''Pound Shop Wars'' is a British factual television series that was first broadcast on

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

from 7 November 2012 until 30 September 2015. Narrated by

Caroline Aherne Caroline Mary Aherne (24 December 1963 – 2 July 2016) was an English actress, comedian and writer. She was best known for performing as the acerbic chat show host ''The Mrs Merton Show, Mrs Merton'', in various roles in ''The Fast Show'', and ...

, the series shows the competition between rival

pound shop A variety store (also five and dime (historic), pound shop, or dollar store) is a retail store that sells general merchandise, such as apparel, automotive parts, dry goods, toys, hardware, home furnishings, and a selection of groceries. It us ...

s, focusing on

Poundworld Poundworld was a chain of British value variety stores that sold most of its items for £1. It was founded in 1974 by Yorkshire-based father-and-son team Chris Edwards Sr. and Chris Edwards Jr. In contrast to many high street retailers, it ma ...

. The second series, comprising eight episodes, began on 12 August 2015.

Episode list

Pilot (2012)

Series 1 (2014)

Series 2 (2015)

Reception

Ratings

The first one-off hour-long special episode had a 19.8% audience share. According to overnight figures, "The Battle of the Bra" had a viewing audience of 5.42 million, with 23.7% watching it. The third and fourth episodes had viewing audiences of 19.4% and 16.7% respectively.

Critical reception

Tim Dowling Robert Timothy Dowling (; born June 1963) is an American journalist and author who writes a weekly column in ''The Guardian'' about his life with his family in London. Career Dowling worked in data entry for a films database before he became a fr ...

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 ...

'' said the series "was not enhanced by Caroline Aherne's jokey narration, and it had more than its fair share of isn't-he-a-character type characters, but it was saved for me by a surprising discovery: the pound shop business is actually pretty interesting." ''

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

'' Caroline Westbrook said it "certainly didn't disappoint". ''

Bath Chronicle The ''Bath Chronicle'' is a weekly newspaper, first published under various titles before 1760 in Bath, England. Prior to September 2007, it was published daily. The ''Bath Chronicle'' serves Bath, northern Somerset and west Wiltshire. History ...

'' called the narration "lacklustre" and commented on how boring the series was.

Andrew Billen Andrew William Scott Billen (born 30 December 1957) is a British journalist, children's author, and staff feature writer on ''The Times'' newspaper. Early life Andrew Billen was born in London on 30 December 1957 and brought up in Brentwood, E ...

from ''

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'' (fou ...

'' gave the programme three stars out of five. ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' said "Full marks to the makers of this documentary, who find a clever and absorbing way to tell the story of the biggest current trend on Britain's high streets."

References

External links

* * * {{IMDb title, id=3532766, title=Pound Shop Wars 2012 British television series debuts 2015 British television series endings BBC television documentaries English-language television shows Television shows set in the United Kingdom Works about retailing