Here We Go (TV series)

Here We Go
Also known as	Pandemonium
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Tom Basden
Written by	Tom Basden
Directed by	Will Sinclair (series) Ella Jones (pilot)
Starring	Jim Howick Katherine Parkinson Alison Steadman Tom Basden Tori Allen-Martin Freya Parks Mica Ricketts Jude Morgan-Collie
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	14
Production
Executive producer	Josh Cole
Producer	Tom Jordan
Running time	29 minutes
Original release
Network	BBC One
Release	30 December 2020 (2020-12-30)
Release	29 April 2022 (2022-04-29) – present

Here We Go is a British sitcom created and written by Tom Basden for the BBC. It stars Jim Howick, Katherine Parkinson, Alison Steadman and Tori Allen-Martin alongside Basden.^[1] The pilot episode, originally titled Pandemonium, was broadcast on 30 December 2020,^[2][3][4] commissioned as part of the long-running Comedy Playhouse strand.^[5][6]

Series 1 was broadcast in 2022. In February 2023, the show was recommissioned for two further series.^[7] The second series began on 2 February 2024.^[8]

Premise

Set in the real town of Bedford, from the point of view of the handheld camera of teenage boy Sam, and flashbacks to less chaotic times, the dysfunctional and eccentric family's trials and tribulations are documented in a raw, uncompromising way.

Cast

Main

• Jim Howick as Paul Jessop, Sam and Amy's uncool father, and Rachel's husband
• Katherine Parkinson as Rachel Jessop, Sam and Amy's neurotic mother, Robin's sister, and Paul's wife
• Alison Steadman as Sue Jessop, Paul's jovial mother
• Tom Basden as Robin, Rachel's downtrodden brother
• Tori Allen-Martin as Cherry, Robin's vain fiancée
• Freya Parks as Amy Jessop, Paul and Rachel's sardonic daughter, Sam's sister, and Maya's girlfriend
• Mica Ricketts as Maya, Amy's girlfriend
• Jack Christou (2020) and Jude Morgan-Collie (2022–) as Sam Jessop, Paul and Rachel's stoic son, Amy's brother and the cameraman

Recurring and guest

• Ed Kear as Dean, Robin's surly mate
• Jon Furlong as Jelson, Robin's friend
• Esen Hurer as Kaye, Cherry's friend
• Katy Wix as Kim Sinclair, a classmate of Rachel's from school (season 1 episode 2)
• Mark Williams as Frank, a local painter with a conceited attitude towards his art (season 1 episode 3)
• Tim Key as Ray, a former Olympic teammate of Paul's (season 1 episode 4)
• Vincent Riotta as Alf, Sue's new boyfriend who's unenthusiastic about how she treats their relationship (season 1 episode 5)
• Camille Ucan as Diane, an estate agent suspicious of Paul's undercover activities (season 1 episode 5)
• Ninette Finch as Bren, a reticent friend of Sue's (season 1 episode 5)
• Mark Cox as a policeman (season 1 episode 6)
• Gia Hunter as Leah, a potential love interest of Sam (season 1 episode 6)
• Brydie Service as Fara, a student on Rachel's course (season 2 episode 1)
• Aidan Cheng as Xiaoming, a student on Rachel's course (season 2 episode 1)
• Harry Enfield as Edgar (season 2 episode 2)
• Yvette Robinson as Annie (season 2 episode 2)
• Olivia Isaacs as Cass, a friend of Sam's (season 2 episode 2)
• Ned Porteous as Ugly Chris, a chef and friend of Cherry (season 2 episode 3)
• Andrew Brooke as Greg (season 2 episode 3)
• Paul Longley as Fozzie (season 2 episode 3)
• Sophie Wu as Zoe (season 2 episode 3)
• Bobby Lockwood as Carl (season 2 episode 4)
• Dolly Wells as Penny, Rachel's sister (season 2 episode 5)
• Simon Farnaby as Boyd, Penny's husband (season 2 episodes 5 and 6)
• Bonnie Adair as Sara (season 2 episode 5)
• John Atterbury as John (season 2 episode 5)
• Elena Dinca as Katya (season 2 episode 6)
• Warren Caswell as Chief Superintendent (season 2 episode 6)
• Patrick Miller as Ben (season 2 episode 6)
• James Benson as Vicar (season 2 episode 6)
• Jax James as Stanley (season 2 episode 6)
• Preston Thomas-Gillespie as Adam (Christmas Special)
• Alex Macqueen as Dermot (Christmas Special)
• Abbie Murphy as Dr. Hirst (Christmas Special)
• Ruby Wallin as Tia (Christmas Special)
• Celeste Wong as Astrid (Christmas Special)
• Mark Davison as Mike (Christmas Special)

Episodes

Series	Episodes		Originally released		Ave. UK viewers (millions)
			First released	Last released
1	Pilot		30 December 2020 (2020-12-30)		TBA
	6		22 April 2022 (2022-04-22)	3 June 2022 (2022-06-03)	TBA
2	Special		22 December 2023 (2023-12-22)		TBA
	6		2 February 2024 (2024-02-02)	8 March 2024 (2024-03-08)	TBA

Series 1 (2022)

No. overall	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)[a]
Pilot
1	–	"Pandemonium"	Ella Jones	Tom Basden	30 December 2020 (2020-12-30)	3.40[5]
15-year-old Sam has taken to filming his dysfunctional family as part of school coursework, and captures them as they celebrate what they hope will be a fantastic 2020 – a holiday to the United States, his mother Rachel's new business, family rascal Robin settling down with his haughty fiancée, and family matriarch Sue finally getting her hip replacement. The realities of the arrival of coronavirus are realised, and documented, that October, when Rachel's determination to give the family a holiday takes them to drudgy, overcast Margate, Kent; the pressure grows and leads to bizarre outcomes.
Series
2	1	"Mum's Birthday Voucher"	Will Sinclair	Tom Basden	29 April 2022 (2022-04-29)	3.05[9]
A Wowcher for Rachel's birthday to a theme park ends up being consistently forgotten about for six months, when the family decide to use it on the last day it is valid. Sue makes matters worse by bringing the dog the neighbours entrusted to her to look after for them. Amy seeks misguided relationship advice from Robin, whose relationship with Cherry is off once again.
3	2	"Amy's Job Interview"	Will Sinclair	Tom Basden	29 April 2022 (2022-04-29) (online) 6 May 2022 (2022-05-06) (broadcast)	1.68[10]
Paul's decision to join his brother-in-law Robin in trying to keep fit goes awry as he tries to boost his ego through a career on YouTube, while Rachel believes she has put her foot in it when she realises that the boss of the company daughter Amy is interviewing for is a stuck-up classmate from school.
4	3	"Cherry's Salsa Class"	Will Sinclair	Tom Basden	29 April 2022 (2022-04-29) (online) 13 May 2022 (2022-05-13) (broadcast)	N/A
Rachel is determined to fix the family portrait, believing the uppity artist they hired has deliberately aged her. Paul and Amy end up competing for the same job. Robin and Cherry's salsa classes get off to an underwhelming start, while Sue's surprise "gift" of a pool provides both entertainment and horror.
5	4	"Dad's Bronze Medal"	Will Sinclair	Tom Basden	29 April 2022 (2022-04-29) (online) 20 May 2022 (2022-05-20) (broadcast)	N/A
Paul's annual teasing by Ray, a former Olympic teammate who went to Beijing over him, leads to the family encouraging him to confront him over their beliefs it was done through underhand tactics – not helped by Rachel's former romantic encounters with him. Amy becomes concerned about Maya's stalker-cum-friend at uni, Sue's resolve is tested when she decides to become a twitcher, and Sam gets distracted from his filming.
6	5	"Granny's New Boyfriend"	Will Sinclair	Tom Basden	29 April 2022 (2022-04-29) (online) 27 May 2022 (2022-05-27) (broadcast)	N/A
The family's hesitance towards Sue's new boyfriend, Alf, turns into approval when they discover he is the owner of a local Italian restaurant with the bonus of free meals – although that is not strictly a mutual arrangement. Amy's troubles with her on-off relationship with Maya rear their head again, Rachel attempts to improve her rusty Italian, and Robin ropes Paul into going undercover at the estate agent's he believes Cherry's new boyfriend works at.
7	6	"Our Holiday in Scotland"	Will Sinclair	Tom Basden	29 April 2022 (2022-04-29) (online) 3 June 2022 (2022-06-03) (broadcast)	1.42[11]
Taking the family holiday to Scotland already proved contentious, but especially when it is revealed it is so Robin can try a last-ditch attempt to win Cherry back at her wedding. Paul and Rachel become strained when he learns she was behind the whole thing, Amy grows resolutely against her mother's interference in her life and what she should do with it, and in the end it looks like romance could be on the cards for more than Sam behind the lens.

Series 2 (2024)

No. overall	No. in series	Title [12]	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)
Special
8	–	"Mum's Classic Family Christmas"	Will Sinclair	Tom Basden	22 December 2023 (2023-12-22)	1.72[13]
Rachel's desperation to have a traditional family Christmas, as when the kids were little, is threatened on multiple fronts, with Rachel blocking out Amy and Sam's protestations that they are too grown up for it all, Sue's unwelcome decision to put Rachel and Paul's names forward for some festive volunteering, and Robin's determination to ensure that Cherry's ex, Ian, doesn't get too close to her on their unable-to-be-cancelled honeymoon.
Series
9	1	"Dad's Old Boat"	Will Sinclair	Tom Basden	2 February 2024 (2024-02-02)	2.13[14]
Sue's desperation to downsize leads to a clear-out, and there's something for everyone; earwax-stricken Paul, in particular, is attracted to a ratty old dinghy he endeavours to take on the water to lift Amy's spirits, for whom England pales in comparison to Norway and sailing amongst its spectacular fjords. Insecure about her age and feeling out of place on her university course, Rachel overcompensates with that traditional student favourite: drinking games. Robin flounders in his attempts to become Cherry's saviour by trying to convince her ex to sign their divorce papers.
10	2	"Granny's Street Fayre"	Will Sinclair	Tom Basden	2 February 2024 (2024-02-02) (online) 9 February 2024 (2024-02-09) (broadcast)	N/A
Sue's concerted efforts to embed herself in the community results in her organising the annual street fayre, alongside ensuring she's ensconced in the family home, distracting Rachel from essay procrastinating by her attempts to (re)organise everything. Paul is on the hunt for a rogue dog-walker allowing their mutt to defecate on the driveway, Robin's big plans to sell ice cream at the event is upended by his vehicle choice, Sam is led a merry dance by a girl whose singing is one of the few attractions, and Amy irritates Maya with her decision to sell all her pre-Norway trip junk to passersby.
11	3	"Amy's Valentine Flowers"	Will Sinclair	Tom Basden	2 February 2024 (2024-02-02) (online) 16 February 2024 (2024-02-16) (broadcast)	N/A
Paul's attempts to ingratiate himself with senior colleagues sees him roped into a five-a-side football game; his being confined to the bench welcome, disguising his complete disinterest in the sport. Rachel tries to assuage her guilt over forgetting Valentine's Day by organising a homecooked meal that's actually edible, while suppressing her jealousy over a mysterious romantic card that's arrived for him. Maya gifting Amy a large bunch of flowers sparks suspicions over her motivations, as Robin finds it difficult to propose to Cherry, his plan proving more difficult to deploy than anticipated.
12	4	"Robin's Best Man"	Will Sinclair	Tom Basden	2 February 2024 (2024-02-02) (online) 23 February 2024 (2024-02-23) (broadcast)	N/A
Rachel inveigles her way into being Robin's best man, but finds she's bitten off more than she can chew organising a hag do for ten people, almost each with their own specific demand for what and where it should be; the phrase 'off-grid' catches everyone off-guard, especially Rachel... Paul freaks everyone out with his equipment resembling human torsos to practice CPR and the Heimlich manoeuvre outside of job training, while Amy is deeply preoccupied and frustrated by Maya's unwillingness to come out to her parents, as is Sue with her complaints over the composition of Britain's birdlife.
13	5	"Cherry's Wedding Dress"	Will Sinclair	Tom Basden	2 February 2024 (2024-02-02) (online) 1 March 2024 (2024-03-01) (broadcast)	N/A
The arrival of Rachel's pretentious sister and her arrogantly aloof husband has everyone's hackles up, with Rachel's clumsy and frenzied attempts to pretend she's aware of what non-immediate family are up to hitting a snag when they all head off to visit a relative they don't know in a care home they can't locate. Sue's gift of £15,000 from her house sale to Paul ends up with Amy's wishes to use it to buy a flat with Maya corrupted into Robin scouring Bulgaria to snap up multiple dilapidated, ex-mining properties on the cheap. Cherry frustrates all with the travails of her wedding dress hunting.
14	6	"Mum's New Tattoo"	Will Sinclair	Tom Basden	2 February 2024 (2024-02-02) (online) 8 March 2024 (2024-03-08) (broadcast)	N/A
Amy's new tattoo of Maya's name in Sanskrit inspires Rachel to copy with Paul's, but her low pain threshold impedes her efforts, which act as a distraction from her exam revising, in turn procrastinated by helping Sam bone up for his. Paul's worries about Robin and Cherry's wedding clashing with his police graduation are supplanted by issues caused by his head being too large for the standard issue helmet, while Robin's friend Dean foolishly decides a shotgun deserves to be present at the reception. Sue can't handle moving out of the Jessop household, and has a surprise in store.

Series 3

A third series of seven episodes will air from early 2025. It was confirmed in mid-October 2024 that the third series would begin filming later that month.^[15]

Production

Pandemonium

The show's pilot, Pandemonium, was confirmed as part of the announcement of the BBC's 2020 Christmas slate of programming in November 2020,^[16][17] having been commissioned earlier that autumn.^[18]

The pilot was shot over six days, and involved finding crew that were experienced in dealing with COVID precautions, which producer Tom Jordan admitted was initially difficult due to the amount of productions that were restarting at the time of filming; he said that a crew "who had worked on Covid-safe sets before was very helpful indeed as the masks and social distancing was second nature to them". Cast and crew were subject to a 'coloured band system', with different colour bands assigned to different members to ascribe how stringent COVID testing and precautions they should be subjected to. Cast and crew "wore masks at all times" and had their temperatures checked each day by COVID supervisors.^[18]

The show being filmed from the perspective of the Jessops' teenage son, Sam, and his handheld camera, meant that the scene at the end of the pilot involving the crashing of the family's car off a cliff onto the beach below would only have one take available, and "required incredibly detailed planning for weeks before". Director Ella Jones said this way of filming was something the crew "wanted to embrace", but had to balance the "home-video look" with ensuring it worked well with "comedic timing", and the expectations of the "broad BBC1 audience" meaning the show needed to be "both distinctive but also accessible". This meant "second camera perspective[s]" were added into the narrative at some points that were not as restrictive to what the audience saw, with the aim overall for "choreographed chaos" to "create something that felt amateur and spontaneous, thus enabling our audience to believe the home video conceit but not be distracted by it".^[18]

Here We Go

The pilot's commission to series was announced in November 2021.^[19] Basden explained that the premise of the series was inspired by his grandfather filming their family holidays as a child, and the "videos were often very funny by accident", and that he "liked the idea of a family talking to the camera and being aware that they were being filmed as it puts them under even more pressure to project positivity while everything is going wrong around them". He said that he had "wanted to write a sitcom about a family going on holiday for some time, as I think there's something really funny and high stakes about people under pressure to have a good time together, and the stress and anger this tends to produce instead".^[19]

The show's production team won an award at the Broadcast Tech Innovation Awards in 2022, with the Excellence in Audio Post-Production (Scripted) being awarded to Joe Cochrane and Elliot Bowell of Splice, who did post-production for Here We Go.^[20]

The second series was due to air in late 2023 but was pushed to early 2024.^[7][8]

Reception

Viewership

The first series averaged 1.4 million viewers on the night of broadcast, rising to 1.7 million with on-demand viewership.^[21]

Critical reception

Flora Carr reviewing on behalf of the Radio Times called the pilot episode "a lockdown comedy special with gallows humour" and gave it three stars out of five,^[22] while Ed Cumming for The Independent called it "a valiant effort at exploring our current predicament" and gave it four out of five stars.^[23]

Rachel Sigee, reviewing for the i gave series four out of five stars.^[24] Benji Wilson for The Daily Telegraph rated the series five stars out of five.^[25]

Broadcast's Miriam McHugh said the show was "a criminally underrated gem" that "didn't get the credit due when it was released, but is an entertaining entrant to the mockumentary canon".^[26]

References

1. 28-day consolidated

1. "When is BBC comedy Pandemonium on TV?, 10 December 2020". Radio Times. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
2. Tess Lamacraft (19 April 2022). "Here We Go — release date, trailer, cast, plot, characters and everything you need to know about new comedy". whattowatch.com.
3. Hastings, Christobel (20 April 2022). "BBC's Here We Go: watch the new hilarious trailer". Stylist.
4. Carr, Flora (26 April 2022). "Here We Go release date: Cast, trailer and latest news for BBC sitcom". Radio Times. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
5. "Genres - 28-day consolidated (December 2020)". Broadcastnow. 26 February 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
6. Kahn, Ellie (15 February 2022). "BBC1 takes Comedy Playhouse to series". Broadcastnow. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
7. Richardson, Jay (14 February 2023). "Here We Go returning for two more series on BBC One". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
8. "Special guest stars revealed for Here We Go series two". BBC Media Centre. 17 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
9. "Genre overview tables: April consolidated". Broadcastnow. 7 July 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
10. "Genre overview tables: May consolidated". Broadcastnow. 3 August 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
11. "Genre overview tables: June consolidated". Broadcastnow. 9 September 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
12. "BBC One - Here We Go - Episode guide". BBC Programmes. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
13. "Genre overview tables (December 2023 - 28-day consolidated)". Broadcastnow. 7 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
14. Price, Stephen (1 May 2024). "Issue-led dramas follow different paths". Broadcastnow. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
15. Adams, Tim (13 October 2024). "Alison Steadman on the final Gavin & Stacey: 'People say to me in the street: "Can't wait for Christmas Day!"'". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 October 2024. Well, the week after next, I start seven new episodes of Here We Go, for the BBC, which I love.
16. Goldbart, Max (24 November 2020). "BBC Xmas slate features Miranda and natural history trio". Broadcastnow. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
17. "Pandemonium sitcom coming to BBC One". British Comedy Guide. 24 November 2020. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
18. "Bringing order to Pandemonium". Broadcastnow. 4 January 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
19. Richardson, Jay (20 September 2021). "Tom Basden's sitcom Pandemonium ordered by BBC". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
20. Miller, Max (30 November 2022). "Broadcast Tech Innovation Awards 2022: The Winners". Broadcastnow. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
21. Kahn, Ellie (14 February 2023). "BBC doubles down on Here We Go". Broadcastnow. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
22. "BBC One's Pandemonium review: A lockdown comedy special with gallows humour by Flora Carr, 30 December 2020". Radio Times. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
23. "Pandemonium review: BBC comedy is a valiant effort at exploring our current predicament by Ed Cummings, 31 December 2020". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
24. Sigee, Rachel (29 April 2022). "Here We Go, BBC One, review: Katherine Parkinson and Alison Steadman are joyous in this warm hug of a sitcom". iNews. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
25. Wilson, Benji (29 April 2022). "Here We Go: Review". The Telegraph. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
26. "Broadcast's shows of the year". Broadcastnow. 20 December 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2023.

External links

• Here We Go at BBC Online
• Here We Go at IMDb
• Here We Go at British Comedy Guide