Staged

Stagedis a British television comedy series. Set and filmed during theCOVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, primarily usingvideo-conferencingtechnology, the series stars actorsMichael SheenandDavid Tennantas fictionalised versions of themselves.Simon Evans,Georgia Tennant,Anna Lundberg, and Lucy Eaton also star. The first series premiered 10 June 2020 onBBC One, and the second series premiered 4 January 2021 on BBC One. AComic ReliefNew Year Special was uploaded to theBritBoxYouTubepage on 31 December 2021. A third series premiered on 24 November 2022 on BritBox.
In the first series, Michael Sheen and David Tennant play fictionalised versions of themselves, trying to rehearse a performance ofLuigi Pirandello'sSix Characters in Search of an Authorduringlockdownvia videoconference,while the underconfident director, Simon, struggles to keep control of the production.
The second series follows the "real" Michael and David following the success of the first series ofStaged. Simon begins work on an Americanremakeof the first series but Michael and David are not asked to reprise their roles.
The third series starts with Simon trying to get Michael and David to agree to a Christmas staged version ofSix Characters in Search of an Author, and laterA Christmas Carol, before becoming ametafictionalbehind the scenes documentary of the show entitledBackstaged.
Guest stars play themselves unless otherwise noted.
The series premiered on 10 June 2020 onBBC One.On 22 October 2020, it was announced that a second series had been commissioned.The second series premiered on 4 January 2021 on BBC One, and all eight episodes were added toBBC iPlayeron the same day.A New Year Special was uploaded toBritBoxYouTubepage on 31 December 2021, with Michael, David, Simon, Georgia, Anna & Lucy all reprising their roles.
The first series was released in the U.S. via streaming serviceHuluon 16 September 2020.
A third series of six episodes premiered on 24 November 2022 on BritBox UK.
The first series was well received by critics. Louis Chilton, in a four-starred review forThe Independent, describedStagedas "a welcome distraction, an eminently watchable portrait of two artists as petulant, egotistical children".Anna Leszkiewicz, for theNew Statesman, said it was "charming: absurdly silly in a quiet, understated way".Rupert Hawksley, in thei, described it as "compelling 'lockdown' television".Gabriel Tate, reviewingStagedforMetro, said "Sheen and Tennant shared a warmth and willingness to take the mickey out of each other that felt entirely unforced."Fergus Morgan, writing inThe Stage, gave the production five stars and said: "Tennant and Sheen are excellent, perennially, even when performing as themselves to their own laptops. Here, joined by Evans and by their real-life spouses – the actors Georgia Tennant and Anna Lundberg – they are on top form, crackling with snide chemistry. The whole thing is a treat."
The second series received more mixed reviews. Rupert Hawksley ofThe Independentcalled the first episode "stale and indulgent [...] PerhapsStagedwas always this smug and we just didn’t notice, so grateful were we to have something new to watch, but the tone is now horribly out of step with the national mood." Writing forThe Telegraph, Anita Singh criticised the meta aspects of the second series, saying "Stagedis at its best when the duo are being funny, rather than debating whether or not they’re funny."