Riona (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rionaleonhart) wrote2026-01-08 01:01 pm
rionaleonhart) wrote2026-01-08 01:01 pm
We're Going Where The Sea Is Frozen.
In Peter Pan Goes Wrong, Robert comments on Sandra 'flirting with everybody'. Everybody, you say? I do love an opportunity to ship a character with everyone, but how do I learn how to write everyone?
When I get fannishly into a work of fiction, I want to gather whatever information I can find that might be useful for characterisation. Usually, this is a simple matter; I just have to watch the show or read the book or play the game!
The Goes Wrong Show universe is more of a challenge. The actual actors are playing fictitious 'actors' who are playing characters, and it's the 'actors' I want to learn more about. If you want to learn more about the fictitious members of the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society, you really have to go digging!
There are snippets of characterisation scattered across a bunch of theatrical performances and supplemental materials, some of which are readily available and some of which really aren't. The Goes Wrong Show itself is easy to come by; it's on BBC iPlayer (although I bought it on DVD because we don't have a television licence), and I've heard it's free on YouTube outside the UK.
(If you're curious about this stupid thing I've gone insane about, I suggest trying the Goes Wrong Show episode '90 Degrees', which instantly makes it clear how ludicrously dedicated the (actual) actors are to the craft of fucking everything up. It takes genuine effort to make a play go this badly!)
Beyond that, I find myself desperately piecing these characters together through brief faux 'behind the scenes' videos across various platforms, and one two-hour in-character radio broadcast, The Christmas That Goes Wrong, which aired in 2016 and is now only available on the Internet Archive.
(I'm including this link solely for my own future self's reference; this is very much a 'this is of interest to me and only me' piece of media! Do you want to hear Chris Bean and Robert Grove fuck up and play 'Summer Holiday' instead of 'White Christmas' three times? Of course you don't. I do. This is for me. If for some reason you do decide to listen, the programme starts three minutes into the audio file, but I really wouldn't recommend it unless the Goes Wrong universe already has its claws in you.)
I still haven't seen The Play That Goes Wrong itself, which is where most of these characters actually originated. I am, I'll be honest, eyeing up theatre tickets.
Anyway, here are my favourite stupid facts I've gleaned about the members of this fictional drama society from supplemental materials. Actually, now that I double-check, all of these facts are about Robert, my beloved terrible egotistic weirdo. (Why are all of my blorbos the worst? Why can't I ever fall in love with someone nice?)
- Robert has (or had?) a pet owl named Ionesco with whom he rehearses scenes.
- For years, on account of misinterpreting or misremembering the classic 'if you're nervous, picture the audience naked' advice as 'if you're nervous, just get naked', Robert would strip off to do public speaking events.
- Robert dresses up as Santa for Christmas every year, even when he's alone, because Christmas is all about 'doing things one enjoys'. When he's asked why he enjoys dressing as Santa, his response is 'Well, he's a happy man. Certainly happier than I am.'
- Robert puts on a solo(??) Nativity performance in a park near his home every Christmas Eve. In 2015, the only attendees were Dennis and his mother, and they brought him back to their place afterwards because Robert had nowhere to go for Christmas.
- Robert and Dennis's mother subsequently had sex, and Dennis has seen Robert as a father figure ever since. Robert seems pleased by this; he says 'thank you' when Dennis calls him 'Dad'.
- In 2016, Robert is 'romancing' Chris's mother, apparently pretty successfully; they have an upcoming hotel booking for a romantic getaway.
- When this comes to light, Robert insists on Chris calling him 'Dad'.
- Robert is very insistent about making sure there are flower petals on the bed he'll be sharing with Chris's mother. He may be wildly self-obsessed, but he's a romantic guy! Which is perhaps no surprise; he's an actor.
- As a side note, it's in The Christmas That Goes Wrong that we learn Robert has slept with both Dennis's mum and Chris's mum. Only those two? Or do we only learn about those two because those are the two present with Robert on the radio show? Is it possible that Robert has been banging his way through the mothers of the entire drama society?
- As of 2020, after Robert's partner left him and he spent some time living in his car, Robert and Dennis are living together. (Is Robert back together with Dennis's mum? Unclear.)
- Robert's top tip for playing multiple roles is having a different hat for every role to prevent confusion. 'Once, when I was younger, I tried playing two different roles with just one hat. Didn't work out well, I can tell you. One of the other actors died.'
My personal favourite bit of supplemental Goes Wrong material I've come across is this stupid two-minute promotional video (Tumblr link) in which Robert is helping Chris try on suits. Extremely weird and homoerotic; single-handedly sent me from 'I'm not really shipping any of these characters' to 'okay, yeah, these two should have absolutely disastrous sex'. Robert may or may not actively be attempting to murder Chris here?
When I get fannishly into a work of fiction, I want to gather whatever information I can find that might be useful for characterisation. Usually, this is a simple matter; I just have to watch the show or read the book or play the game!
The Goes Wrong Show universe is more of a challenge. The actual actors are playing fictitious 'actors' who are playing characters, and it's the 'actors' I want to learn more about. If you want to learn more about the fictitious members of the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society, you really have to go digging!
There are snippets of characterisation scattered across a bunch of theatrical performances and supplemental materials, some of which are readily available and some of which really aren't. The Goes Wrong Show itself is easy to come by; it's on BBC iPlayer (although I bought it on DVD because we don't have a television licence), and I've heard it's free on YouTube outside the UK.
(If you're curious about this stupid thing I've gone insane about, I suggest trying the Goes Wrong Show episode '90 Degrees', which instantly makes it clear how ludicrously dedicated the (actual) actors are to the craft of fucking everything up. It takes genuine effort to make a play go this badly!)
Beyond that, I find myself desperately piecing these characters together through brief faux 'behind the scenes' videos across various platforms, and one two-hour in-character radio broadcast, The Christmas That Goes Wrong, which aired in 2016 and is now only available on the Internet Archive.
(I'm including this link solely for my own future self's reference; this is very much a 'this is of interest to me and only me' piece of media! Do you want to hear Chris Bean and Robert Grove fuck up and play 'Summer Holiday' instead of 'White Christmas' three times? Of course you don't. I do. This is for me. If for some reason you do decide to listen, the programme starts three minutes into the audio file, but I really wouldn't recommend it unless the Goes Wrong universe already has its claws in you.)
I still haven't seen The Play That Goes Wrong itself, which is where most of these characters actually originated. I am, I'll be honest, eyeing up theatre tickets.
Anyway, here are my favourite stupid facts I've gleaned about the members of this fictional drama society from supplemental materials. Actually, now that I double-check, all of these facts are about Robert, my beloved terrible egotistic weirdo. (Why are all of my blorbos the worst? Why can't I ever fall in love with someone nice?)
- Robert has (or had?) a pet owl named Ionesco with whom he rehearses scenes.
- For years, on account of misinterpreting or misremembering the classic 'if you're nervous, picture the audience naked' advice as 'if you're nervous, just get naked', Robert would strip off to do public speaking events.
- Robert dresses up as Santa for Christmas every year, even when he's alone, because Christmas is all about 'doing things one enjoys'. When he's asked why he enjoys dressing as Santa, his response is 'Well, he's a happy man. Certainly happier than I am.'
- Robert puts on a solo(??) Nativity performance in a park near his home every Christmas Eve. In 2015, the only attendees were Dennis and his mother, and they brought him back to their place afterwards because Robert had nowhere to go for Christmas.
- Robert and Dennis's mother subsequently had sex, and Dennis has seen Robert as a father figure ever since. Robert seems pleased by this; he says 'thank you' when Dennis calls him 'Dad'.
- In 2016, Robert is 'romancing' Chris's mother, apparently pretty successfully; they have an upcoming hotel booking for a romantic getaway.
- When this comes to light, Robert insists on Chris calling him 'Dad'.
- Robert is very insistent about making sure there are flower petals on the bed he'll be sharing with Chris's mother. He may be wildly self-obsessed, but he's a romantic guy! Which is perhaps no surprise; he's an actor.
- As a side note, it's in The Christmas That Goes Wrong that we learn Robert has slept with both Dennis's mum and Chris's mum. Only those two? Or do we only learn about those two because those are the two present with Robert on the radio show? Is it possible that Robert has been banging his way through the mothers of the entire drama society?
- As of 2020, after Robert's partner left him and he spent some time living in his car, Robert and Dennis are living together. (Is Robert back together with Dennis's mum? Unclear.)
- Robert's top tip for playing multiple roles is having a different hat for every role to prevent confusion. 'Once, when I was younger, I tried playing two different roles with just one hat. Didn't work out well, I can tell you. One of the other actors died.'
My personal favourite bit of supplemental Goes Wrong material I've come across is this stupid two-minute promotional video (Tumblr link) in which Robert is helping Chris try on suits. Extremely weird and homoerotic; single-handedly sent me from 'I'm not really shipping any of these characters' to 'okay, yeah, these two should have absolutely disastrous sex'. Robert may or may not actively be attempting to murder Chris here?
no subject
no subject
(Which is an excellent start for a ship, tbh.)
Ha, very true!