The Ranganation

The Ranganation is a British comedy show hosted by Romesh Ranganathan and broadcast on BBC Two. Ranganathan joins a group of 25 members of the public, including his mother, to discuss news events of the week. Two celebrity guests are also featured. The first series of six 45-minute episodes premiered on 19 May 2019. The second series of six episodes was filmed remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and first aired on 10 May 2020.

The Ranganation
Genre	Comedy
Directed by	Barbara Wiltshire
Presented by	Romesh Ranganathan
Starring	Shanthi Ranganathan
Opening theme	"No CD" by Loyle Carner
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	12
Production
Producers	Mark Barrett Mia Cross Monica Long
Running time	45 minutes
Production company	Zeppotron
Release
Original network	BBC Two
Original release	19 May 2019 – present
External links
Website

Production

A pilot was filmed on 20 May 2018, produced by Zeppotron.[1][2] The first series was commissioned in August 2018.[3] It consisted of six weekly 45-minute episodes, beginning on 19 May 2019 and ending on 23 June 2019.

Ranganathan said that he wanted the programme to be a "topical show not a political show". He said that the casting was focused around recruiting a diverse group of "regular people who are opinionated and passionate", and that he enjoys the honesty of the panellists. Asked who his ideal guest would be in 2018, Ranganathan said it would be Justin Trudeau if he was British, or Idris Elba.[4] When asked again in 2020, he suggested Patrick Stewart.[5]

The second series of six episodes aired in May 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.[6] It was one of several topical British shows to be filmed and hosted by each participant remotely from their home, along with Have I Got News for You, The Mash Report and The Last Leg. Ranganathan filmed in his garage, requiring him to move out equipment he had bought in order to learn how to DJ during the pandemic. Some panellists from the first series returned, while others were replaced by new people. The first episode aired on 10 May 2020 in a Sunday 9:15 p.m. timeslot. The production aimed to talk about a mixture of topics, despite the pandemic dominating the news.[7][8][5]

Episodes

Series 1

No. overall	No. in series	Guests	Original air date	UK viewers (millions) [9]
1	1	Rob Beckett and Fay Ripley	19 May 2019	1.49
2	2	Natasia Demetriou and Katherine Ryan	26 May 2019	1.19
3	3	Jessica Hynes and Jon Richardson	2 June 2019	1.01
4	4	Tom Davis and Sara Pascoe	9 June 2019	N/A (< 1.15)[lower-alpha 1]
5	5	Kerry Godliman and Richard Osman	16 June 2019	1.29
6	6	Angela Scanlon and Tom Allen	23 June 2019	1.25

Series 2

No. overall	No. in series	Guests	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)
7	1	Danny Dyer and Katherine Ryan	10 May 2020	TBA
8	2	Jon Richardson and Scarlett Moffatt	17 May 2020	TBA
9	3	Rob Beckett and Jo Brand	24 May 2020	TBA
10	4	Jason Manford and Aisling Bea	31 May 2020	TBA
11	5	Tom Allen and Paloma Faith	7 June 2020	TBA
12	6	Andrew Flintoff and Sara Pascoe	14 June 2020	TBA

Topics

The 2019 series included a wide variety of discussion including:

• Episode 1: Do you wash your legs in the shower? [10]
• Episode 2: Should plastic straws be banned? [11]
• Episode 3: Should homework be banned? [12]
• Episode 4: Do you believe in UFOs? [13]
• Episode 5: The staggering number of UK adults sleeping with a soft toy [14]
• Episode 6: Trying to answer stupid job interview questions [15]

The Ranganation Members

2019 Series 1 Members

The Ranganation has included a diverse cross section of members from the public including:

Top row: Vlogger, Vicars Daughter, Privileged, Yes Miss, Football Mad, Lord Dave, Selfie Queen, EcoVegan, Wannabe MP, Mindful, Oxbridge, Dog Father, Technophobe

Middle row: Table for One, Small Town Girl, Ex Banker, Gen Z, Wheeler Dealer, The Skipper, Single Dad, You're History, Witness the Fitness

Bottom row: Romesh's Mum, Never Voted, Granny To Be, Pride of Wales, Comic Book Guy, Green Fingers

2020 Series 2 Members

The Ranganation series 2 has included 25 members from the public including:

Top row: Romesh's mum, Craft Beard, Privileged, You're History, Never Voted, Lord Dave

2nd row: Small Town Girl, Pride of Wales, Ex Banker, Mani-Pedi, Vlogger

3rd row: Glam Gran, Wheeler Dealer, Technophobe, Metalhead, Old Bill, Green Fingers, Gen Z

Bottom row: Football Mad, Watch Your Language, Wine Buff, The Dogfather, Oxbridge, The Skipper, Comic Book Guy

Notes

1. Not reported in the weekly top 15 programmes for BBC Two

References

1. Richardson, Jay (18 May 2018). "Romesh Ranganathan pilots topical BBC Two panel show". Chortle. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
2. "Romesh Ranganathan to host new BBC panel show pilot". British Comedy Guide. 18 May 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
3. "The Ranganation ordered by BBC Two". British Comedy Guide. 23 August 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
4. "'I pretend I consider the public equals...'". Chortle. 14 May 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
5. "There's going to be a blank square where my mum should be..." Chortle. 8 May 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
6. "The Ranganation". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
7. "The Ranganation is back - from Romesh's garage". Chortle. 7 May 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
8. "Romesh Ranganathan back with new series of topical comedy show The Ranganation". The Irish News. 8 May 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
9. "Weekly top 10 programmes BARB". www.barb.co.uk. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
10. Do you wash your legs in the shower? | The Ranganation - BBC, retrieved 2019-08-11
11. Should plastic straws be banned? | The Ranganation - BBC, retrieved 2019-08-11
12. Should homework be banned? | The Ranganation - BBC, retrieved 2019-08-11
13. Do you believe in UFOs? | The Ranganation - BBC, retrieved 2019-08-11
14. The staggering number of UK adults sleeping with a soft toy 🤯 | The Ranganation - BBC, retrieved 2019-08-11
15. Trying to answer stupid job interview questions | The Ranganation - BBC, retrieved 2019-08-11

External links

The Ranganation at BBC Programmes