British Comedy Guide

Greg Davies's The Cleaner mops up a second series for BBC One

Tuesday 26th April 2022, 12:08pm by Jay Richardson

The Cleaner. Paul 'Wicky' Wickstead (Greg Davies)
  • A second series of Greg Davies's The Cleaner is in development
  • The sitcom about a crime scene cleaner won Best New TV Sitcom at the Comedy.co.uk Awards 2021
  • Producers hope to begin filming in the autumn

Greg Davies is set to film a second series of crime scene comedy The Cleaner for BBC One this autumn.

The comedian will reprise his starring role as Paul "Wicky" Wickstead in the sitcom. Working for a Shropshire-based contractor, in the course of his work Wicky meets the relatives of murder victims, employers, neighbours, acquaintances and occasionally even the murderers themselves. And because he's a sociable type, he sometimes gossips more than he cleans.

Adapted from the hit German comedy Der Tatortreiniger (Crime Scene Cleaner), and winner of Best New TV Sitcom in British Comedy Guide's Comedy.co.uk Awards 2021, The Cleaner's first series drew mixed reviews.

But those included raves from The Independent, which called it "intriguing" "and "cleverly done", and The Telegraph, which felt it was "rather quaint" and noted that it "only really finds its feet midway through the run", while praising Wicky as a "tragic figure" worth "rooting" for, the series becoming "something much more substantial than just a showreel for the guy who hosts Taskmaster".

Opening with an audience of 5.24 million, it averaged around 4 million over the series once catch-up viewing was taken into account.

Co-starring Zita Sattar as Ruth, a police officer and Wicky's friend, the first series also featured David Mitchell, Helena Bonham Carter, Stephanie Cole, Ruth Madeley, Layton Williams, Jo Hartley and stand-ups Paul Chowdhry and Barry Castagnola in guest roles. The cast for the second series has yet to be revealed.

Davies has a packed schedule this year that includes co-writing and starring in Sky Comedy's Safe Space.

Currently presiding over Taskmaster's thirteenth series on Channel 4, it has yet to be confirmed whether Davies will also return as host of the revamped Never Mind The Buzzcocks, which, as BCG revealed in January, is returning for a second series on Sky Max later this year.

The Cleaner

The Cleaner

It's the cops' job to clean up the city, but it's Wicky's job to clean up the crime scenes. BAFTA-winner Greg Davies writes and stars in this truly arresting comedy for BBC One.

Armed with chemicals, scrubbing brushes and cleaning rags, Wicky removes the gruesome mess at the scene of the crime. When carrying out his duties, he stumbles across the strangest of people, from the victim's relatives, employers, neighbours and acquaintances to occasionally even the murderers themselves. And because he's a sociable type, he sometimes gossips more than he cleans...

First released: Monday 18th October 2021

  • Distributor: BBC
  • Region: 2
  • Discs: 1
  • Minutes: 180
  • Subtitles: English

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