Really surprised that this has so many panning it. It's different, funny, with the two 'mains' a delight. Gone to a lot of trouble with the costumes/settings. It's delightfully daft. Not a classic (akin to Porridge) but better than many so called sit-coms, and certainly equal to Ghosts (which I also enjoyed) which has better critiques? Frankly I am happy to have this 'daftness ' on the screen at the moment.....
95 Reviews
Fun to watch
mary-wilkinson112 March 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Watched this today and I don't really understand the negativity surrounding it.
I found it funny, daft, a doesn't-take-itself-too-seriously bit of light heartedness.
The 2 leads, Tim Key and Daisy May Cooper worked well together and I really enjoyed their chemistry. Daniel Rigby also pops up with some great screen moments.
Watch this for what it is. It's not a historical documentary, it's a bit of a caper set in the 1700s against a backdrop of a serious subject.
Yes, it is predictable and there aren't many scenes that create the tension you'd expect when there's a women being falsely accused of being a witch, fearing for her life but then it's not supposed to be that. I chuckled at it a few times and really warmed to the main characters.
I found it funny, daft, a doesn't-take-itself-too-seriously bit of light heartedness.
The 2 leads, Tim Key and Daisy May Cooper worked well together and I really enjoyed their chemistry. Daniel Rigby also pops up with some great screen moments.
Watch this for what it is. It's not a historical documentary, it's a bit of a caper set in the 1700s against a backdrop of a serious subject.
Yes, it is predictable and there aren't many scenes that create the tension you'd expect when there's a women being falsely accused of being a witch, fearing for her life but then it's not supposed to be that. I chuckled at it a few times and really warmed to the main characters.
Brilliantly Produced Funny
jerknting13 March 2022
A very good take on the mockery of witch-hunting back then anyway. It's witty and funny. You can see the plot will thicken as you warm to the characters. Good comedy for adults which is great. Looking forward to more episodes 😀
An amusing little comedy
soelir13 March 2022
I watched it in one evening and it didn't send me to sleep.
I'm still very much awake. A state of being which appears to be of importance to some other reviewers.
I can't wait for IMDb to catch up with who appears in each episode, since I'm useless at remembering names of actors and the names of other stuff I've seen them in. Definitely a few from Ghosts, at least one League of Gentlemen, and I'm sure I spied a Kurrupt Fm player in there too.
Overall, a pleasant evening. Thanks BBC.
I'm still very much awake. A state of being which appears to be of importance to some other reviewers.
I can't wait for IMDb to catch up with who appears in each episode, since I'm useless at remembering names of actors and the names of other stuff I've seen them in. Definitely a few from Ghosts, at least one League of Gentlemen, and I'm sure I spied a Kurrupt Fm player in there too.
Overall, a pleasant evening. Thanks BBC.
Better with each episode
adamgwyndavies11 March 2022
Great cast and fun
darwiniantheory-264-3561839 March 2022
A lot of reviews are taking this comedy too seriously... It's akin to the BBC series Ghosts and a comedy of errors and sillyness.
The cast is from some of the best British comedy over the last 20 years and the Cameos work perfectly.
Love it.
The cast is from some of the best British comedy over the last 20 years and the Cameos work perfectly.
Love it.
A bit of pleasant silliness
trademarcdesigns9 March 2022
I don't like reviewing after only one episode, so I may update this later...
It's the middle of the 17th century and witch mania is rampant. An itinerant and somewhat incompetent witchfinder happens upon an opportunity to advance in his profession and so takes a suspected witch off to see the Witchfinder General.
If the first episode is any indication of things to come, we're in for a lot of silliness. This isn't exactly brilliant comedy, but it's pleasant enough and may well improve over time. There are worse ways to spend half an hour.
If the first episode is any indication of things to come, we're in for a lot of silliness. This isn't exactly brilliant comedy, but it's pleasant enough and may well improve over time. There are worse ways to spend half an hour.
Outstanding
nickegoldsmith13 March 2022
I would say that I cannot understand why some reviews are absolutely panning this wonderful funny, and original comedy. It is quite clear that those who have spent time writing these incensed reviews have absolutely no sense of humour, and completely missed the gag. How on earth can it be labelled woke!? The cameo in After Life 3 introduced me to Tim Key, and this fulfilled my expectations. Wonderfully funny show!
Expected more but still worth watching
aluntaylor11 March 2022
"Hunderby" it's not but it has its moments and the cast is top notch. Certainly worth watching. It's truly astounding how many reviewers here seem to get bent out of shape by the number of black and Asian actors in the cast. What a nasty little biggoted country the UK has become.
Terrible writing
gavinegan-3769815 April 2022
It astounds me how writing of such poor quality continues to be commissioned. The concept is more suitable to brief sketches in a comedy show and that's where it should have ended. The ideas are stretched so thin it is almost transparent. The actors try hard but have no chance of rescuing it. There must be writers with better ideas out there. It's lazy commissioning. Upstart Crow makes this look like amateur writing. You know it's not going to be great when they fall back on using the F word - alot. It feels like it was written by a couple of school boys who think swearing and being a bit silly is funny. Well it isn't. It will probably still get a second series. I won't be watching.
It Was Really Funny, I Loved It!
martimusross14 March 2022
The Witchfinder
It was a great series from start to finish, brilliant script, and fabulous comic timing, there was a real warmth to the characters and wonderful cameo performances from so many well known actors, and you could see everyone was having a great time.
It seemed complete so it would be challenging to create a second series, however they managed it with Upstart Crow, maybe that was more farce and repetitive but I would love if they could.
The two main leads Tim & Daisy clicked from the start, I shouldn't make a comparison but she reminds me of Dawn French or maybe it's just the delivery, these two were great and the whole ensemble delivered in spades.
This was brand new comedy, brand new ideas and a brave project. I'm giving this a firm 8 outta 10 for really making me laugh, I think people will warm to this but like anything new, people are supercritical witch is very unfair lol.
It was a great series from start to finish, brilliant script, and fabulous comic timing, there was a real warmth to the characters and wonderful cameo performances from so many well known actors, and you could see everyone was having a great time.
It seemed complete so it would be challenging to create a second series, however they managed it with Upstart Crow, maybe that was more farce and repetitive but I would love if they could.
The two main leads Tim & Daisy clicked from the start, I shouldn't make a comparison but she reminds me of Dawn French or maybe it's just the delivery, these two were great and the whole ensemble delivered in spades.
This was brand new comedy, brand new ideas and a brave project. I'm giving this a firm 8 outta 10 for really making me laugh, I think people will warm to this but like anything new, people are supercritical witch is very unfair lol.
Double standards?
nick416 March 2022
In a 2020 period drama set in India, the BBC trumpeted the fact it had an all Asian cast playing the Asian characters. (No white actors)
When it comes to period dramas/comedies set in Britain, the BBC is quick to change the ethnicity of the characters.
This is inconsistent and a double standard.
Personally, I love realism in period dramas/comedies with appropriate settings, casting and costumes for the period and location.
I notice one person calling people they disagree with "idiots" - a typical "cancel culture" response. Please remember, everyone is entitled to their own view.
This is inconsistent and a double standard.
Personally, I love realism in period dramas/comedies with appropriate settings, casting and costumes for the period and location.
I notice one person calling people they disagree with "idiots" - a typical "cancel culture" response. Please remember, everyone is entitled to their own view.
Silly fun
supermellowcali17 March 2022
The objections to the authenticity of the cast aside, this is an original idea that's well developed and produced. It could be funnier, but the absurdity of the situation itself facilitates humorous dialog and the actors are great, especially Daisy May Cooper. It's not a 9 or 10, but IMO it isn't a total dud either.
Great cast but not very funny
drumdrum7728 March 2022
Really looking forward to this, but it's turning out to be such a disappointment. The script just isn't funny and the woke casting is completely ridiculous and pointless. The BBC haven't had a decent comedy for well over a decade now, maybe they need to look back and remember how it used to be done.
I think they need Coogan...
fingazmc1 April 2022
I noticed after the first episode it was made by the writers of Partridge. My review might change after the whole series but atm I'm finding it very average. I did laugh out loud at the "it be****s with the word C" bit though.
I like Tim Key and the lass from This country (a great show) but they need to step it up through the series (starting episode 3 now, as I say, this review may change after all 6 rpisodes).
I like Tim Key and the lass from This country (a great show) but they need to step it up through the series (starting episode 3 now, as I say, this review may change after all 6 rpisodes).
Written for Steve Coogan
anandpsharma-3935925 March 2022
I can understand some of the comments on here but some reviewers are taking this series out of context...bear with me and it'll make sense! The writers of this series have been writing for coogan for 30 years now. This was written 10 years ago for Coogan 10 years ago. He's been busy doing the Saville biopic for about 3 years now (covis delays) so they stuck in Tim key instead. Key is usually excellent but as this was written for coogan it doesn't work well. Now...watch 5 mins and imagine it was coogan as the main character. This would have been brilliant!
"My impotence deceives me... your beauty turns me pale!"
owen-watts24 April 2022
The Gibbons brothers finally break out of their Partridge prism and give us this strange 17th Century witchfinding road trip. It's bristling with amazing comedy faces but never quite finds a tonal constant between dark humour and dramatic weight. Key & Cooper make a solid dual lead though and I did gradually warm to the vibe over the episodes. This may end up as a forgotten curio, and I think was unfairly drubbed, but for fans of comedy character actor spotting and dark puritan grifting it's worth a gander.
Bloody funny...
Colonelpotts13 March 2022
It's a BBC comedy. What were people expecting?
creativedoom8 June 2022
This show gets a bad rap which comes down to the fact that it's a silly comedy. It's not TOO silly, it's just too silly for people who don't like silly. So many people gave up on it very quickly, not appreciating how hard it is to make a silly comedy that isn't overly-silly. It's a fine line.
It has some special moments and some good jokes. There were moments where it came close to annoying me, but managed to back off just in time.
The racial makeup of the cast was a bit jarring since it's unrealistic for 1600s Britain. It wasn't terrible and I wouldn't even bring it up, but it's unfair to the youth and those not-yet born to give them a distorted idea of Britain's past demographics. If people of African and Asian descent were in Britain at that time, they were an extreme exception and mostly within the upper classes, as peasants and labourers didn't have the luxury of traveling the world. History lesson over.
We neither needed the BBC to tell us how absurd the whole witch hunting thing was and how brutally women were treated by the Puritans and Calvinists, but we got it anyway.
Despite my criticisms, I'm not trashing it, and that's saying a lot.
It has some special moments and some good jokes. There were moments where it came close to annoying me, but managed to back off just in time.
The racial makeup of the cast was a bit jarring since it's unrealistic for 1600s Britain. It wasn't terrible and I wouldn't even bring it up, but it's unfair to the youth and those not-yet born to give them a distorted idea of Britain's past demographics. If people of African and Asian descent were in Britain at that time, they were an extreme exception and mostly within the upper classes, as peasants and labourers didn't have the luxury of traveling the world. History lesson over.
We neither needed the BBC to tell us how absurd the whole witch hunting thing was and how brutally women were treated by the Puritans and Calvinists, but we got it anyway.
Despite my criticisms, I'm not trashing it, and that's saying a lot.
Depressingly unfunny
kdhbarca29 March 2022
Light hearted comedy
louisafernandes10 March 2022
I thought the witch finder was a brilliant watch! Light hearted comedy is just what is needed at this moment in time! Most of the people leaving reviews on this seems to be taking this too serious and forgetting that the series is a sitcom. I absolutely love Daisy May Cooper, she is brilliant! Thank you for coming back to our screens! I recognised quite a lot of actors who have been in previous shows that I found really funny and it was nice to see them all on one show together! I wish there was a second series and ultimately I am sad it is over! Please ignore the ones leaving a bad review and give it a watch, personally I think they are taking the show to seriously and missed all of the jokes on this show.
Complete waste of talent
DominosthroughAgrate27 March 2022
The brilliance of the actors and talent involved in this is completely squandered. Stath let's flats, this country and Partridge are brilliant because they are pinpoint accurate in their portrayals of a time and place. This sadly flops.
Tim Key is great but script needs to be funnier
CrazyArty21 June 2022
In 1645, a struggling witchfinder seeks glory. Stars Tim Key. A new sitcom which is adequate to pass the time but is not really funny.
Key is very good and look out for some familiar faces. The plot is interesting but it's just not funny enough for a comedy.
Key is very good and look out for some familiar faces. The plot is interesting but it's just not funny enough for a comedy.
Woke getting it wrong
croogle-5982924 March 2022
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
