You're Back In The Room

You're Back In The Room heads to France and Netherlands

Kate Philips, Creative Director, Formats, BBC Worldwide says: "We are delighted that BBC Worldwide France and Blue Circle will be producing our first international sales of You're Back in the Room and we hope to announce further territories soon. We're extremely proud to have this hilarious and highly innovative show in our formats catalogue."

You're Back In The Room: A hypnotist's review

From a hypnotist's perspective, the show does no favours to the credibility of our industry. Any science provided by the hypnotist Keith Barry is minimalistic and unenlightening, the hypnosis of the contestants is glossed over and the show makes insufficient effort to educate viewers about the power of the psychological phenomenon.

This week we have the latest proof that ITV's light entertainment line-up has been devised by Alan Partridge. Following such disasters as Harry Hill's Stars in their Eyes and Get Your Act Together, the channel were in a need of a new hit. Unfortunately they're not going to find it in hypnosis-based game show You're Back in the Room which sounded like a rubbish idea even before it began.

Every week five members of the public compete in a series of challenges including balloon blowing and clay sculpting with the aim to win as much money as possible. The only problem is that they've been put under the spell of the hitherto unknown hypnotist Keith Barry.

Whilst watching You're Back in the Room I had the distinct impression that the whole show was a way to get Barry famous and that he'd had to hypnotise the light entertainment department at ITV in order to do so. The only people who'd find You're Back in the Room remotely entertaining are those who feel that one man trying to re-enact the pottery scene from Ghost with another male contestant is the funniest thing you've ever seen.

The humour in You're Back in the Room was very base and at times I felt like the only people being entertained were the studio audience and host Philip Schofield. Indeed, Schofield seemed to be having the time of his life leading me to believe that he was seeing something that those of as at home didn't.

Obviously there was the big question about whether the contestants were genuinely hypnotised or if they were just acting. However, I don't think this matters all that much as even if they were acting it didn't contribute to a show that was entertaining in the slightest.

The best Saturday night shows; such as Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, are ones in which the hosts try to involve the audience at home as best they can. Unfortunately the only people being entertained by You're Back in the Room were those watching it live and as a result I don't see it being back on the box after this series has come to an end.

You're Back in the Room: something close to delirium

Phillip Schofield's You're Back In The Room is significantly funnier than anything else on TV.

Is "You're Back in the Room" really that bad?

Now of course one can understand the protective guard dog (of which this profession boasts many) mentality, but I did find it all a little bit precious and over the top.

You're Back in the Room review

Tee hee. It's quite funny. For a while. But hardly original.

The five contestants were hypnotised and given silly tasks to perform -- like the Generation Game played in a trance. During a round of blowing up balloons and twisting them together, one chap grabbed a pink sausage-shaped inflatable and did something with it so vulgar that host Phillip Schofield had to block the camera angle with his body, seize the balloon and pop it.

It's hard to believe all the antics under hypnosis were really beyond the players' control. A cynic might even suspect that here were five raving extroverts taking full and conscious advantage of an opportunity to show off like mad on national TV, and win a few thousand quid in the process.

Phillip didn't exactly look as if he was enjoying it, but he coped gracefully. This format will quickly grow repetitive, though. In a few weeks, he'll need all his experience to cover up his boredom.

Radio Times review

A comedy game show based on hypnosis: five members of the public take on straightforward tasks, made harder by the hurdles that hypnotist Keith Barry plants in their unconscious minds. If they can complete the tasks, they'll share a £25,000 prize. But they'll look very silly along the way.

Phillip Schofield as ringmaster tries to keep his air of priestly calm while all around him is chaos. Serving a meal to celebrity chefs, Carolyn believes she has lost a precious ring in the mash, while Kate shakes every bottle of champagne in celebration. During a music round, there's an altercation between Lennie, who thinks she's an X Factor judge, and Ross, who believes he is James Brown. And that old chestnut: in the blowing-up-balloons round, Ross believes he's naked.

You're Back In The Room review

Seriously, ITV, what the hell are you thinking? Stage hypnosis as prime-time entertainment? Not since Keith Chegwin's Naked Jungle has there been such a monumental error of judgement.