The Cleaner is a British television sitcom created by and starring Greg Davies, which premiered on BBC One on 10 September 2021. The series is based on the German comedy Der Tatortreiniger ("Crime Scene Cleaner"). A second series, with a Christmas special, began airing on 23 December 2022. A third series was announced in January 2024 and began airing on 4 October 2024. In 2026 during an interview, Greg Davies revealed the continuation of the show, although it was too early to reveal details. Davies said "I've been told I'm not allowed to say much, but all I can tell you is, it's not over. The Cleaner is not finished, we're working on something." In July 2026, the BBC announced that there will be a one-off festive episode to be shown over the Christmas period.
Contents
Plot
Paul "Wicky" Wickstead, a government-certified cleaning technician, is responsible for the removal of any signs of death, injury or other biohazard debris from crime scenes. In the course of his work, he gets to know a variety of people.
Cast and characters
Main
Greg Davies as Paul "Wicky" Wickstead, a crime scene cleaner who visits various people each episode
Zita Sattar as PS Ruth Edwards, a police officer, who is a close friend (later girlfriend) of Wicky
Guest
Helena Bonham Carter as Sheila. Sheila met her husband in business school; however, after she married him, she found herself bored. Sheila and her husband were married for at least 35 years. One day, after having reached the limit with her husband, she killed him. After meeting Wicky, they planned to go on holiday and then Sheila would turn herself in, but Wicky called the police at the last minute and Sheila was arrested (Ep.1)
Shobu Kapoor as Neeta, Sheila's neighbour. She loves to bake and is extremely judgemental of any woman she meets who dislikes or doesn't do baking (Ep.1)
Georgie Glen as Mrs Gathernoid, a fan of Terence's work who claims to invite him to an award ceremony, but he sees through her (Ep.2)
Paul Chowdhry as "Man Boy", the son of neighbour Neeta (Ep.1)
David Mitchell as Terence Redford, a struggling writer who is hostile to Wicky (Ep.2)
Ruth Madeley as Helena, a young woman in a wheelchair who is vegan and has recently broken up with her partner (Ep.3)
Stephanie Cole as Vivienne Hosier, an aristocrat who is very proud of her estate, especially her sofa, which she deems precious to her family history and notes many famous people who sat there (Ep.4)
Donald Sumpter as Sir James, a close friend of Vivienne's who is quite traditional (Ep.4)
Esmonde Cole as Tony (Ep.4)
Layton Williams as 'Hosea' (Bernard), a young social media influencer who has an affinity with 1980s' culture, despite not having seen Back to the Future (Ep.5)
Bill Skinner as Mickey Boy (Ep.5)
