliant comedy. British ribaldry at its best...
- Colonelpotts
- Mar 12, 2022
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This show gets a bad rap which comes down to the fact that it's a silly comedy. It's not TOO silly, it's just too silly for people who don't like silly. So many people gave up on it very quickly, not appreciating how hard it is to make a silly comedy that isn't overly-silly. It's a fine line.
It has some special moments and some good jokes. There were moments where it came close to annoying me, but managed to back off just in time.
The racial makeup of the cast was a bit jarring since it's unrealistic for 1600s Britain. It wasn't terrible and I wouldn't even bring it up, but it's unfair to the youth and those not-yet born to give them a distorted idea of Britain's past demographics. If people of African and Asian descent were in Britain at that time, they were an extreme exception and mostly within the upper classes, as peasants and labourers didn't have the luxury of traveling the world. History lesson over.
We neither needed the BBC to tell us how absurd the whole witch hunting thing was and how brutally women were treated by the Puritans and Calvinists, but we got it anyway.
Despite my criticisms, I'm not trashing it, and that's saying a lot.
It has some special moments and some good jokes. There were moments where it came close to annoying me, but managed to back off just in time.
The racial makeup of the cast was a bit jarring since it's unrealistic for 1600s Britain. It wasn't terrible and I wouldn't even bring it up, but it's unfair to the youth and those not-yet born to give them a distorted idea of Britain's past demographics. If people of African and Asian descent were in Britain at that time, they were an extreme exception and mostly within the upper classes, as peasants and labourers didn't have the luxury of traveling the world. History lesson over.
We neither needed the BBC to tell us how absurd the whole witch hunting thing was and how brutally women were treated by the Puritans and Calvinists, but we got it anyway.
Despite my criticisms, I'm not trashing it, and that's saying a lot.
- creativedoom
- Jun 7, 2022
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Take two awful actors / comedians add a diabolical script and this is what you get, tripe! British comedy used to be the best in the world, now it's easily the most pathetic.
I thought the witch finder was a brilliant watch! Light hearted comedy is just what is needed at this moment in time! Most of the people leaving reviews on this seems to be taking this too serious and forgetting that the series is a sitcom. I absolutely love Daisy May Cooper, she is brilliant! Thank you for coming back to our screens! I recognised quite a lot of actors who have been in previous shows that I found really funny and it was nice to see them all on one show together! I wish there was a second series and ultimately I am sad it is over! Please ignore the ones leaving a bad review and give it a watch, personally I think they are taking the show to seriously and missed all of the jokes on this show.
- louisafernandes
- Mar 9, 2022
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The brilliance of the actors and talent involved in this is completely squandered. Stath let's flats, this country and Partridge are brilliant because they are pinpoint accurate in their portrayals of a time and place. This sadly flops.
- DominosthroughAgrate
- Mar 26, 2022
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In 1645, a struggling witchfinder seeks glory. Stars Tim Key. A new sitcom which is adequate to pass the time but is not really funny.
Key is very good and look out for some familiar faces. The plot is interesting but it's just not funny enough for a comedy.
Key is very good and look out for some familiar faces. The plot is interesting but it's just not funny enough for a comedy.
Quite funny, lots of Ricky Gervais The Office type humour. The ridiculously multicultural cast detracts from this though. This isn't the way to be inclusive.
- croogle-59829
- Mar 23, 2022
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