Monkman & Seagull's Genius Adventures

Monkman & Seagull's Genius Adventures is a BBC documentary series presented by Eric Monkman and Bobby Seagull, a duo who met as rivals on the quiz programme University Challenge and became friends, coauthors and TV and radio show cohosts. The show is a follow on from their 2018 series Monkman & Seagull's Genius Guide to Britain, it is a road trip around the United Kingdom, time-travelling through a key 150 years from the Industrial Revolution to the Victorian era. The show aired in 2020 with a voiceover supplied by Simon Callow.

Monkman & Seagull's Genius Adventures
GenreRoad trip
Directed byJoseph Cunningham
Presented byBobby Seagull, Eric Monkman
Country of originUK
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes3
Production
Executive producersSimon Dickson, Lorraine Charker-Phillips
ProducerJoseph Cunningham
Production companyLabel1 Television Ltd
Release
Original networkBBC 2
Original release18 May 2020 (2020-05-18)
Chronology
Preceded byMonkman & Seagull's Genius Guide to Britain

Episodes
No.Title [1]Directed by [1]Original air date [1]UK viewers
(millions) [2]
1"Episode 1"Samuel Palmer18 May 2020 (2020-05-18)N/A

The first episode covers the early Industrial Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment.[3]

2"Episode 2"Samuel Palmer25 May 2020 (2020-05-25)N/A

The first half of the 19th century, Britain’s industrial infrastructure.[4]

3"Episode 3"Samuel Palmer1 June 2020 (2020-06-01)N/A

The height of the Victorian Era.[5]

Reception

Sean O'Grady in The Independent praised the fun nature of the first episode, enjoyed the technical explanations and found Monkman & Seagull's joy at discovery and enthusiasm for enlightenment "extremely infectious".[6]

Joel Golby in The Guardian suggested that a flaw in the show is that the segments where Monkman & Seagull are learning about something don't come across well, because the viewer knows that they are intelligent and already know the information. He suggested that the show needs "someone happy to play the fool", to ask questions and let Monkman & Seagull do the explaining instead. Golby praised the duos' chemistry, specifically singling out the segments filmed in the car saying "These are so comfortable, and so different from the rest of the show, that you suspect the production team neglected to tell the pair that the cameras were rolling, and instead captured raw magic and asked for permission to broadcast it afterwards."[7]

References
  1. "BBC Two - Monkman & Seagull's Genius Adventures - Episode guide". BBC. Follow link to appropriate episode.
  2. "Four Screen Dashboard". BARB. See relevant channel and week(s). Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  3. "BBC Two - Monkman & Seagull's Genius Adventures, Series 1, Episode 1". BBC.
  4. "BBC Two - Monkman & Seagull's Genius Adventures, Series 1, Episode 2". BBC.
  5. "BBC Two - Monkman & Seagull's Genius Adventures, Series 1, Episode 3". BBC.
  6. "Monkman & Seagull's Genius Adventures is an infectious joy – review". The Independent. 18 May 2020.
  7. "Monkman & Seagull's Genius Adventures: brainy lads on tour". the Guardian. 18 May 2020.

Monkman & Seagull's Genius Adventures at BBC Programmes

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