Scouse Comedy, G’wed, Has Been Renewed by ITV

Speak to anyone from Liverpool or anyone who has spent any amount of time with someone from Liverpool and they will known that ‘G’wed’ means ‘go ahead’, or do what you’re thinking about doing.
Sometimes it can be used encouragingly, other times aggressively and on occasion it can be a sarcastic intonation.
In the case of the ITVX TV series, it is the title of the piece that revolves around the lives of some teenagers in Merseyside.
It is all about how they interact with each other and the world around them, being mostly focused on the teenagers in question as they tackle the likes of school and relationships.
A Six-Part Series
In the summer of 2023, filming on G’wed began in Liverpool and across the Merseyside region in general. Created by Danny Kenny, it was directed by Akaash Meeda and featured six episodes that follow the lives of a group of Year 11 kids in the city.
Danny Kenny is from Wallasey, meaning that the show has a balance of Scouse humour and Wirral intonations. The entire point of it was that it offered an ‘uplifting, heart-warming and hilarious portrayal of teenagers today and how they view the world’. Cue jokes about which pronouns people use, how mental health issues are treated by older people and other such amusing ditties.
@itvxTop dating tip: Give up after sending the 50th nude, it ain’t gonna happen 😂 #GWED♬ original sound – ITVX
The idea behind the show was to look at the working class culture of Liverpool and how young people look to survive it ‘with a sense of humour’. It looked at issues such as sex, diversity and grief, as well as the key notion of the class divide.
The title began as a working title, used by Kenny as a word that was unique to Liverpool before the people at ITV liked it and decided that it was the right one to move forward with. It is certainly a title that tells you pretty much exactly what to expect, even if it looks to cover its numerous different topics with a deftness and intelligence that a title such as ‘G’wed‘ might not immediately lead you to.
What the Writer Said About It
Danny Kenny, who was 37-years-old at the time that the series began being shown on ITV2 before being moved over to ITVX, said that he was ‘fascinated‘ by how a person’s upbringing can shape them. He said, “It’s really important to me that the show challenges stereotypes. I want each character to constantly surprise, reflecting a more genuine and well-rounded take on the people of Liverpool”.
He describes himself as being from a working-class background, so felt that he was well-placed to be able to look at the various depictions of working-class people on television and offer a more intelligent and fair-minded assessment.
The 2024 @theonscreencom award nominations for Best New Comedy Series are:
🏆 DINOSAUR
🏆 THE GENTLEMEN
🏆 G’WED
🏆 LUDWIG
🏆 MR. BIGSTUFF
🏆 THINGS YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE pic.twitter.com/k2PzbZJylj— The On-Screen Community (@theonscreencom) December 21, 2024
He said, “I think sometimes working class depictions on TV can be a bit grim or a bit dreary with no fun to it. I want to show times have changed, there’s a funny side to kids and a real side. They have the world at their feet just as much as anyone else. There’s a multi-faceted side to everyone”.
This ‘multi-faceted side’ to people is explored across the six episodes of the first season of the show, which looked to use as many local people as possible. Some of the names and faces of the adults will be well-known to many who have watched the likes of Brookside in the past, such as Sunetra Parker and Louis Emerick.
Renewed for Two More Seasons
The good news for fans of the show is that it has been renewed for another two seasons. It was seen as a streaming success by ITV on their ITVX platform, becoming the company’s biggest comedy since Changing Ends.
More than six million streams of G’Wed took place, encouraging the production company behind it, Golden Path Productions, to head to back to Merseyside in order to film another two seasons back-to-back. The Executive Producer at the production company, Mario Stylianides, said, “Comedy really is back in the building. There was so much love for G’wed from audiences far and wide”.
9 months late to the party, but just finished G’Wed on ITVX and it’s brilliant. Full of humour and charm. Big careers for all of the young cast I predict. Looking forward to series 2&3! #Gwed #Comedy
— Paul (@eurovishpaul.bsky.social) 17 November 2024 at 16:05
With series 2 and series 3 both due to hit the screen in 2025, it means that Danny Kenny can explore even more with the characters. Speaking about the series’ return he said, “It’s amazing and exciting that we get to do this again and I can’t wait for series 2 and 3 next year”.
It is obviously good news for the entertainment industry on Merseyside, with Liverpool City Region on standby for more episodes to be filmed in the coming weeks and months. It is also great to see Scouse talent on television as themselves, given the fact that Liverpool has been used as a hub for Hollywood movies in recent years.