James R | On 22, Jan 2017

Witless returns for Season 2 this Wednesday, as Leanne and Rhona go on the run again.

The BBC Three comedy follows Leanne (Kerry Howard – Him & Her) and Rhona (Zoe Boyle – Downton Abbey), two ordinary flatmates whose lives are thrown into disarray after being forced into witness protection.

The unwitting (Leanne) and uptight (Rhona) pair are given new identities and left to fend for themselves in a grubby flat in Swindon – where two teenage underlings are on their tails, including the self-styled “DJ Sound as F***” and “Appraisal”, sent by a criminal gang. After becoming deeply entangled in the criminal world they were trying to escape, Season 1 ended on a cliff-hanger. Season 2 kicks off with the witless wonders facing their biggest scrape yet: with their safe house no longer so safe, and unable to trust the police, Leanne and Rhona are forced to flee once more.

The five-episode season was commissioned by Damian Kavanagh, Controller of BBC Three, and Gregor Sharp and Kate Daughton, Commissioning Editors, BBC Comedy. The series will be produced by Objective Fiction, part of Objective Media Group. Andrew Chaplin returns as director, and executive producers are Ben Farrell, Joe Tucker and Lloyd Woolf for Objective Fiction.

“Witless has proved an instant smash hit for Three,” comments Shane Allen, Controller of Comedy Commissioning. “The hooky narrative, superb performances and filmic execution landed it in the sweet spot for audiences who built and grew across the run. The cliff-hanger ending makes for an equally hilarious and gripping second series.”

“The next five episodes will be taking the story to a new level of thrills, twists and funnies that made series one so distinct,” adds Farrell.

So what can we expect in Season 2?

“More drama, action and great comedic set ups,” says Kerry. “The stakes are higher for Leanne and Rhona now, so the comedy acts as a gentle relief from the tension.”

“Yeah, series two has a lot more urgency I think. The girls take matters into their own hands a lot more and the stakes go up as we’re introduced to more gang members who are BLOODY SCARY” agrees Boyle.

More specifically, Joe Tucker and Lloyd Woolf elaborate on the above: “Without wishing to give too much away, expect capers, thrills, disguises, guns, contextually justified violence, a caravan break-in and a brief but impactful shot of testicles.”

“It can be a bit tricky [to write] because, unlike a traditional sitcom, the ‘sit’ keeps evolving and, unlike a traditional thriller, this has been commissioned by the comedy department of a major broadcaster and certain obligations come with that,” they continue. “We’ve gotten pretty used to writing the Witless tone now so the real hard work is trying to make the story work, and trying to deliver as many twists as we credibly can. But it’s not hard work like real hard work – more like doing a proper bastard of a crossword or playing a particularly gnarly game of chess.”

All five episodes of Witless Season 2 will be released as a box set on BBC iPlayer at 10am on Wednesday 25th January. All of Season 1 is available for binge-watching until 17th April 2017 here.

 
For more on what’s coming soon to BBC Three, click here, or keep up-to-date with what’s new and worth watching on the online TV channel with our BBC Three reviews.

 

BBC Three renews Witless for second season

24th May 2016

BBC Three has renewed Witless for a second season.

The Kerry Howard and Zoe Boyle-fronted comedy, from Objective Fiction, debuted on the online TV channel earlier this year, follows Leanne (Howard – Him & Her) and Rhona (Boyle – Downton Abbey), two ordinary flatmates whose lives are thrown into disarray after being forced into witness protection.

“While flatmate sitcoms have become something of a familiar TV trope, Witless adds into the mix the extra ingredient of quasi-danger which separates it from the pack,” we wrote in our review of the first season. “The writers Joe Tucker (Horrible Histories) and Lloyd Woolf have worked together before on Big Bad World, and the first episode of their new venture is promising, due to the contrasting comedy double acts of pursued and pursuers.”

The unwitting (Leanne) and uptight (Rhona) pair are given new identities and left to fend for themselves in a grubby flat in Swindon – where two teenage underlings are on their tails, including the self-styled “DJ Sound as F***” and “Appraisal”, sent by a criminal gang.

After becoming deeply entangled in the criminal world they were trying to escape, Season 1 ended on a cliff-hanger. Season 2 kicks off with the witless wonders facing their biggest scrape yet: with their safe house no longer so safe, and unable to trust the police, Leanne and Rhona are on the run, again.

Howard says: “I’m beyond thrilled to get the chance to play the wonderfully playful puppy that is Leanne again. It’s such a pleasure to be working with everyone on this show – it has been a dream job and Zoe Boyle is a joy to work with. I cannot wait to read the scripts to see what Rhona and Leanne have to deal with this time – who knows what our mastermind writers Lloyd and Joe will come up with for this next series! They have absolutely nailed the art of a cliff-hanger. Let the drama and comedy roll on.”

The new run of five episodes was commissioned by Damian Kavanagh, Controller of BBC Three, and Gregor Sharp and Kate Daughton, Commissioning Editors, BBC Comedy. The series will again be produced by Objective Fiction, part of Objective Media Group. Andrew Chaplin returns as director, and executive producers are Ben Farrell, Joe Tucker and Lloyd Woolf for Objective Fiction.

Shane Allen, Controller of Comedy Commissioning, adds: “Witless has proved an instant smash hit for Three. The hooky narrative, superb performances and filmic execution landed it in the sweet spot for audiences who built and grew across the run.”

Witless joins a growing number of BBC Three originals that have been commissioned for new seasons, including Asian Provocateur (Season 2), Cuckoo (Season 4 and 5) and more new documentaries from Stacey Dooley and Reggie Yates.

For more on what’s on BBC Three, click here.

Photo: Objective Productions / Chris Brock

Add to Watchlist