Everyone Else Burns

''Everyone Else Burns'' is a British television sitcom made for Channel 4 by JAX Media and Universal International Studios, starring Simon Bird, Kate O'Flynn, Amy James-Kelly, Harry Connor and Morgana Robinson. The first series premiered in January 2023, with a second broadcast in October 2024; all episodes were made available at once on streaming.

Synopsis

A coming-of-age sitcom about a Manchester family who are part of a puritanical Christian sect.

Cast

* Simon Bird as David Lewis, the patriarch of the Lewis family whose passion for keeping his family in line with the scripture of the Order stems from his conspicuous desperation to gain influence in his chapter, usually in overly complex, bizarre fashion that serves instead to distance himself from his wife and children.
* Kate O'Flynn as Fiona Lewis, whose mostly emotionless and servile existence is starting to grate, and - after almost two decades dedicated to her family - tries to explore her own interests and ambitions, uncovering how they and what the misogynistic setup of the Order demands of her are incompatible.
* Amy James-Kelly as Rachel Lewis, the teenage daughter of David and Fiona who is starting to bore of the restrictions imposed on her life and ambitions by the Order - discovering that her attempts to escape the life devoted to a family that is expected of her are very difficult to carry out, and her yearning and exploration for more has pitfalls of its own.
* Harry Connor as Aaron Lewis, the young son of the family whose staunch, fastidiously pernickety adherence to the Order's text word-for-word sees him express disapproval of his family and believe of himself as the most pious among them; this compounds his isolation from others his age, spending his time honing his exceptionally precocious drawing skills instead.
* Morgana Robinson as Melissa, the new, lesbian, provocative neighbour of the Lewises, who aids Fiona's newfound confidence to express herself and discover life outside of the home.
* Ali Khan as Joshua, a teenage boy Rachel meets on her doorstep proselytising, who she comes to fall in love with despite it being forbidden, but has his own storied history with the Order.
* Arsher Ali as Elder Samson, the head of the local chapter of the Order who utilises his power to the fullest extent and rules with an iron fist, demanding pure adherence to the Order's principles and unaccommodating of those who fall short of his edicts.
* Al Roberts as Elder Abijah, whose desire for a more lackadaisical approach to enforcing the rules of the chapter - and abashed, gauche expression of such - sees him often clash with Elder Samson on fundamental matters.
* Kadiff Kirwan as Andrew, a neighbour of the Lewises who David possesses a one-sided battle with over competence in expressing the values of, and greater influence and control within, the Order.
* Liam Williams as Joel, a diffident new convert to the Order looking for renewed purpose in life after an acrimonious split from his girlfriend.
* Lolly Adefope as Miss Simmons, teacher at the Lewis children's school whose turbulent personal life crosses too much over into her professional one.
* as Julia, a young Order member with excellent skills for duplicity and teaching Rachel the ways of the world outside of the Order.
* Kath Hughes as Sid
* Sian Clifford as Maude (series 2), a demure new arrival to the chapter who instantly becomes attracted to the incredibly compatible David, sharing his quirks and curiously idiosyncratic principles and rules for life.

Episodes

Series 1 (2023)

All episodes were made available on All 4 prior to broadcast on 23 January 2023.

Series 2 (2024)

All episodes were made available on 3 October 2024 for subscribers to the paid tier of Channel 4's streaming service; this expanded to all users on 17 October 2024.

Production

Channel 4 announced the project had been commissioned in May 2022 with the cast in place and JAX Media and Universal International Studios producing from a script written by Dillon Mapletoft and Oliver Taylor, and Nick Collett as director. Speaking about his wig for the show Bird told ''The Independent'', "My first reaction pon seeing the wigwas laughter, annoyingly, which was pretty much everyone’s reaction. Which meant that we had to go ahead with it."

Channel 4 renewed the series for a second season in May 2023. Sian Clifford joined the cast for the second series. Filming for the second series took place in Heaton Moor, Greater Manchester in April 2024.

Broadcast

''Everyone Else Burns'' premiered in the UK on Channel 4 on 23 January 2023. The first season consisted of six episodes in total, which are also available to on the streaming service All4.

International broadcast

The series debuted in Canada on W Network on 29 May 2023. In the United States, the series debuted on The CW on 26 October 2023 before being pulled from its schedule in November 2023. Brad Schwartz, President of Entertainment of The CW, blamed the marketing of the show for it being pulled. The series is currently available in Australia on SBS On Demand.

Reception

Viewership

The series opened to 1.4 million viewers with four weeks of post-broadcast viewership included. The show was "the biggest comedy launch since '' Derry Girls'' on Channel 4's streaming service".

Critical reception

''Everyone Else Burns'' has received critical acclaim, with a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Writing in ''The Daily Telegraph'' Anita Singh said "there is much to enjoy here. It's not a comedy going for cheap laughs about Christianity. It is a show about family, and it has a lot of heart" and said that the comedy derives from a "subversion of norms". She also praised the writing, performances and characterisation “from the leads down to the supporting players", noting that "there are truths about family and friends that make it seem like more than a throwaway sitcom." Lucy Mangan in ''The Guardian'' commented that it is "simply very, very funny" and that the "hyper-religiosity is used to look anew at family dynamics and dysfunction; how blind you can be to abnormalities if they are all you know". Carol Midgely in ''The Times'' described it as "a small delight" and praised the performance of Simon Bird and the cast, as well as the "sharply, wittily written" script, adding that "it is a brave comedy that targets religion, but only a clever one could do it with this much heart and jolliness." ''The i'' described it as "funny as hell" while, in a four-star review for ''The Evening Standard'', Vicky Jessop wrote "who knew eternal damnation could be this fun?".

Reception in the United States has been similarly positive. ''Time Magazine'' described it as "a fantastically warped family sitcom” and “easily the best new broadcast comedy since Abbot Elementary". ''The New York Times'' labelled it "a charmer - smart, distinctive, lovely". ''The Hollywood Reporter'' called it "very funny" while ''The LA Times'' named it "a dysfunctional family comedy you can believe in". Similarly positive reviews came from ''The New York Post'' ("hell yeah") and ''The Daily Beast'', which called it "really goddamn funny" and "the sort of laughs-at-any-cost sitcom rarely made in the UK these days".

Accolades

In February 2024, the series was nominated at the Broadcast Awards in the Best Comedy Programme category. In March 2025, O'Flynn was nominated at the 2025 British Academy Television Awards in the Best Female Performance in a Comedy category.

References

External links

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{{Portal bar, Christianity, Comedy, Manchester, Television

2023 British television series debuts
2020s British sitcoms
Channel 4 sitcoms
British English-language television shows
Television series about cults
Television series about Christianity
Television series about dysfunctional families
Television series about marriage
Television series by Universal Television
Television shows set in Manchester