The Cleaner is a British television sitcom that premiered on BBC One on 10 September 2021.[2] The series is based on the German comedy Der Tatortreiniger ("Crime Scene Cleaner").[1] A second series (with a Christmas special) began airing on 23 December 2022.[3] A third series was announced in January 2024.[4]
| The Cleaner | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Greg Davies[1] |
| Based on | Der Tatortreiniger |
| Written by | Greg Davies |
| Directed by | Tom Marshall Dominic Brigstocke Alex Winckler |
| Starring | Greg Davies |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Vivien Muller-Rommel Ben Caudell Alex Moody |
| Producer | Sam Ward |
| Editors | Gavin Buckley Richard Halladey |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company | Studio Hamburg UK |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One |
| Release | 10 September 2021 – present |
Plot edit
Paul "Wicky" Wickstead, a government-certified cleaning technician, is responsible for the removal of any signs of death, injury or other biohazard debris from crime scenes. In the course of his work, he gets to know a variety of people.
Cast edit
Main edit
- Greg Davies as Paul "Wicky" Wickstead, a crime scene cleaner who visits various people each episode (all episodes)
- Zita Sattar as Ruth, a police officer who is close friends with Wicky. (E1, E4, E6)[5]
Guest cast edit
- Helena Bonham Carter as Sheila. Sheila met her husband in business school; however, after she married him, she found herself bored. Sheila and her husband were married for at least 35 years. One day, after having reached the limit with her husband, she killed him. After meeting Wicky, they planned to go on holiday and then Sheila would turn herself in, but Wicky called the police at the last minute and Sheila was arrested. (E1)[5][6]
- Shobu Kapoor as Neeta, Sheila’s neighbour. She loves to bake and is extremely judgemental to any woman she meets who dislikes or doesn’t do baking. (E1)[5][6]
- Georgie Glen as Mrs Gathernoid, a fan of Terence's work who claims to invite him to an award ceremony, but he sees through her (E2)[5]
- David Mitchell as Terence Redford, a struggling writer who is hostile to Wicky (E2)[5][6]
- Ruth Madeley as Helena, a young woman in a wheelchair who is vegan and has recently broken up with her partner. (E3)[7]
- Stephanie Cole as Vivienne Hosier, an aristocrat who is very proud of her estate, especially her sofa, of which she deems precious to her family history and notes many famous people who sat there (E4)[6]
- Donald Sumpter as Sir James, a close friend of Vivienne’s who is quite traditional. (E4)[6]
- Layton Williams as 'Hosea' (Bernard), a young social media influencer who has an affinity with 1980s’ culture, despite not having seen Back to the Future (E5)[2][8]
- Jo Hartley as Maggie (E6)[5][6]
- Esmonde Cole as Tony
- Barry Castagnola as Weasel
- Sian Gibson as Wicky's sister (Christmas special)
- James Bolam as Wicky's father (Christmas special)
- Robbie Curran as Robert Kendrick (Christmas special)
- Zoe Wanamaker as Lucille, a descendant of a town founder (E12)[6]
Episodes edit
| Series | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 6 | 10 September 2021 | 22 October 2021 | |
| Special | 23 December 2022 | |||
| 2 | 6 | 24 March 2023 | 28 April 2023 | |
Series 1 (2021) edit
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | BBC iPlayer release date | BBC One broadcast | UK viewers (millions)[a][9] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Widow" | Tom Marshall | Greg Davies | 10 September 2021 | 10 September 2021 | 3.42 | |
| Wicky is called to a suburban crime scene where everything is anything but normal. His efforts are impeded by the arrival of an officious neighbour, and then the rather eccentric murderer herself arrives to try and convince him into helping her abscond. | |||||||
| 2 | "The Writer" | Tom Marshall | Greg Davies | 10 September 2021 | 17 September 2021 | N/A (<3.02)[b] | |
| Wicky deals with one of his more tricky clients, a prickly novelist who obsesses over quiet, resistance to unbottling his emotions, the subtleties of a classical author, and the contents of the sandwich in his packed lunch. | |||||||
| 3 | "The Neighbour" | Tom Marshall | Greg Davies | 10 September 2021 | 24 September 2021 | N/A (<2.94)[b] | |
| Wicky is left out in the cold when he's unable to attend his latest crime scene, and meets his match when he meets someone who challenges the values and ways of life he holds dear. | |||||||
| 4 | "The Aristocrat" | Alex Winckler | Greg Davies | 10 September 2021 | 1 October 2021 | 3.24 | |
| Wicky meets the owner of a house where a burglar has died. She tells him of famous visitors who have sat on her couch, including Winston Churchill. | |||||||
| 5 | "The Influencer" | Tom Marshall | Greg Davies | 10 September 2021 | 8 October 2021 | 3.11 | |
| Wicky finds himself reliving his youth when called to clean the den of online influencer Hosea and discovers it's a shrine to the 1980s, before realising said influencer is desperately lacking a father figure (after his parents moved abroad without him when he was 16) and gets enlisted to recreate the crime scene to boost Hosea's flagging profile. | |||||||
| 6 | "The One" | Tom Marshall | Greg Davies | 10 September 2021 | 22 October 2021[c] | N/A (<3.11)[b] | |
| Wicky's next job proves personal, when he learns he knows the owner of the holiday home he's cleaning up – a former girlfriend who left him twenty years ago on his thirtieth birthday. Having been besotted with her, catching up proves an awkward experience, especially as, after Wicky discovers a set of anonymous love letters, both receive some home truths about their time together. | |||||||
Christmas special (2022) edit
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | UK viewers (millions) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | – | "A Clean Christmas" | Dominic Brigstocke | Greg Davies and Ronan Blaney | 23 December 2022[3] | N/A (<3.17)[d] | |
| Wicky is sent to clean up an ice cream parlour on Christmas Day, following the murder of the owner. He plans to attend a raffle at the pub afterwards, but one of the parlour's regular customers gets in his way. | |||||||
Series 2 (2023) edit
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | UK viewers (millions)[a][9] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 1 | "The Transaction" | Tom Marshall | Greg Davies and Meg Salter | 24 March 2023 | 3.04 | |
| 9 | 2 | "The Clown" | Tom Marshall | Greg Davies and Paul Allen | 31 March 2023 | N/A (<2.71)[d] | |
| 10 | 3 | "The Nightshift" | Tom Marshall | Greg Davies | 7 April 2023 | N/A (<2.50)[d] | |
| 11 | 4 | "The Shaman" | Tom Marshall | Greg Davies and Barry Castagnola | 14 April 2023 | N/A (<2.67)[d] | |
| Wicky's latest job, cleaning up after the death of a homeless man, is hampered by the presence of a shaman employed to free spirits from the property, whose obnoxious behaviour compels Wicky to become determined to expose him a fraud. | |||||||
| 12 | 5 | "The Statue" | Tom Marshall | Greg Davies and Mike Wozniak | 21 April 2023 | N/A (<2.50)[d] | |
| Wicky finds himself caught up in a contentious debate around the removal of a statue of a controversial local historical figure after he is employed by the local council to clean up after a protest carried out by a descendent of its subject against the replacement statue of a giant chickpea. | |||||||
| 13 | 6 | "The Dead End" | Dominic Brigstocke | Greg Davies | 28 April 2023 | N/A (<2.55)[d] | |
| After Wicky is called out to rural Wales to clean up after a brutal murder, he begins to re-evaluating his life after a discussion with the undertaker. | |||||||
Series 3 edit
A third series was announced in January 2024 for filming later in the year.[4]
Notes edit
- ^ a b 7-day consolidated, including device viewership and pre-transmission viewing.
- ^ a b c Not reported in the weekly top 15 programmes for four-screen viewer ratings.
- ^ Originally due to be shown on 15 October 2021; following the murder of David Amess MP, this episode was pulled - alongside Have I Got News for You - and replaced with a Miranda repeat.[10]
- ^ a b c d e f Not reported in the weekly top 50 programmes for four-screen viewer ratings.
References edit
- ^ a b Jones, Alice (26 August 2021). "Greg Davies: 'The notion that I'm an adult is just preposterous'". i. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ a b Carr, Flora (31 August 2021). "The Cleaner release date: Guide to BBC One crime scene comedy starring Greg Davies". Radio Times. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ a b Cormack, Morgan (20 December 2022). "The Cleaner Christmas special 2022: release date, cast and latest news for BBC comedy". Radio Times. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
- ^ a b Richardson, Jay (9 January 2024). "Greg Davies' The Cleaner returning to BBC One for a third series". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f "List of cast members". IMDb. 11 September 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g Richards, Will (19 February 2021). "Helena Bonham Carter and David Mitchell to star in Greg Davies' new comedy 'The Cleaner'". NME. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ "Comedy role for Westhoughton actress Ruth Madeley in new BBC sitcom". The Bolton News. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
- ^ Wilson, Chloe (31 August 2021). "Bury actor to appear in new BBC comedy alongside Greg Davies". The Bolton News. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ a b "Most viewed programmes". BARB. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
- ^ O'Connor, Roisin (16 October 2021). "David Amess: Have I Got News for You and The Cleaner pulled from TV schedules after MP's death". The Independent. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
External links edit
- The Cleaner at BBC Online
- The Cleaner at IMDb
- The Cleaner at British Comedy Guide
- The Cleaner at epguides.com
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