Yonderland (2013–2016) User Reviews

Comic brilliance from supremely talented group of actors

[arapp-218-908998 · 9/10 · 21 January 2015]

I bought the DVD series of Yonderland for my kids as they are avid Horrible History fans (as am I), and I have to say I have enjoyed it even more than HH. Very Monty Pythonesque in the humor, and much of it very much aimed (very subtly) at an adult audience. The cast of six play many different parts in the fantasy world of Yonderland, and the fun is in seeing the actors play around with silly voices and comic characters. The use of real puppets rather than CGI is also refreshing and really works with the style of the piece. Its a testament to the puppet makers and performers that after a while you forget they are puppets and accept them as real characters in the show. The whole family has now watched the series a number of times and we hope it is a great success and goes on for many more series. Brilliant!

Monty Python meets the Muppets , over Yonder in the Labyrinth!

[thewizardofrockandroll · 9/10 · 11 November 2013]

What a treat ,I saw someone comparing it with the Dark Crystal But I feel it's more a dash of Labyrinth thrown into the mix! The characters are funny ,especially the puppets or Muppets! The Council guys look like they watched allot of Monty Python even for some strange reason a Dr. Who attitude. The lead female gives you that Alice in Wonderland goes Shirley Valentine on us ! The sets and props are definitely magical, but I wish they wouldn't roll the credits by so fast. I was trying to see the creative teams behind it all and if I recognized any of them. Great costumes , all in all a great show for kids of all ages! And I just turned 66!

Escapism at its finest

[emzes-47743 · 9/10 · 1 December 2020]

We used to wait excitedly for the next series. This was one of those shows that was mature enough to be an adult programme and yet made you feel like a kid at heart. Exaggerated costumes in a good way, fantastic script and a brilliant cast. Nothing to not love.

Wonderful entertaining, funny, thrilling joyride

[supermaggie · 10/10 · 7 February 2018]

What a wonderful show - funny, quirky, crazy, highly entertaining - a creative, thrilling joyride, a trip into a beautiful, cute, funny and even sometimes educative fantasy dimension with all these great characters keeping you on the toes all the time if and how the "villains are defeated" and "order is restored" - thank you "Debbeeeehhh" and Elf and all the wonderful others for the fabulous time, a shame that it only lasted three seasons - real quality usually never gets justice!

My new favourite show!

[www-welcometoparadise · 10/10 · 15 November 2020]

The Horrible Histories team know how to make a good comedy! I loved Horrible Histories and Ghosts so decided to give Yonderland a go and I am so glad I did! Its so funny and some the jokes you should see coming a mile off but are still hilarious. Its a show that kids and adults can enjoy and I would throughly recommend it

The Portal has been closed for good

[WaffleOnTheWeb · 8/10 · 2 October 2018]

I loved this show, weird concept, but great characters!

Unfortunately confirmed cancelled in February 2017

ok take-off on fantasy tropes

[cherold · 6/10 · 25 January 2021]

Recently I started watching the terrific series Ghosts. The creators/stars of that show all previously created Yonderland, so I had to check it out.

The series follows an English housewife, Debbie, who discovers she is the chosen one of a magical realm, and travels back and forth between the two worlds. The magical realm is populated by a mix of humans and puppets, and Debbie has to begin by simply figuring out what she's supposed to do.

I thought the first episode was fairly cute, but I found the second episode rather dull and certainly neither episode was close to as funny as anything in Ghosts so I decided not to watch anymore.

Cute premise, a few laughs, but not my cup of tea.

fun and also fun

[valentinionut · 9/10 · 2 October 2020]

This puppets and people fantasy adventure is marvelous! a mom is taken into a fantasy world, were she seems to be the hero they were all waiting. waiting for what? i dont know. im on ep. 3. the dialog is original and funny almost cartoonish. the puppets are many. they are all grotesque and silly and the voices are spot on. the actors are like jesters or are clowning all the time but serving nicely the plot. whatever IT is. still on ep. 3 I am. episodes running time is about 20 minutes of great enterteining. you must watch this lovely adventure.

Not as funny as I expected

[funkykitten_007 · 5/10 · 2 December 2013]

Unfortunately I've been very disappointed by Yonderland. I really enjoyed the cast in Horrible Histories but they just don't seem to have the same spark now it's their own material. For a comedy it only gets a few chuckles from me each week rather than proper laughs (the 'councellor who wants to get naked' joke is wearing really thin), and the few songs are nowhere near as clever as they were in HH. At times it feels a bit like the Mathew Baynton Show (MB seems to play at least 4 parts each week to everyone else's 1-2), while I also think it's confused over the audience it's aiming at. The first episode seemed child-friendly but others have had some very risqué dialogue for its time slot. As for plot, I'm still waiting for something to actually happen. So far 'Debbie' hasn't done very much that I would consider a significant contribution towards the battle against evil, and she spends each week whingeing and flipping her hair, speaking to all in a undeservedly superior tone.

I heard the HH team were planning to do a movie about Shakespeare which I had previously been anticipating, but having seen their efforts in Yonderland I'm sad to say I will probably be giving it a miss. Sorry :(

Missing the mojo of Horrible Histories

[donatello-28906 · 5/10 · 5 August 2015]

It takes a lot of work to create a good series. The cast is great, but the show is bogged down by several things that Horrible Histories mostly avoided. The first issue is the lack of development of characters. No one changes, no one learns. After watching 12 episodes, very little has happened. I've learned nothing, nor have the characters in the show. The second issue is that Debbie is supposedly super smart and all the male characters are stupid. This makes Debbie quite 1 dimensional (compare to her husband who is just plain stupid and constantly subservient as one example). She comes across as condescending (as another reviewer pointed out). It's a shame because she was far more diverse in Horrible Histories - breaking "modern gender stereotypes" that, surprisingly, this show suffers greatly from (summary: woman perfect, smart: men stupid. Same stereotype for the last 20 years). The show could also benefit from dropping the naked gags (or at least evolving them). One of the few gags that really hit the spot was the references to celebrities in the Sherlock Holmes style episode. The who-dun-nit was the best laugh I'd had in the series. Puppeteering and sets are diverse and look good. Needs to drop the stereotypes/sexism and be a little less condescending and a little more risk taking. If the writers aren't careful, Political Correctness will kill the series, as will the lack of a story arc.