''Witless'' is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

thriller

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

created by

Lloyd Woolf Lloyd Woolf (born 1981) is a British comedy actor and writer. Personal life Woolf was born in 1981 in Swansea, and grew up in the Swansea Valley town of Pontardawe. After graduating with an English degree from Cambridge University The Universit ...

and

Joe Tucker Joe Tucker is a British comedy writer, director and animator known for directing and co-writing the award-winning short film '' For the Love of God''. He has also directed a number of music videos for Hot Club de Paris and, together with Lloyd W ...

, produced by Objective Fiction, part of

Objective Media Group Objective Media Group (OMG), previously known as Objective Productions, is a media company that produces shows in comedy, comedy drama, entertainment, factual entertainment and Magic. It has produced shows including '' The Cube'', ''Breaking Ma ...

, for the BBC. The first episode of the first series was released on 22 April 2016 on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...

, with a new episode weekly. A second series was commissioned prior to the series finale to air in early 2017, with the full series released on 25 January 2017. A third series was commissioned on 23 February 2017, in a statement co-star

Kerry Howard Kerry Elizabeth Howard (born 24 March 1982) is an English actress. She played Laura in the BBC Three comedy series '' Him & Her'' and Leanne in '' Witless''. She also appears in BBC Three "Feed My Funny" comedy sketches with Lu Corfield and act ...

said she was "beyond thrilled that Witless has a third series". The full third series was released on 10 January 2018. Before it was released Howard confirmed on her Twitter page that this would be the final series. Two young women, Rhona and Leanne (played by

Zoe Boyle Zoe Boyle (born 1 January 1989) is an English actress known for her roles as Lavinia Swire on the series ''Downton Abbey'' and Trinity Ashby on ''Sons of Anarchy''. Education Boyle attended the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama, at the ...

and Kerry Howard), who share a flat in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, are later placed in

witness protection Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after a trial, usually by police. While a witness may only require p ...

after witnessing a murder. They are given new identities and moved to a flat in

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

where they find their very recent past coming back to haunt them whilst they attempt to blend in with their surroundings.

Series overview

Cast

as Leanne *

as Rhona * Samuel Anderson as Patrick * Nicholas Fruin as Adrian "DJ Sound as Fuck" *

T'Nia Miller T'Nia Miller (born 1980) is a British actress, known for her appearances in television series including '' Witless'' (2016–2018), '' Years and Years'' (2019), ''Free Rein'' (2019), ''The Haunting of Bly Manor'' (2020), and ''Foundation'' (2021 ...

as DC Wilton * Nick Preston as Benny *

Francis Magee Francis Magee (born 7 June 1959) is an Irish actor. He portrayed Liam Tyler in British soap opera ''EastEnders'' from 1993 to 1995. He has also appeared in numerous television shows and feature films, including ''Sahara'' (2005), ''Layer Cake'' ...

as Willy Whelan (series 2–3) * Tim Faraday as One Pack (series 2–3) * Charlotte Eaton as Jackie (series 1–2) * Tom Cawte as Appraisal (series 1, guest series 3) * John Hodgkinson as Sergeant Tony Forrest (series 1) * Samuel Oatley as Ian (series 1) *

John Inverdale John Inverdale (born 27 September 1957) is an English broadcaster who works for both the BBC and ITV. During his radio career, he has presented coverage of many major sporting events including the Olympic Games, Wimbledon, the Grand Nationa ...

as Himself (series 1, guest series 2–3)

Episodes

Series 1 (2016)

Series 2 (2017)

Series 3 (2018)

References

External links

{{BBC programme 2016 British television series debuts 2018 British television series endings 2010s British black comedy television series 2010s British sitcoms BBC crime television shows BBC television sitcoms British crime comedy television series Crime thriller television series English-language television shows Murder in television Television shows set in Bristol Television shows set in Wiltshire Works about contract killers Works about witness protection