Judge Romesh
| Judge Romesh | |
|---|---|
 Title screen | |
| Genre | Court show Comedy |
| Written by | Geoff Norcott |
| Directed by | Ollie Bartlett |
| Presented by | Romesh Ranganathan |
| Starring | Tom Davis Kerry Howard |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 10 (+5 online specials) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Dan Baldwin Andy Price |
| Producer | Sarah Pack |
| Running time | 30 mins (incl. adverts) |
| Production company | Hungry Bear |
| Original release | |
| Network | Dave |
| Release | 8 August 2018 – present |
Judge Romesh is a British comedy television show broadcast on Dave. It features Romesh Ranganathan settling disputes in a fictional civil court. The show is unscripted, and the claimant and defendant are generally members of the public, though some cases are between celebrities. Ranganathan is assisted by Tom Davis, acting as bailiff, and Kerry Howard, acting as clerk.
The first series of ten episodes premiered on 8 August 2018. Five extra cases are available on UKTV Play. The show has received mixed critical reception and been compared to other court shows such as Judge Rinder.
Format
Each episode features two cases and begins with Ranganathan entering the courtroom to flashing lights and hip-hop music.[1] For each case, bailiff Davis is sent to collect the claimant and defendant, who he briefly chats with. In court, the claimant brings up an issue with the defendant which they would like resolved. One example is a man whose friend duped him into attending a dating course under the pretence that it was a holiday, and who wanted the friend to refund him. Another is a case of a woman whose boyfriend kept ruining her underwear by wearing it, and who wanted the boyfriend to stop. Ranganathan takes statements from each party, interjecting with jokes and mockery and asking questions. Howard presents information related to the case, such as text messages or photographs. Some cases involve songs, dances or magic tricks which are performed for the court. Ranganathan then asks for closing statements from each party and makes a decision, deciding in favour of the claimant, the defendant or neither party.
Production
On 23 January 2018, UKTV announced that Judge Romesh had been commissioned for ten half-hour episodes.[2] The first series aired between 8 August and 5 September. Five extra cases lasting 10 minutes were released on UKTV Play under the title Judge Romesh: Justice Never Sleeps.[3] For the first series, 34 cases were filmed over three days at Pinewood Studios. Three of the cases involvement celebrities—Shaun Ryder and Bez; Antony Costa and Duncan James; Stevi Ritchie and Chloe Jasmine—while the remaining cases were between members of the public.[1]
Commissioned by Joe McVey, the show was produced by Hungry Bear for Dave, a British channel owned by UKTV. Dan Baldwin and Andy Price served as executive producers and Sarah Pack was the producer. Geoff Norcott wrote additional material and Ollie Bartlett was director. Post-production was done by Suite TV.[1] According to Baldwin, the courtroom set was inspired by the styles of British courtrooms and Hollywood films. A live audience was used. Shooting was done in 360 degrees with five cameras.[1]
Ranganathan says that he did no legal research prior to filming, as he wanted to judge based on instincts. He describes the cases as "genuine grievances", though they varied in severity.[4]
Ratings
For series 1, two episodes were aired at a time on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on Dave. The series began on 8 August 2018. Ratings data is taken from BARB.[5]
| Episode No. |
Airdate | 7 day viewers (millions) |
28 day viewers (millions) |
Dave weekly ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 August 2018 | 0.498 | 0.608 | 1 |
| 2 | 0.410 | 0.492 | 2 | |
| 3 | 15 August 2018 | 0.346 | 0.392 | 1 |
| 4 | 0.334 | 0.362 | 2 | |
| 5 | 22 August 2018 | 0.216 | 0.235 | 6 |
| 6 | 0.210 | 0.235 | 8 | |
| 7 | 29 August 2018 | 0.275 | 0.292 | 1 |
| 8 | 0.253 | 0.274 | 3 | |
| 9 | 5 September 2018 | 0.297 | 2 | |
| 10 | 0.263 | 5 |
Reception
The show has been described as "a twist on soapy courtroom programmes"[6] and compared to Judge Rinder,[7] Judge Judy[8] and The Jeremy Kyle Show.[9]
Bruce Dessau of Beyond the Joke writes in a positive review that the show is "interesting set-up", Ranganathan is "pretty damn funny" and Davis is "such a big personality he almost upstages Ranganathan".[10] Steve Bennett of Chortle gives the show three out of five stars. Bennett writes that the show is "not a revolutionary formula" and criticises the short ten-minute slot for each case. He criticises that Howard is underused, but praises that the casting of Ranganathan as judge perfectly fits his "grumpy, intolerant and judgmental" comedy persona.[8] A negative review in The Times says that "the cases quickly become tiresome and there's a mean-spirited vibe."[9]
References
- ^ a b c d "Judge Romesh, Dave". Broadcast. 7 August 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
- ^ "All rise for Judge Romesh". Chortle. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
- ^ "Watch Judge Romesh: Justice Never Sleeps | On Demand | UKTV Play". UKTV. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
- ^ "TV Quickfire: Romesh Ranganathan takes comedy into courtroom for new show". The Irish News. 6 August 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
- ^ "Weekly top 10 programmes | BARB". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
- ^ Mumford, Gwilym; Howlett, Paul; Wang, Ian (3 August 2018). "This week's best home entertainment: from Judge Romesh to Of Wolves and Women". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
- ^ "Everything you need to know about Judge Romesh". Radio Times. 29 August 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
- ^ a b Bennett, Steve (8 August 2018). "Judge Romesh". Chortle. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
- ^ a b Clay, Jay (9 August 2018). "What's on TV tonight". The Times. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
- ^ Dessau, Bruce (5 August 2018). "TV: Judge Romesh, Dave". Beyond the Joke. Retrieved 1 September 2018.