''Lab Rats'' is a 2008 BBC Two situation comedy set in a

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

science laboratory starring

Chris Addison Christopher David Addison (born 5 November 1971) is a British comedian, writer, actor, and director. He is perhaps best known for his role as a regular panellist on ''Mock the Week''. He is also known for his lecture-style comedy shows, two of ...

, who co-wrote the series with Carl Cooper. The series was produced by regular collaborator Simon Nicholls and directed by Adam Tandy. Its executive producer was

Armando Iannucci Armando Giovanni Iannucci (; born 28 November 1963) is a Scottish satirist, writer, director, producer, performer, and panellist. Born in Glasgow to Italian parents, Iannucci studied at the University of Glasgow followed by the University of ...

with whom Addison worked in ''

The Thick of It ''The Thick of It'' is a British comedy television series that satirises the inner workings of British government. Written and directed by Armando Iannucci, it was first broadcast for two short series on BBC Four in 2005, initially with a smal ...

''. Iannucci stated that the programme would be a traditional-style sitcom recorded in front of a live audience. He hinted that it will be a "very cartoony" show featuring "lots of giant snails". A pilot was announced as part of a series called "Behind Closed Doors" in autumn 2006, but was never broadcast. A series of six episodes was broadcast in 2008. The show was not recommissioned for further series.

Setting

Lab Rats is set in the Arnolfini, a research lab (and staff) for hire in St. Dunstan's University, designed to make some money for the university by carrying out research on behalf of other people.

Characters

The main characters are: *Doctor Alex Beenyman (

): The unofficial head of the lab, Dr Beenyman does his best to keep the others in control. He is the only sane member of the team but often ends up responsible for their actions. *Professor John Mycroft (

Geoffrey McGivern Geoffrey M. McGivern is a British actor in film, radio, stage and television, as well as a comedian. Career He played Ford Prefect in the radio series (1978–80) and subsequent LP releases of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' by Dougla ...

): Officially in charge, Prof. Mycroft once won a Nobel Prize and has been living off it ever since. Spends a lot of his time drinking. *Cara McIlvenny (

Jo Enright Jo Enright is an English stand-up comedian and actress who has appeared in a number of television and radio comedy programmes. She is best known for her roles in ''The Job Lot'', '' Life's Too Short'' and ''Trollied''. Career In 1995, she made ...

): A 4'11" (150 cm) lab assistant who's not always altogether 'there'. Although she has a talent for building machines, she does not appear to have much actual understanding of science, or of anything else. She is probably Alex's best friend within the lab. *Brian Lalumaca (

Dan Tetsell Dan Tetsell (born 2 July 1974) is a British actor, comedian and writer for radio, television and stage. He has worked on a number of projects, including '' The Museum of Everything'', ''That Was Then, This Is Now'', ''Newsjack'' and ''Parsons and ...

): A rather unpleasant lab assistant, who enjoys weapons, traps, and anything else violent. He often finds himself involved in Prof. Mycroft's mad schemes. He harbours something of a crush on the Dean, but is constantly frustrated by her inability to remember his name or role. *Minty Clapper (Helen Moon): Secretary to Prof. Mycroft and Dr Beenyman. *Dean Mieke Miedema (

Selina Cadell Selina Jane Cadell (born 12 August 1953) is an English actress. She is the younger sister of actor Simon Cadell and granddaughter of actress Jean Cadell. She is the great niece of the Scottish artist Francis Cadell. Biography Cadell was born ...

): The Dean of St Dunstan's College. Dutch. *The Secretary ( Margaret Cabourn-Smith) who is constantly being given onerous tasks by the Dean. She has very few spoken lines but is involved in various visual gags throughout the series.

Episodes

Broadcasting of the series of started on BBC Two at 9.30 pm on 10 July 2008.

Reception

Reception to the first episode "A Snail" was mixed in the British press. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

Guide'' found the programme "mundane and dated", Lucy Mangan also of ''The Guardian'' said "the kind of stuff that would barely have passed muster in the 70s ..all the jokes are spatchcocked into a wafer-thin plot that veers uncertainly between reality and surreality, this particular experiment can only be deemed a failure.". Tim Teeman writing in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' said "Lab Rats is a truly appalling new sit-com ..Bad puns, redundant characters, lame jokes ..Not even the best surgeon in the land could save this." (0/5 stars) However Robert Hanks in ''

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 publish ...

'' said "remarkable for its combination of very silly jokes and rather well-researched evolutionary theory. The cast is good. The plot of last night's episode was pleasantly absurdist, the jokes were commendably odd and wide-ranging ..Somehow, though, it didn't quite gel, largely because of the studio audience, whose laughter, as so often, slowed things down and underlined jokes that needed to be thrown away ..Worth giving it a week or two, though." Robert Collins of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' gave it his critic's choice, calling it "likeable, madcap comedy ..a catalytic reaction of '' Red Dwarf'' and '' The IT Crowd'', in a solution of ''

Are You Being Served? ''Are You Being Served?'' is a British sitcom created and written by executive producer David Croft (Croft also directed some episodes) and Jeremy Lloyd, with contributions from Michael Knowles and John Chapman, for the BBC. Set in London ...

'' And it's not a bad formula." Visitors to the

British Comedy Guide British Comedy Guide or BCG (formerly the British Sitcom Guide or BSG) is a British website covering all forms of British comedy, across all media. At the time of writing, BCG has published guides to more than 7,000 individual British comedies ...

website voted ''Lab Rats'' as the "Worst New British TV Sitcom" of 2008 in its annual awards, with the website saying that: "The idea behind the show may have been good (to bring back silly studio-based sitcom to the BBC), but the execution was anything but good. An awful, awful comedy."

References

External links

*
Chris Addison's Website
at British TV Comedy *{{British Comedy Guide, tv, lab_rats BBC television sitcoms 2000s British sitcoms 2008 British television series debuts 2008 British television series endings