''You, Me and the Apocalypse'' (

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

''Apocalypse Slough'') is a British-American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

. The series was

green-lit To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead". Film industry In the context of the film and television industries, to green-light something is to ...

on 8 January 2015. It debuted on

Sky 1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

on 30 September 2015 and on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

on 28 January 2016. Sky 1 said in March 2016 there would be no second series.

Plot

With their days numbered, a group of people struggle with the inevitable

apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre in which a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a human intermediary. The means of mediation include dreams, visions and heavenly journeys, and they typically feature symbolic imager ...

after it is discovered that a

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

is on a collision course with Earth. Jamie Winton (

Mathew Baynton Mathew John Baynton (born 18 November 1980) is an English actor, writer, comedian, singer, and musician best known as a member of the British Horrible Histories troupe in which he starred in the TV series ''Horrible Histories''; as well as an a ...

) works as a bank manager in

Slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...

, England, living with his best friend, Dave Bosley ( Joel Fry), and his adoptive mother, Paula (

Pauline Quirke Pauline Perpetua Sheen ( Quirke; born 8 July 1959) is an English actress who has played Sharon Theodopolopodous in the long-running comedy series '' Birds of a Feather'' (1988–1999, 2014–2017). For this role, she won the 1990 British Comed ...

). Jamie vows to find his wife, Layla (

Karla Crome Karla Patsy Crome (born 22 June 1988) is a British actress and writer, best known for her work on Sky Atlantic's '' Hit & Miss'', playing series regular Jess on E4's ''Misfits'', and appearances in a number of other television series and films ...

), who disappeared seven years ago, and his biological mother before the comet hits. In one of many revelations that occurs before the comet strikes, he learns he has a

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

brother named Ariel Conroy (also played by Baynton). Meanwhile, Rhonda McNeil (

Jenna Fischer Regina Marie "Jenna" Fischer (born March 7, 1974) is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Pam Beesly on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'' (2005–2013), for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Suppor ...

) is imprisoned in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

, United States, after taking the blame for a hacking crime committed against the

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...

by her son Spike (Fabian McCallum). There, she meets a

white supremacist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other Race (human classification), races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any Power (social and polit ...

named Leanne (

Megan Mullally Megan Mullally (born November 12, 1958) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She is best known for playing Karen Walker on the NBC sitcom ''Will & Grace'' (1998–2006, 2017–2020), for which she received eight Primetime Emmy Award no ...

). In

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, Rhonda's brother Scotty (

Kyle Soller Kyle William Soller (born July 1, 1983) is an American film, stage, and television actor. His accolades include one Olivier Award, and three ''Evening Standard'' Theatre Awards. Born in Connecticut and raised in Virginia, he attended the College ...

) and his husband, U.S. General Arnold Gaines (

Paterson Joseph Paterson D. Joseph (born 22 June 1964) is a British actor. He appeared in the Royal Shakespeare Company productions of ''King Lear'' and '' Love's Labour's Lost'' in 1990. On television he is best known for his roles in ''Casualty'' (1997–1998) ...

), are working to stop the comet that will cause the apocalypse. At the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

, Father Jude (

Rob Lowe Robert Hepler Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker, and podcast host. He made his acting debut at the age of 15 with ABC's short-lived sitcom ''A New Kind of Family'' (1979–1980). Following numerous television roles in ...

) and Sister Celine (Gaia Scodellaro) work to find the potential

Antichrist In Christian eschatology, the Antichrist refers to people prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and substitute themselves in Christ's place before the Second Coming. The term Antichrist (including one plural form) 1 John ; . 2 John . ...

and the world's savior. In the end, as explained at the beginning of the series, most of these people will come to be in a bunker together under Slough as they watch the apocalypse on television.

Cast

Main

as estranged identical twin brothers Jamie Winton and Ariel Conroy. Jamie works as a bank manager in

and still hopes his wife—Layla—will return after going missing seven years ago on their honeymoon. Ariel is known as White Horse, the leader of the cyber terrorist group Deus Ex Machina. They are thirty two years old. * Joel Fry as Dave Bosley, Jamie's best friend and housemate. He later becomes married to Jamie's adoptive Mother. *

as Paula Winton, Jamie's adoptive mother. *

as Father Jude Sutton, a foul mouthed, chain-smoking

priest assigned to the recently reopened office of

Devil's Advocate The (Latin for Devil's advocate) is a former official position within the Catholic Church, the Promoter of the Faith: one who "argued against the canonization ( sainthood) of a candidate in order to uncover any character flaws or misrepresent ...

, tasked with confirming miracles and running background checks on potential saints. About 31 years ago, he abandoned the pregnant Mary Conroy. Later, she gave birth to his twin sons Jamie and Ariel. * as Sister Celine Leonti, a young nun sent to the Vatican to work with the Devil's Advocate's office as Father Jude's partner. She falls in love with Jude, marries him in secret and in the last episode is shown to be carrying his child. *

as Rhonda McNeil, a former librarian, is now imprisoned in a

maximum security prison to protect her son, Spike. *

as Scotty McNeil, Rhonda's twin brother and a minor Washington bureaucrat in the Special Situations Group. He is married to Arnold Gaines. *

as Army

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Arnold Gaines, the United States general spearheading the efforts to either stop the apocalypse or at least have humanity's future safely secured when it does come. *

as Leanne Parkins, a

in prison with Rhonda. She is married to Todd and is the mother of Junior and Jolene. She becomes friends with Rhonda after they escape prison. *

Diana Rigg Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg (20 July 193810 September 2020) was an English actress of stage and screen. Her roles include Emma Peel in the TV series '' The Avengers'' (1965–1968); Countess Teresa di Vicenzo, wife of James Bond, in '' On H ...

as Sutton, the mother of Jude, Rhonda, and Scotty, grandmother of Jamie, Ariel, and Spike, and great-grandmother of Frankie. She is shown to be in poor health and to be estranged from all of her relatives *

Prasanna Puwanarajah Prasanna Puwanarajah ( ta, பிரசன்னா புவனராஜா; born 1981) is an English actor, director, writer, and former junior medical doctor. Early life Puwanarajah was born at Ipswich Hospital in Suffolk to Eelam Tamil par ...

as Rajesh McNeil, Rhonda's husband. He is hospitalized and terminally ill. * Fabian McCallum as Spike McNeil, Rhonda's teenaged son and a hacker. His mother ended up in jail to protect him after he illegally hacked the NSA. *

Anastasia Hille Anastasia Hille (born 1965) is an English film, television and theatre actress, and ceramicist. Born in London, she was a student at London's Drama Centre and won second prize at the Ian Charleson Awards in 1994 (the first prize was awarded to ...

as Mary Conroy. She gave birth to twins, first Jamie and then Ariel, and abandoned Jamie as a newborn in a cardboard box at a church car park in

. *

as Layla, Jamie's wife who disappeared seven years ago. In series 1 episode 5, Mary identified a picture as being of young Ariel with his wife, Hawkwind, whom Jamie recognized as being Layla. * Grace Taylor as Frankie, Layla and Jamie's six-year-old daughter who (until series 1 episode 6) Jamie was unaware existed. She is later revealed to have Jude's dead voice in her head and to have the ability to supernaturally know her father.

Guest

Nick Offerman Nicholas David Offerman (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor, writer, comedian, producer, and carpenter. He is best known for his role as Ron Swanson in the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation'', for which he received the Television Critics A ...

as Buddy, a

cross-dressing Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself. Cross-dressing has play ...

man in his fifties who after finding out Rhonda is a convict, holds her at gunpoint until the police arrive. *

Adam Nagaitis Adam Matthew Nagaitis (; born 7 June 1985) is a British actor best known for his roles as Caulker's Mate Cornelius Hickey in the AMC television series ''The Terror'' and firefighter Vasily Ignatenko in the HBO miniseries ''Chernobyl''. Nagait ...

as Todd Jr.

Episodes

A group of people, each living their own, unconnected lives, are introduced. It is revealed that a comet is due to hit Earth in 34 days. Some of these people can be seen in a bunker together under the town of

, in the UK, as they watch the events unfolding up to the end of the world on TV.

Reception

The series met favourable responses from critics. On Metacritic, it holds a score of 72/100 based on 26 reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an 83% approval rating based on 31 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The critics' consensus reads: "''You, Me, and the Apocalypse'' has a lot of fun with the end of the world, if you can keep up with its unpredictable, oddball twists."

Production

The bunker scenes were shot at

West London Film Studios West London Film Studios ("WLFS") is a British film studio and television studio complex located in Hayes, Middlesex. The studios cater to small and large productions; for films, television shows, TV adverts and photo shoots. History Frank ...

on Stage 2.

References

External links

* at Sky * at

* * {{Sky1 2010s American comedy-drama television series 2010s British comedy-drama television series 2015 British television series debuts 2015 British television series endings 2016 American television series debuts 2016 American television series endings British comedy-drama television shows Culture in Slough English-language television shows NBC original programming Nonlinear narrative television series Apocalyptic television series Television series about impact events Sky UK original programming Television series by Working Title Television Television shows set in Berkshire Television shows set in New Mexico Television shows set in Italy