''Josh'' is a

British sitcom A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television. British sitcoms have predominantly been recorded on studio sets, while some include an element of location filming. Live audiences and multi-camera ...

television series about three young adults who share a flat near

Holloway Road Holloway Road is a road in London, in length. It is one of the main shopping streets in North London, and carries the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road as it passes through Holloway, London, Holloway, in the London Borough of Islington. The roa ...

in north London. The series was created by and starred comedian and namesake

Josh Widdicombe Joshua Michael Widdicombe (; born 8 April 1983) is an English comedian, presenter and actor. He is best known for his appearances on ''The Last Leg'' (2012–present), '' Fighting Talk'' (2014–2016), '' Insert Name Here'' (2016–2019), ''Moc ...

. A pilot episode aired in 2014 as part of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

"Comedy Feeds", and a full six-episode series aired from 11 November to 16 December 2015 on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

. A second series of ''Josh'' was released from 22 September 2016 on Three's then online-only channel. The day that the final episode of series two aired on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

, the BBC announced it had commissioned a third series, which was released on 2 October 2017.

Characters

as Josh, a struggling

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...

who gets stuck with bad luck *

Elis James Owain Elis James (born 3 November 1980) is a Welsh comedian, broadcaster and actor. James is known as a stand-up comedian and for his weekly radio show and podcast for BBC Radio 5 Live, his football punditry and presenting, and his TV acting rol ...

as Owen, a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

lothario Lothario is an Italian name used as shorthand for an unscrupulous seducer of women, based upon a character in '' The Fair Penitent'', a 1703 tragedy by Nicholas Rowe.

who works in a cafe * Beattie Edmondson as Kate, a neurotic

slacker A slacker is someone who habitually work aversion, avoids work or lacks work ethic. Origin According to different sources, the term "slacker" dates back to about 1790 or 1898. "Slacker" gained some recognition during the UK, British Gezira Sche ...

Jack Dee James Andrew Innes "Jack" Dee (born 24 September 1961) is an English stand-up comedian, actor, presenter, and writer known for his sarcasm, irony, and deadpan humour. He wrote and starred in the sitcom '' Lead Balloon'' and hosts the panel show ...

as Geoff, the

eccentric Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to: * Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal" Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics * Off- center, in geometry * Eccentricity (graph theory) of a ...

landlord A landlord is the owner of property such as a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate that is rented or leased to an individual or business, known as a tenant (also called a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). The term landlord appli ...

to the three protagonists *

Jennifer Saunders Jennifer Jane Saunders (born 6 July 1958) is an English actress, comedian, singer, and screenwriter. Saunders originally found attention in the 1980s, when she became a member of The Comic Strip after graduating from the Royal Central School ...

as Judith, Kate's mother (also Edmondson's real-life mother)

Critical reception

In their review of ''Josh'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' commented that there was "nothing original or remarkable about the set-up – or much of the script – but there's promising chemistry between its stars." They said that the main actors were far too old to be convincing 20-something university pals. However, they singled out Edmondson as "very watchable", saying her "comic timing stuck out". ''

The Arts Desk ''The Arts Desk'' (theartsdesk.com) is a British arts journalism website containing reviews, interviews, news, and other content related to music, theatre, television, films, and other art forms written by journalists from a variety of tradition ...

'' was scathing about the series, saying "It's horribly bland and it's difficult to see how Josh can avoid suffering the ignominy of lasting only one series". ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' thought there was "a nice chemistry" between the three main characters and the series was funny "in a nice, cosy, safe, familial, familiar kind of way".

Chortle Chortle is a British comedy website launched in 2000 by Steve Bennett. The site is a major source of comedy news in the UK. It also reviews comedy shows nationwide, including extensively at the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and presents the C ...

said "the comedy, which returns to BBC Three tomorrow despite a tepid critical response last year, is technically competent and adheres to all the rules of the genre: the scenes are tight and each line works towards a gag. But it’s also bland, lacking a strong personality or deeper purpose other than to deliver contrived lines. Nothing much has changed since the first series."

DVD releases

A DVD set containing the episodes of the first series was released on 5 September 2016. A second series DVD set was made available on 31 October 2016. A third series DVD set was made available on 13 November 2017.

References

External links

Pilot Episode (2014)
at BBC Comedy Feeds * * * {{IMDb title, id=5200372, title=Josh 2014 British television series debuts 2017 British television series endings 2010s British sitcoms BBC high definition shows BBC television sitcoms British English-language television shows Media and communications in the London Borough of Islington Television shows set in London