''Catastrophe'' is a

British television Television broadcasts in the United Kingdom began in 1932, however, regular broadcasts would only begin four years later. Television began as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transm ...

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

first broadcast on 19 January 2015 on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

. It is created, written by, and stars

Sharon Horgan Sharon Lorencia Horgan (born ) is an Irish actress, writer, director, producer, and comedian. She is best known for creating and starring in the comedy series '' Pulling'' (2006–2009), '' Catastrophe'' (2015–2019), and '' Bad Sisters'' (2022 ...

and

Rob Delaney Rob Delaney (born January 19, 1977) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and activist. He is best known for co-creating and starring as Rob Norris in the sitcom '' Catastrophe'' (2015–2019), and Peter Wisdom in the superhero films ''Deadp ...

, who portray single people Sharon and Rob who become a couple after Sharon unexpectedly becomes pregnant following a fling while Rob is visiting London on a business trip.

Carrie Fisher Carrie Frances Fisher (October 21, 1956 – December 27, 2016) was an American actress and writer. She played Princess Leia in the Star Wars original trilogy, original ''Star Wars'' films (1977–1983) and reprised the role in'' Star Wars: The F ...

Ashley Jensen Ashley Jensen (born 11 August 1969) is a Scottish actress and narrator. She is best known for her roles as Maggie Jacobs in '' Extras'' (2005–2007, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award), Christina McKinney in ''Ugly Betty'' (2006� ...

and

Mark Bonnar Richard Mark Bonnar (born 19 November 1968) is a Scottish actor. He is known for his roles as Max in ''Guilt (British TV series), Guilt'', Duncan Hunter in ''Shetland (TV series), Shetland'', Bruno Jenkins in ''Casualty (TV series), Casualty'', ...

play supporting characters in the series. The show was renewed for a second series in January 2015 and began broadcasting from 27 October 2015, having been brought forward from its original schedule of early 2016. In July 2016, Catastrophe was renewed for a third and fourth series. The third series, which began broadcasting in the UK on 28 February 2017, comprises six episodes — which all became available in the United States on 28 April 2017, hosted by

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

. The fourth and final series of the show began broadcasting on 8 January 2019; premiering on March 15, 2019, in the US. For her performance in the show, Sharon Horgan was nominated for a

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to f ...

for Best Female Comedy Performance in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

. Both Horgan and Delaney won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Writer: Comedy. The show was nominated for a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

. In July 2016, the show received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Writing For a Comedy Series for Horgan and Delaney.

Synopsis

Irish

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

teacher Sharon (

) is single and lives in London. She meets single American advertising executive Rob (

) in a bar whilst he is visiting London on a business trip. They have a six-day fling and he returns to his home town,

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. She discovers that she is pregnant by him. After she informs him of that, he moves to London and they become a couple. They marry shortly before she gives birth to their son. They later have a daughter.

Cast

Main

as Sharon Morris *

as Rob Norris

Recurring

as Fran, Sharon's

frenemy ''Frenemy'' is a portmanteau of the words ''friend'' and ''enemy'' that refers to "a person with whom one is friendly, despite a fundamental dislike or rivalry" or "a person who combines the characteristics of a friend and an enemy". The term ...

as Chris, Fran's husband *

as Mia Norris, Rob's mother (series 1–3) *

Frances Tomelty Frances Tomelty (born 6 October 1948) is a Northern Irish actress whose numerous television credits include ''Strangers'' (1978–1979), '' Testament of Youth'' (1979), ''Inspector Morse'' (1988), '' Cracker'' (1993), '' The Amazing Mrs Pritchar ...

as Carol Morris, Sharon's mother * Gary Lilburn as Des Morris, Sharon's father (series 1–3) * Jonathan Forbes as Fergal Morris, Sharon's brother * Daniel Lapaine as Dave, Rob's friend *

Eileen Walsh Eileen Walsh (born 16 April 1977) is an Irish actress. Her credits include '' Miss Julie'' (1999), '' Janice Beard 45 WPM'' (1999), '' When Brendan Met Trudy'' (2000), '' The Magdalene Sisters'' (2002), '' Pure Mule'' (2005), ''Eden'' (2008), ' ...

as Kate, Sharon's friend. *

Tobias Menzies Tobias Simpson Menzies (born 7 March 1974) is an English actor. He is known for playing Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in the third and fourth seasons of the series ''The Crown'', for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding S ...

as Dr. Harries *

Sarah Niles Sarah Niles is an English actress. She became widely known for her performance as Dr. Sharon Fieldstone in the Apple+ series ''Ted Lasso'', for which she received two Emmy Award nominations. She has also appeared in '' Beautiful People'' (2009) ...

as Melissa, Sharon's co-worker * Marta Barrio as Mallandra, Fergal's wife * Seeta Indrani as Harita * Emmanuelle Bouaziz as Olivia * Amanda Hale as Catherine, Dave's girlfriend *

Lauren Socha Lauren Marie Socha (born 9 June 1990) is an English actress. She rose to prominence during her role as Kelly Bailey in the E4 comedy-drama television series '' Misfits'', for which she won a BAFTA TV Award in the Best Supporting Actress cate ...

as Anna * Kai Alexander as Jeffrey, Fran & Chris's son (series 3–4) *

Michaela Watkins Michaela Watkins (born December 14, 1971) is an American actress and comedian. After several years performing with the Los Angeles comedy troupe The Groundlings, Watkins achieved widespread attention for her brief stint as a featured player on th ...

as Sydney Norris, Rob's sister (series 4)

Production and broadcast

The series was officially commissioned by

in May 2014 after a successful

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

the previous year. 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 ...

had previously turned down the series after reading the script. ''Catastrophe'' was named after the following quotation from the movie ''

Zorba the Greek ''Zorba the Greek'' (, , Life and Times of Alexis Zorbas) is a novel written by Nikos Kazantzakis, first published in 1946. It is the tale of a young Greek intellectual who ventures to escape his bookish life with the aid of the boisterous and m ...

''. "I'm a man, so I married. Wife, children, house, everything. The full catastrophe." The original theme for the series, "Catastrophe Theme", was composed by Oli Julian. On 28 January 2015, the show was renewed for a second series, which aired in October 2015. Jay Hunt, Channel 4's chief creative officer, said: "Catastrophe is a real comedy gem. Sharon and Rob have done a magnificent job and we're already looking forward to series two". Season 3 was filmed in late 2016.

, who plays Mia, died on 27 December 2016 shortly after filming of series 3 of ''Catastrophe'' had concluded. This was her final TV role. The final episode of series 3 is dedicated to her, with the simple words "For Carrie" appearing on screen alongside a photograph of Fisher following the credits. Series 4 was filmed in early to mid 2018 and was the series' last. For series 4, production visited Beacon House in

Whitstable Whitstable () is a town on the north coast of Kent, England, at the convergence of the The Swale, Swale and the Greater Thames Estuary, north of Canterbury and west of Herne Bay, Kent, Herne Bay. The town, formerly known as Whitstable-on-Se ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, which doubled as a house in

, and was used for the filming of Mia's (

) funeral. Another location in Whitstable which featured in the filming was The Lobster Shack.

The Pantiles The Pantiles is a Georgian architecture , Georgian colonnade in the town of Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. Formerly known as "The Walks" and the (Royal) "Parade", it leads from the well that gave the town its name. The area, develope ...

Royal Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sand ...

also featured and doubled as Boston.

Episodes

Series 1 (2015)

Series 2 (2015)

Series 3 (2017)

Series 4 (2019)

Broadcast

The series was first broadcast in the UK on

from January 2015. In the United States, the series is shown exclusively on Amazon Prime Instant Video, with the first series added in June 2015. It will be made available to subscribers in the United Kingdom later in the year.

Amazon Studios Amazon MGM Studios is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon, and headquartered at the Culver Studios complex in Culver City, California. Launched on November 16, 2010, it took its current name on O ...

vice president Roy Price said: "Rob and Sharon have created an engaging, contemporary, funny and moving story. We are excited to bring ''Catastrophe'' exclusively to our Amazon Prime customers, and can't wait to hear what they think of the series." The show has also been sold to numerous other countries. In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

it is shown on

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

, in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

it ran on Shomi until the

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...

service ceased operation, and in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

SoHo SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

Accolades

References

External links

* * * {{Sharon Horgan 2015 British television series debuts 2019 British television series endings 2010s British sex comedy television series 2010s British sitcoms Television shows about casual sex Channel 4 sitcoms British English-language television shows Television shows about human pregnancy Television series about dysfunctional families Television series about marriage Television series created by Sharon Horgan Television shows set in London