Judge Romesh

{{Infobox television

| image = Judge Romesh.jpg

| alt = Romesh wears red robes in a courtroom as a gavel floats in the air

| caption = Title screen

| genre = Court show
Comedy

| runtime = 30 mins (incl. adverts)

| executive_producer = Dan Baldwin
Andy Price

| presenter = Romesh Ranganathan

| starring = Tom Davis
Kerry Howard (series 1)
Jessica Knappett (series 2)

| writer = Geoff Norcott

| director = Ollie Bartlett

| producer = Sarah Pack

| opentheme =

| country = United Kingdom

| language = English

| network = Dave

| company = Hungry Bear Media

| first_aired = {{start date|2018|08|08|df=yes}}

| last_aired = {{end date|2019|06|26|df=yes}}

| num_series = 2

| num_episodes = 22 (+5 online specials)

}}

Judge Romesh is a British comedy television show broadcast on Dave. It features Romesh Ranganathan settling disputes in a fictional civil court. The show is unscripted, and the claimant and defendant are generally members of the public, although some cases are between celebrities. Ranganathan is assisted by the bailiff, Tom Davis, and a clerk—Kerry Howard in series 1 and Jessica Knappett in series 2.

The first series of ten episodes premiered on 8 August 2018. A second series of twelve episodes began on 22 May 2019. Five extra cases are available on UKTV Play. The show received mixed critical reception and has been compared to other court shows such as Judge Rinder.

Format

Each episode features two cases and begins with Romesh Ranganathan entering the courtroom to flashing lights and hip-hop music. For each case, bailiff Tom Davis is sent to collect the claimant and defendant, who he briefly chats with. In court, the claimant brings up an issue with the defendant which they would like resolved. One example is a man whose friend duped him into attending a dating course under the pretence that it was a holiday, and who wanted the friend to refund him. Another is a case of a woman whose boyfriend kept ruining her underwear by wearing it and who wanted the boyfriend to stop. Ranganathan takes statements from each party, interjecting with jokes and mockery and asking questions. The court clerk (Kerry Howard in Series 1 and Jessica Knappett in Series 2) presents information related to the case, such as text messages or photographs. Some cases involve songs, dances or magic tricks, which are performed for the court. Ranganathan then asks for closing statements from each party and makes a decision in favour of the claimant, the defendant or neither party.

Production

On 23 January 2018, UKTV announced that Judge Romesh had been commissioned for ten half-hour episodes.{{cite web|url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2018/01/23/38946/all_rise_for_judge_romesh|title=All rise for Judge Romesh|publisher=Chortle|date=23 January 2018|access-date=1 September 2018}} The first series aired between 8 August and 5 September. Five extra cases lasting 10 minutes were released on UKTV Play under the title Judge Romesh: Justice Never Sleeps.{{cite web|url=https://uktvplay.uktv.co.uk/shows/judge-romesh-justice-never-sleeps/watch-online/|title=Watch Judge Romesh: Justice Never Sleeps {{pipe}} On Demand {{pipe}} UKTV Play|publisher=UKTV|access-date=1 September 2018}} For the first series, 34 cases were filmed over three days at Pinewood Studios. Three of the cases involved celebrities—Shaun Ryder and Bez, Antony Costa and Duncan James and Stevi Ritchie and Chloe Jasmine—while the remaining cases were between members of the public.{{cite web|url=https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/comedy/judge-romesh-dave/5131143.article|title=Judge Romesh, Dave|work=Broadcast|date=7 August 2018|access-date=1 September 2018}}

Commissioned by Joe McVey, the programme was produced by Hungry Bear Media for Dave, a British channel owned by UKTV. Dan Baldwin and Andy Price served as executive producers and Sarah Pack was the producer. Geoff Norcott wrote additional material and Ollie Bartlett was the director. Post-production was done by Suite TV. According to Baldwin, the courtroom set was inspired by the styles of British courtrooms and Hollywood films. A live audience was used. Shooting was done in 360 degrees with five cameras. Ranganathan says that he did no legal research prior to filming, as he wanted to judge based on instincts. He describes the cases as "genuine grievances", although they vary in severity.{{cite web|url=https://www.irishnews.com/lifestyle/2018/08/06/news/tv-quickfire-romesh-ranganathan-takes-comedy-into-courtroom-for-new-show-1395564/|title=TV Quickfire: Romesh Ranganathan takes comedy into courtroom for new show|work=The Irish News|date=6 August 2018|access-date=1 September 2018}}

In November 2018, the programme was renewed for a second series.{{cite web|url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2018/11/08/41641/two_romesh_ranganathan_shows_get_renewed|title=Two Romesh Ranganathan shows get renewed|work=Chortle|last=Richardson|first=Jay|date=8 November 2018|access-date=30 June 2019}} British Comedy Guide later reported that series would likely be filmed in January 2019 at Pinewood Studios.{{cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/news/5150/judge_romesh_series_2/|title=Judge Romesh Series 2 planned|work=British Comedy Guide|date=20 December 2018|access-date=30 June 2019}} In March, it was announced that the series would have twelve episodes,{{cite web|url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2019/03/13/42518/jessica_knappett_joins_judge_romesh|title=Jessica Knappett joins Judge Romesh|work=Chortle|date=13 March 2019|access-date=30 June 2019}} and Jessica Knappett would replace Kerry Howard as court clerk for the second series. Howard commented on social media that she had felt out of place as clerk and wanted to spend more time with her son.{{cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/news/5238/judge_romesh_series_2/|title=Jessica Knappett joins Judge Romesh Series 2|publisher=British Comedy Guide|date=13 March 2019|access-date=30 June 2019}}

Ratings

For each of the first two series, two episodes aired at a time on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on Dave. Ratings data is taken from BARB.{{cite web|url=https://www.barb.co.uk/viewing-data/weekly-top-10/|title=Weekly top 10 programmes {{pipe}} BARB|publisher=Broadcasters' Audience Research Board|access-date=1 September 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.barb.co.uk/viewing-data/four-screen-dashboard/|title=Four-screen dashboard|publisher=Broadcasters' Audience Research Board|access-date=30 June 2019}}

=Series 1=

Episode {{Abbr\|No.\|Number}}	Airdate	28 day viewers (millions)	Dave weekly ranking
class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
1	rowspan="2" \| 8 August 2018	0.608	1
2	0.492	2
3	rowspan="2" \| 15 August 2018	0.392	1
4	0.362	2
5	rowspan="2" \| 22 August 2018	0.235	6
6	0.235	8
7	rowspan="2" \| 29 August 2018	0.292	1
8	0.274	3
9	rowspan="2" \| 5 September 2018	0.365	2
10	0.309	4

=Series 2=

Episode {{Abbr\|No.\|Number}}	Airdate	28 day viewers (millions)	Dave weekly ranking
class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
1	rowspan="2" \| 22 May 2019	0.357	3
2	0.389	2
3	rowspan="2" \| 29 May 2019	0.321	2
4	0.279	3
5	rowspan="2" \| 5 June 2019	0.372	2
6	0.278	4
7	rowspan="2" \| 12 June 2019	0.295	3
8	0.260	8
9	rowspan="2" \| 19 June 2019	0.280	4
10	0.263	5
11	rowspan="2" \| 26 June 2019	0.337	2
12	0.253	6

Reception

According to Dave, the first series reached 3.7 million viewers. The show has been described as "a twist on soapy courtroom programmes"{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/aug/03/judge-romesh-best-tv-this-week|title=This week's best home entertainment: from Judge Romesh to Of Wolves and Women|work=The Guardian|last1=Mumford|first1=Gwilym|last2=Howlett|first2=Paul|last3=Wang|first3=Ian|date=3 August 2018|access-date=1 September 2018}} and compared to Judge Rinder,{{cite web|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2018-08-29/everything-you-need-to-know-about-judge-romesh/|title=Everything you need to know about Judge Romesh|work=Radio Times|date=29 August 2018|access-date=1 September 2018}} Judge Judy and The Jeremy Kyle Show.

Bruce Dessau of Beyond the Joke writes in a positive review that the show is "interesting set-up", Ranganathan is "pretty damn funny" and Davis is "such a big personality, he almost upstages Ranganathan".{{cite web|url=https://www.beyondthejoke.co.uk/content/6050/tv-judge-romesh-dave|title=TV: Judge Romesh, Dave|work=Beyond the Joke|last=Dessau|first=Bruce|date=5 August 2018|access-date=1 September 2018}} Steve Bennett of Chortle gives the show three out of five stars. Bennett writes that the show is "not a revolutionary formula" and criticises the short ten-minute slot for each case. He criticises that Howard is underused, but praises that the casting of Ranganathan as judge perfectly fits his "grumpy, intolerant and judgmental" comedy persona.{{cite web|url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2018/08/08/40736/judge_romesh|title=Judge Romesh|last=Bennett|first=Steve|publisher=Chortle|date=8 August 2018|access-date=1 September 2018}} A negative review in The Times says that "the cases quickly become tiresome and there's a mean-spirited vibe."{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/whats-on-tv-tonight-3qtcsh60k|title=What's on TV tonight|work=The Times|last=Clay|first=Jay|date=9 August 2018|access-date=1 September 2018}}

Reviewing the second series, Barbara Speed of i gave the programme three out of five stars, praising it as a reality television show that demonstrates "you can combine members of the public, their problems and some good-natured mockery without tipping over into exploitation".{{cite web|url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/judge-romesh-review-a-reality-show-for-a-post-jeremy-kyle-world/|title=Judge Romesh review: A reality show for a post-Jeremy Kyle world|work=i|last=Speed|first=Barbara|date=29 May 2019|access-date=30 June 2019}}