The Witchfinder on BBC 2: cast with Daisy May Cooper and Tim Key, new TV series release date and show trailer

The BBC Two comedy series stars Tim Key and Daisy May Cooper
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The Witchfinder is a comic travelogue about a witch hunter transporting a suspected witch across the English countryside.

The series, which stars Tim Key and Daisy May Cooper, is set to begin on BBC Two on Tuesday 8 March.

Here’s everything you need to know about The Witchfinder.

What is it about?

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Struggling witchfinder Gideon Bannister brings suspected witch Thomasine Gooch to a high-profile trial – one that could revive his ailing career and change his witchfinding fortunes for good.

Thomasine proves to be a difficult travelling companion for Gideon, however, and the six-episode comedy charts their difficult journey across East Anglia.

Who is in the cast?

Tim Key plays Gideon Bannister, struggling witchfinder. Key is a comedian and poet, best known for playing Alan Partridge’s sidekick Simon. He’s also appeared as a contestant on Taskmaster, where he also acts as task consultant helping to develop new tasks each year.

Daisy May Cooper plays Thomasine Gooch, suspected witch. Cooper is best known as one of the writers and stars of This Country, the BBC Three comedy she created with her brother Charlie Cooper. She can next be seen in a BBC comedy-drama based on Cash Carraway’s Skint Estate.

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The Witchfinder guest stars Jessica Hynes (Mood), Daniel Rigby (Landscapers), Reece Shearsmith (Inside Number 9), Ellie White (Stath Lets Flats), and Cariad Lloyd (Peep Show) amongst others.

The series was written and created by Neil and Rob Gibbons, who wrote and directed This Time with Alan Partridge.

Is there a trailer?

Yes, there is. You can see it – and some Stuart-era witchfinder comedy – right here.

When and how can I watch it?

The Witchfinder begins on BBC Two on Tuesday 8 March at 10pm. The series continues weekly, but all six episodes will also be available on iPlayer immediately after the first episode airs.

What do reviews say?

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In NationalWorld’s review, we said the series just... wasn’t very funny. Pointing out that every joke follows the same format, we wrote “Bannister says something highfalutin, something pompous, something a little-too-pleased-with-himself; Gooch immediately punctures that with an off-kilter remark, not quite sarcasm but a sort of wry observation he didn’t think of. They bicker, and their conversation devolves into two overlapping monologues as they talk past one another.”

“It works once. It even works more than once. But it doesn’t work as often as The Witchfinder needs it to, for as often as it goes back to that same well.”

Why should I watch it?

Because Tim Key and Daisy May Cooper are both very funny, and this new setting of 1640s England is worlds away from the sort of thing we’ve seen them in before – so should offer a lot of comic potential.

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