Everyone Else Burns returning to Channel 4 for a second series

ExclusiveMonday 1st May 2023, 11:32am by Jay Richardson

Everyone Else Burns. Image shows left to right: Aaron (Harry Connor), Fiona Lewis (Kate O'Flynn), David Lewis (Simon Bird), Rachel (Amy James-Kelly)

Everyone Else Burns is returning for a second series, Morgana Robinson has revealed.

The Doomsday sect Channel 4 sitcom, starring Simon Bird, Kate O'Flynn, Amy James-Kelly and Harry Connor as the Lewis family, members of a puritanical Christian order in Manchester, first aired in January.

Written by Dillon Mapletoft and Oliver Taylor, it became the most viewed new comedy box set on the channel's streaming service All 4 in its first week, with the opening episode the platform's biggest launch since Derry Girls in 2018.

Robinson, who plays the Lewis's neighbour, Melissa, told Channel 4's Sunday Brunch this weekend that "Everyone Else Burns is incredible, it's such an epic show.

"It's so brilliant. There's a splash of thriller, spooky kind of, oh it's a bit odd.

"We've just got a second series! I found out yesterday. It's amazing."

Co-starring Lolly Adefope, Kadiff Kirwan, Liam Williams, Al Roberts, Soph Galustian, Ali Khan and Arsher Ali, the first series ended with Rachel (James-Kelly) abandoning her dreams of going to university to stay with her family and the Order of the Divine Rod.

Made by Jax Media (Peck'Eds) and Universal International Studios (Dodger), Everyone Else Burns was directed by Nick Collett (Ghosts) and produced by Molly Seymour (Peck'Eds).

Everyone Else Burns. Image shows left to right: Melissa (Morgana Robinson), Fiona Lewis (Kate O'Flynn). Credit: Universal Pictures, JAM Media

Reviews were generally positive, with The Telegraph saying: "There is much to enjoy here. It's not a comedy going for cheap laughs about Christianity. It is a show about family, and it has a lot of heart", while the Guardian felt "the jokes come thick, fast and funny ... The hyper-religiosity is used to look anew at family dynamics and dysfunction; how blind you can be to abnormalities if they are all you know; and the need to break free. Mapletoft and Taylor do this without mocking faith itself... it's simply very, very funny, all the way. I'm a convert."

The Times described it as "a small delight", saying that "it wouldn't work half as well without Bird's manic energy as David, a pompous loser narcissist who makes his family do practice runs for the end of the world and has the worst pudding bowl haircut in Christendom." Also adding "it is sharply, wittily written too. The rest of the cast is strong ... it is a brave comedy that targets religion, but only a clever one could do it with this much heart and jolliness."

Everyone Else Burns was Mapletoft and Taylor's first television commission as series creators. Speaking to British Comedy Guide at the beginning of the year, ahead of Series 1's debut, Mapletoft revealed that they already had storylines in mind beyond the initial six episodes.

"We absolutely do, we really hope we get to do more" he said. "As we've talked about, we always wanted there to be a lot of story there, as well as this kind of story-of-the-week feel. There are so many places we want to go with these characters and so many of the characters we want to get to know more. We really hope we get to see that."

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