''Outsiders'' is a British comedy

panel show A panel show or panel game is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participates. Celebrity panelists may compete with each other, such as on ''The News Quiz''; facilitate play by non-celebrity contestants, such as on ' ...

broadcast on

Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

. Pairs of comedians compete in survival-themed tasks for badges awarded by the host David Mitchell. In the first series, which premiered in September 2021, the contestants were Toussaint Douglass,

Ed Gamble Edward Stephenson Jamison Gamble (born 11 March 1986) is an English comedian, known for co-presenting ''The Peacock and Gamble Podcast'' and his regular appearances on ''Mock the Week''. He studied at Durham University, where he began his come ...

Kerry Godliman Kerry Anna Godliman (born November 1973) is an English actor and comedian best known for her roles in ''Derek'', '' Bad Move'' and '' After Life''. Early life Godliman was born in Perivale, West London, and trained at Rose Bruford College in ...

Jessica Knappett Jessica Amy Knappett (born 28 November 1984) is an English comedian, actress, and writer. She is best known as the creator, writer, executive producer, and star of the E4 sitcom '' Drifters'', as well as her role as Lisa in ''The Inbetweeners M ...

Jamali Maddix Jamali Maddix (born 15 April 1991) is an English stand-up comedian. He appears as a regular panellist on the reboot of ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' and appeared on series 11 of '' Taskmaster''. Early life Maddix was born in Ilford, East London ...

and

Lou Sanders Lou Sanders is a British stand-up comedian, writer and actress from Broadstairs, Kent. Early life Sanders grew up in Broadstairs, Kent with her mother and her stepfather, a history teacher. Her father was periodically present. Sanders moved ou ...

. The show was widely compared to '' Taskmaster'', a Dave original programme where comedians were set tasks to complete as individuals; it had moved to

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

in 2020.

Production

The

''Outsiders'' was announced alongside other

productions—''

Question Team ''Question Team'' is a British television comedy panel show presented by Richard Ayoade. The show features three different comedian guests each episode, who each present a round of their own questions. ''Question Team'' was first broadcast on D ...

'', ''The Island'', '' British As Folk''—on 5 May 2021. Its six-episode run of hour-long episodes features David Mitchell judging three pairs of comedians: Toussaint Douglass and

;

and

; and

and

. The first series aired on Wednesdays at 10p.m. It debuted on 29 September 2021. Mitchell was approached by producers with a

Scouting Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

-based theme where comedians compete for badges. To add significance to the concept, he suggested the programme should be "about the survival of humans in the wild", with specific reference to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, and as such it was filmed entirely outdoors. Mitchell reported good relations with Dave, who welcomed the production team's input and were pleased with the final product. The filming lasted a week and saw good weather. The tent in which Mitchell resided was designed after his personality, with old-style furniture and military paraphernalia. While contestants slept in tents overnight, Mitchell returned to his home. According to Mitchell, in the first series, each pairing had tension within it, but not nastiness. Godliman positioned herself as a keen camper but her teammate Douglass felt he was doing most of the work; Gamble was competitive but his partner Sanders did not care about the results; and Knappett acted as "a sort of adoring pretend-wife" to Maddix, who had "a real survival streak". Mitchell described his role as "a slightly befuddled, irascible and indecisive leader". The series drew comparisons to '' Taskmaster'', where contestants compete individually in a number of tasks that are then judged in a studio show. ''Taskmaster'' was originally a Dave programme, but moved to

in 2020. It had been one of Dave's most successful original programming, with high rating figures, a number of awards and several international adaptations. The contestants in the first series, other than Douglass, had all appeared in ''Taskmaster''; three of them had won their series. Mitchell said that, rather than modelling his hosting style on

Greg Davies Gregory Daniel Davies ( ; born 14 May 1968) is a Welsh comedian, actor, presenter, and writer. He is best known for his roles as Greg in ''We Are Klang'', Mr Gilbert in ''The Inbetweeners'', Ken Thompson in ''Cuckoo'', the Taskmaster in '' Tas ...

, the eponymous Taskmaster, he drew on his chairing of the radio show '' The Unbelievable Truth''.

Cast

Series 1

* Toussaint Douglass *

Series 2

Maisie Adam Maisie Adam (born 24 January 1994) is an English stand-up comedian, writer and actress. Early life Maisie Adam grew up in Pannal, North Yorkshire, with her parents Phillip and Jill Adam, and her younger brother Daniel. At 14, she was diagnosed ...

* Fatiha El-Ghorri *

Darren Harriott Darren Harriott (born 1 September 1988) is a British stand-up comedian from Oldbury, West Midlands. He was nominated for the Best Newcomer Award and Best Show Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017 and 2019 respectively. Early life Har ...

Jessica Hynes Tallulah Jessica Elina Hynes (''née'' Stevenson; born 30 October 1972) is an English actress, director and writer. Known professionally as Jessica Stevenson until 2007, she was one of the creators, writers and stars of the British sitcom ''Spac ...

Phil Wang Philip Nathaniel Wang Sin Goi (born 22 January 1990) is a British-Malaysian stand-up comedian and comedy writer who is a member of the sketch comedy group Daphne, and co-creator of their BBC Radio 4 series, '' Daphne Sounds Expensive''. He cur ...

Joe Wilkinson Joseph Roland Wilkinson (born 2 May 1975) is an English comedian, actor and screenwriter. He began his comedy career in 2004 and has supported Alan Carr and Russell Howard on tour. He has also made numerous appearances on television programmes ...

Reception

Steve Bennett of ''

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 ...

'' rated the show 3.5 out of five stars, praising the relationships between the contestants, and the "dry wit" of Douglass. Bennett reviewed that Mitchell is "less mercurial and arbitrary" than Greg Davies, but that the tasks are "relatively mundane". Stuart Heritage of ''

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 ...

'' criticised that in contrast with ''Taskmaster'', the challenges in ''Outsiders'' are mostly not open-ended and the comedians' responses are not unique to their personalities. However, Heritage praised the line-up, particularly Sanders, and the fireside conversations between the group.

Bruce Dessau Bruce Dessau is a British arts critic who writes for the ''London Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in Lo ...

gave a positive review in ''Beyond the Joke'', finding it "a lot of fun to watch" and praising Mitchell as "a great host, playing up to his bumptious persona".

References

External links

Official website
* * {{Dave original programming 2020s British comedy television series 2021 British television series debuts Dave (TV channel) original programming English-language television shows