Pound Shop Wars

{{Infobox television

| image = Pound Shop Wars.png

| genre = Factual

| creator =

| based_on =

| developer =

| director = {{Plainlist |

Kerry Brierley
Emeka Onono
Andrew Dedman
Tom Williams
Victoria Bell

}}

| narrated = Caroline Aherne

| theme_music_composer =

| opentheme =

| endtheme =

| composer =

| country = United Kingdom

| language = English

| num_series = 2

| num_episodes = 13

| list_episodes = #Episode list

| executive_producer = {{Plainlist |

Samantha Anstiss
Cat Lewis
Dominique Walker }}

| producer = Kerry Brierley

| editor =

| location =

| cinematography =

| camera =

| runtime = 30 minutes

| company = Nine Lives Media

| channel = BBC One

| first_aired = {{Start date|2012|11|7|df=yes}}

| last_aired = {{End date|2015|9|30|df=yes}}

| related =

}}

Pound Shop Wars is a British factual television series that was first broadcast on BBC One from 7 November 2012 until 30 September 2015. Narrated by Caroline Aherne, the series shows the competition between rival pound shops, focusing on Poundworld. The second series, comprising eight episodes, began on 12 August 2015.

Episode list

=Pilot (2012)=

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" width="50%" style="background:#FFFFFF;"

!style="background: #bfe0bf;"| #

!style="background: #bfe0bf;"| Title

!style="background: #bfe0bf;"| Directed by

!style="background: #bfe0bf;"| Original air date

!style="background: #bfe0bf;"| UK viewers
(millions){{cite web | url=http://www.barb.co.uk/whats-new/weekly-top-30 | title=BARB Top 30s}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=1

|Title= Pilot

|DirectedBy=Kerry Brierley

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2012|11|7|df=yes}}

|Aux4=4.80

|ShortSummary= A price war between 99p Stores and Poundworld threatens to erupt, forcing Poundworld CEO Chris to take evasive action.

|LineColor=bfe0bf

}}

=Series 1 (2014)=

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!style="background: #bfe0bf;"| #

!style="background: #bfe0bf;"| Title

!style="background: #bfe0bf;"| Directed by

!style="background: #bfe0bf;"| Original air date

!style="background: #bfe0bf;"| UK viewers
(millions)

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=1

|Title=The Battle of the Bra

|DirectedBy=Emeka Onono

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2014|2|6|df=yes}}

|Aux4=5.66

|ShortSummary=When Poundland reduces its prices, Poundworld retaliates by launching the £1 bra. Poundworld area manager Craig and finance director Ian come head to head over staffing levels.

|LineColor=bfe0bf

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=2

|Title=David and Goliath

|DirectedBy=Emeka Onono

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2014|2|13|df=yes}}

|Aux4=4.72

|ShortSummary=A Poundworld store opens near Peterborough's longest-running small independent pound shops.

|LineColor=bfe0bf

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=3

|Title=£1 Crime Spree

|DirectedBy=Emeka Onono

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2014|2|19|df=yes}}

|Aux4=3.75

|ShortSummary=Poundworld CEO Chris Edwards decides to employ undercover store detectives.

|LineColor=bfe0bf

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=4

|Title=Too Posh to Pound Shop?

|DirectedBy=Emeka Onono

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2014|2|27|df=yes}}

|Aux4=5.29

|ShortSummary=Chris fights to win middle class customers by opening a branch in Harrogate.

|LineColor=bfe0bf

}}

=Series 2 (2015)=

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" width="50%" style="background:#FFFFFF;"

!style="background: #66B3FF;"| #

!style="background: #66B3FF;"| Title

!style="background: #66B3FF;"| Directed by

!style="background: #66B3FF;"| Original air date

!style="background: #66B3FF;"| UK viewers
(millions)

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=1

|Title=Trouble in Scarborough

|DirectedBy= Andrew Dedman

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2015|08|12|df=yes}}{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nazYqq41xCQ|title=Pound Shop Wars: Series 2 Trailer - BBC One|date=31 July 2015|work=YouTube}}

|Aux4=Below 3.47

|ShortSummary=A gaping hole is left in Chris's management team as some of his top staff defect

|LineColor=66B3FF

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=2

|Title= Battle of the Loom Bands

|DirectedBy= Andrew Dedman

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2015|08|19|df=yes}}

|Aux4=TBC

|ShortSummary=Boss Chris is tipped off by his granddaughter that the latest trend is loom bands.

|LineColor=66B3FF

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=3

|Title= Forty New Shops

|DirectedBy= Emeka Onono

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2015|08|26|df=yes}}

|Aux4=TBC

|ShortSummary=The CEO of Poundworld, Chris Edwards, is back with ambitious plans for expansion.

|LineColor=66B3FF

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=4

|Title=The Multi-Price Battle

|DirectedBy= Tom Williams

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2015|09|02|df=yes}}

|Aux4=TBC

|ShortSummary=With multi-price retailers doing well, Chris decides he wants a piece of the pie.

|LineColor=66B3FF

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=5

|Title= Halloween High Jinks

|DirectedBy= Victoria Bell

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2015|09|09|df=yes}}

|Aux4=TBC

|ShortSummary=Rival stores compete for the crown of Best Halloween Pound Shop in South Wales.

|LineColor=66B3FF

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=6

|Title= South Coast Invasion

|DirectedBy= Tom Williams

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2015|09|16|df=yes}}

|Aux4=TBC

|ShortSummary=Boss Chris tries to plant the Poundworld flag down South.

|LineColor=66B3FF

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=7

|Title=A Frozen Frenzy

|DirectedBy= Victoria Bell

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2015|09|23|df=yes}}

|Aux4=TBC

|ShortSummary=Chris does a deal with Disney to produce a massive range of Frozen merchandise.

|LineColor=66B3FF

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=8

|Title=Battles in Cyberspace

|DirectedBy= Tom Williams

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2015|09|30|df=yes}}

|Aux4=TBC

|ShortSummary=Two pound shop giants launch competing websites to crack the online market.

|LineColor=66B3FF

}}

Reception

=Ratings=

The first one-off hour-long special episode had a 19.8% audience share.{{cite news | url=http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/ratings/pound-shop-wars-fights-off-competition/5066379.article | title=Pound Shop Wars fights off competition | work=Broadcast Now | date=7 February 2014 | accessdate=8 February 2014 | author=Kanter, Jake}} According to overnight figures, "The Battle of the Bra" had a viewing audience of 5.42 million, with 23.7% watching it.{{cite news | url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a549659/pound-shop-wars-top-on-thursday-night-with-54m.html | title=Pound Shop Wars top on Thursday night with 5.4m | work=Digital Spy | date=7 February 2014 | accessdate=8 February 2014 | author=Eames, Tom}} The third and fourth episodes had viewing audiences of 19.4% and 16.7% respectively.{{cite news | url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a551220/inspector-george-gently-rises-to-top-thursday-ratings-with-55m.html | title=Inspector George Gently rises to top Thursday ratings with 5.5m | work=Digital Spy | date=14 February 2014 | accessdate=24 February 2014 | author=Eames, Tom}}{{cite news | url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a552555/brit-awards-2014-attracts-lowest-ratings-ever.html | title=Brit Awards 2014 attracts lowest ratings ever | work=Digital Spy | date=20 February 2014 | accessdate=24 February 2014 | author=Eames, Tom}}

=Critical reception=

Tim Dowling of The Guardian said the series "was not enhanced by Caroline Aherne's jokey narration, and it had more than its fair share of isn't-he-a-character type characters, but it was saved for me by a surprising discovery: the pound shop business is actually pretty interesting."{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/feb/07/big-ballet-pound-shop-wars-tv-review | title=Big Ballet; Pound Shop Wars – TV review | work=The Guardian | date=7 February 2014 | accessdate=8 February 2014 | author=Dowling, Tim}} Metro{{'s}} Caroline Westbrook said it "certainly didn't disappoint".{{cite news | url=http://metro.co.uk/2014/02/06/the-six-best-bargains-which-were-up-for-sale-in-pound-shop-wars-4293464/ | title=The six best bargains which were up for sale in Pound Shop Wars | work=Metro | date=6 February 2014 | accessdate=8 February 2014 | author=Westbrook, Caroline}} Bath Chronicle called the narration "lacklustre" and commented on how boring the series was.{{cite news | url=http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/TV-review-Poundshop-Wars-BBC-1/story-20580468-detail/story.html | title=TV review: Poundshop Wars, BBC 1 | work=Bath Chronicle | date=7 February 2014 | accessdate=8 February 2014}} Andrew Billen from The Times gave the programme three stars out of five.{{cite news | url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/tv-review-pound-shop-wars-zqq6qgcnqhw | title=TV review: Pound Shop Wars | work=The Times | date=7 February 2014 | access-date=8 February 2014 | author=Billen, Andrew}} The Sunday Times said "Full marks to the makers of this documentary, who find a clever and absorbing way to tell the story of the biggest current trend on Britain's high streets."{{cite web | url=http://www.zodiakrights.com/Brand/7674/pound-shop-wars-4-x-30-series | title=Pound Shop Wars (4 x 30' Series) | work=Zodiak Rights | accessdate=8 February 2014 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20140208071812/http://www.zodiakrights.com/Brand/7674/pound-shop-wars-4-x-30-series | archive-date=8 February 2014 | url-status=dead }}