Professor Branestawm
- TV comedy drama
- BBC One
- 2014 - 2015
- 2 episodes (2 series)
Adaptation of the Norman Hunter's children's stories with Harry Hill as the original mad professor. Stars Harry Hill, Madeline Holliday, Simon Day, Vicki Pepperdine, Sophie Thompson and more.
Episode menu
Professor Branestawm Returns
Further details
When Lady Pagwell dies, leaving a substantial sum to fund local inventing, it could mean the end of Professor Branestawm's money troubles. But scheming local councillor Harold Haggerstone will stop at nothing to thwart Branestawm and insists that Pagwell holds an inventing competition to decide who gets the money.
Haggerstone tries to hire his own rival inventor. When Professor Algebrain, from an unspecified European country, turns up, Haggerstone thinks he's onto a winner. Branestawm, meanwhile, is having problems of his own. Not only is he struggling to come up with an invention that will really knock the judges' socks off, he's upset his faithful young assistant, Connie.
He's so wrapped up in his work that he's been neglecting her, and she's torn between helping him and working with the seemingly charming and attentive Professor Algebrain.
Notes
This episode is also known as The Further Adventures Of Professor Branestawm and Harry Hill In Professor Branestawm Returns.
Broadcast details
- Date
- Thursday 24th December 2015
- Time
- 5:20pm
- Channel
- BBC One
- Length
- 60 minutes
Cast & crew
| Harry Hill | Professor Branestawm |
| Madeline Holliday | Connie |
| Simon Day | Colonel Dedshott |
| Vicki Pepperdine | Mrs. Flittersnoop |
| Sophie Thompson | Aggie |
| David Mitchell | Harold Haggerstone |
| Adrian Scarborough | The Vicar |
| Charlie Higson | The Mayor |
| Jason Forbes | P.C. Peasey |
| Doreen Ingleton | Miss Silt |
| Diana Rigg | Lady Pagwell |
| Steve Pemberton | Professor Algebrain |
| Maya Sondhi | Radio Producer |
| Rosie Cavaliero | Mary Oxford |
| Matt Berry | Professor Awfulshirt |
| Justin Edwards | Radio Announcer |
| Alexa Morden | Miss Pagwell |
| Lily Palmer (as Lily May Palmer) | Maisie |
| Sandy Johnson | Photographer |
| Charlie Higson | Writer |
| Sandy Johnson | Director |
| Rosemary McGowan | Producer |
| Ben Farrell | Executive Producer |
| Myfanwy Moore | Executive Producer |
| Gary Dollner | Editor |
| Antony Cartlidge | Production Designer |
Video
Professor Branestawm Returns trailer
Harry Hill is back in Professor Branestawm Returns.
Featuring: Harry Hill (Professor Branestawm), Madeline Holliday (Connie), David Mitchell (Harold Haggerstone) & Ashley Palmer (Crossbow Customer).
Press
Preview: Harry Hill in Professor Branestawm Returns
It is fair to say that this will be a pretty Marmite affair, dependent very much on whether you find Hill's brand of inoffensive, zany, slapstick-silliness funny, or a total turn-off.
Joshua Worth, On The Box, 24th December 2015A second outing for Harry Hill as the Steve Jobs of slapstick inventions, absent-mindedly terrorising the quaint village of Great Pagwell with his daft contraptions. Branestawm's pre-eminence is challenged by snide Professor Algebrain (Steve Pemberton), a heel-clicking Euro-rival determined to win a lucrative inventing competition bequeathed by the late Lady Pagwell. A considerable amount of buffoonery ensues. The game cast includes Vicki Pepperdine and Simon Day.
Graeme Virtue, The Guardian, 24th December 2015Harry Hill on Professor Branestawm
Madcap comic says he is always interested in testing himself - even if it means making brave failures like presenting Stars in their Eyes and writing his X Factor musical I Can't Sing.
Ben Dowell, Radio Times, 24th December 2015Preview: Harry Hill's Professor Branestawm is back
The show is cheesy, corny but winningly charming as Charlie Higson packs his script with all the silliness he can muster.
Ben Dowell, Radio Times, 24th December 2015Radio Times review
Harry Hill returns as the multi-spectacled boffin of Norman Hunter's children's books. After Branestawm's TV introduction last Christmas, his cartoonish adventures are once again adapted by in-demand writer Charlie Higson. This time the chocolate-box village of Pagwell is, fortuitously, hosting an invention contest. But has Branestawm met his match in the ingenious Professor Algebrain (Steve Pemberton)?
Among an extraordinary cast giving fruity performances are Diana Rigg, Simon Day, Vicki Pepperdine, Matt Berry and his absurd intonations, Sophie Thompson and David Mitchell. From the clips available to RT, it's wildly eccentric, old-school and very funny - with a barking mad chase sequence.
Mark Braxton, Radio Times, 16th December 2015