Unforgivable

According to a press release:

Favourite comics and celebrities compete to convince Mel Giedroyc that they are the most Unforgivable person in the room. To do this they will have to dredge up their most outrageous sins, lies, legal transgressions and morally bankrupt behaviour.

In each episode three celebrities come clean and regale tales of their most despicable deeds and uncharitable behaviour as they are probed by host Mel and her sinful sidekick Lou Sanders for all the dastardly details, in the show that scratches away at the polished and preened surfaces of some of the nation's favourite faces to reveal their dark underbellies.

The show splits into four rounds, beginning with "Original Sin", a tale from the panelist's childhood. "The Payback Shack" holds a mystery guest familiar to one of the panel, who are invited to guess who it is and why they might be there.

"Damning Evidence" has physical props brought in by a small drone, again to clue in an anecdote from someone. "Takes One to Know One" has members of the public in the confessional, with the panel invited to fill in blanks in their tale.

The presentation is designed to be opaque. Mel Giedroyc keeps a somewhat arbitrary score by awarding minus points. Lou Sanders writes down all the bad doings like some sort of administrative under-devil. There are gimmicks - drones in the studio, a very long microphone for Mel - perhaps a little too much gimmickery.

At heart, Unforgivable is a cosy panel show, where entertaining guests tell embarrassing stories of their misdeeds in the past, and perhaps confront one of the people they've wronged. The show might be a little saggy in the middle, it would benefit from an extra round somewhere, but it's a decent watch.

Blind comedian Chris McCausland's reaction to being wrong gonged.

Sanj Sen, credited for "Music". It's an atmospheric mixture of church organ and contemporary beats.

As seen above, the programme has host Mel Giedroyc billed above the title. This is carried through UKTV's other publicity for the show where it is identified as Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable. That's with the exception of mid-programme digital on-screen graphics advertising the third series - they misspelt the host's surname as "Giedrocy".

Series three recurring irritant Nutz the Squirrel, billed as being from CITV's Get Real, is in fact a creation of Max Fulham, who had previously appeared on Crackerjack and Game of Talents. (Though not with Nutz, obviously.) Series four featured another chronic rash, a stalker who would port props on and offset; he went uncredited but was almost certainly (and incestuously) played by Sanders' flatmate Luke McQueen.

The first series was repeated on BBC2 from 22 October 2024, about four years after it had been recorded.

U programme page

British Comedy Guide entry

Weaver's Week review