Everyone Else Burns is Channel 4's comedy about doomsday

Everyone Else Burns (Channel 4, 10pm)
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

It was recently announced that a poster advertising Demi Lovato’s latest album has been banned because it contains imagery that could offend Christians.

Goodness only knows what they’ll make of this new sitcom, then. Certainly those who belong to a puritanical sect probably won’t find much to laugh about, although chances are they won’t be tuning in anyway.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Everyone Else Burns has been made by Jax Media, the US production company behind Inside Amy Schumer, Emily in Paris and The Conners and is the brainchild of writing partners Dillon Mapletoft (whose CV also includes episodes of Armando Iannucci’s sci-fi comedy Avenue 5) and qualified doctor Oliver Taylor. The pair were also the creators of the critically acclaimed stage show Fix My Brain, which is currently being adapted for the screen.

“Jax Media have made some of the most iconic comedy of recent years and we are so delighted to be working with them, Universal International Studios, Oli and Dillon on a project they are so passionate about,” states Laura Riseam, Channel 4’s Commissioning Editor. “We can’t wait for audiences to enter the pressure cooker of life with the Lewis family as they righteously try and defend the ideology and logic of a life of purity with the vices of the modern world encroaching fast. It’s a glorious comedy trap; contemporary, relevant and very funny.”

At the head of the aforementioned Lewis family is David, played by Simon Bird, who is no stranger to Channel 4 comedies. He made his name as former public schoolboy Will McKenzie in The Inbetweeners before tackling the role of elder son Adam in Friday Night Dinner.

Bird has also enjoyed success behind the camera, first by directing indie hit Days of Bagnold Summer. Plus, he and his old friend Jonny Sweet run production company People Person Pictures, which is backing the film Wicked Little Letters, starring Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley; it’s set for release in 2024.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But for now, Bird is returning to his first love of performing and, at the age of 38, has decided it’s time for him to play fathers rather than their offspring.

David (who, if the publicity shots are anything to go by, has one of TV’s most memorably terrible haircuts) lives in Manchester with his dutiful wife Fiona, naive 17-year-old daughter Rachel and son Aaron, who’s 12. While David dreams of ascending to the upper echelons of his church, Rachel wonders if she’ll be allowed to go to university and Aaron hopes to fend off his secular bullies. In between all that, they must steer clear of the temptations of the modern world, where eternal damnation could be lurking around every corner.

Kate O’Flynn, Amy James-Kelly and Harry Connor play the other members of the clan, while Morgana Robinson, Kadiff Kirwan and Lolly Adefope have supporting roles.

“Everyone Else Burns is an irreverent, hilarious and heart-warming series from the brilliant creative minds of Dillon and Oliver,” claims Beatrice Springborn, president of Universal International Studios, while Jax Media’s Brooke Posch adds, “We are thrilled to announce our first Jax UK original series. There is no better home than Channel 4 to champion such a brilliantly fresh and subversive comedy.”

Here’s hoping nobody will be struck down while tuning in…

Related topics: