Characters / Mischief Theatre

aka: A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong

Recurring characters from Mischief's ...Goes Wrong series of shows.

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Debuted in The Play That Goes Wrong

Chris Bean

Chris Bean

"I am Chris Bean, the di-rec-tor."

Originated by: Henry Shields

Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society's director and leading actor.

• Acting for Two: invoked
  • Portrays both Mr. Darling and Captain Hook in "Peter Pan". Unlike the other examples in the production, it's common practice for an actor to take on both roles in this particular play.
  • Additionally, there's one moment where he and Dennis briefly switch parts when Chris speaks Smee's lines to prompt Dennis, which causes Dennis to speak Hook's lines. Chris stops this before it goes too far.
• Ambiguously Christian: In the early Mischief production Nativity Goes Wrong, Chris is the founder of a Christian theatre company performing a Nativity play, although no further references to his religion have been made since.
• Bad Boss: He often loses his temper with his cast and crew, but considering the people he's working with, you can't really blame him.
  • He also played Scrooge, a man who certainly qualifies.
• Basement-Dweller: Apparently still lives at home with his Amazingly Embarrassing Parents. His Dad turns up mid-filming to play Commander Wycombe in "The Pilot" and his mother misplaces the envelope containing the winner for "Best Performance in a Sequel" (after making him loudly admit that he has "photography magazines" in his drawer.)
• Berserk Button: While Chris is pissed off about quite a few things throughout the series, he really doesn't like it when the audience gives him lip.
• Big "SHUT UP!": He throws this out there when he's having trouble with the audience during Peter Pan.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: With the exception of some nasty behind-the-scenes business during A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, Chris is one of the most professional members of the group, but when the audience talks to or teases him, he'll be quite quick to talk back.
• Catchphrase: His introduction to the audience begins with him announcing himself as "Chris Bean, the director" in a way which prominently enunciates each syllable (as in, "the di-rec-tor"), in a way which makes it clear just how much he enjoys getting to claim that role and how seriously he takes it.
• The Comically Serious: Chris takes himself and his art incredibly seriously, despite the many shortcomings of both. This leads to a lot of humour as things go increasingly, disastrously wrong. This particularly becomes apparent in Peter Pan Goes Wrong, in which he alone of everyone, cast or audience, seems to believe that he's appearing in a serious production of Peter Pan and not a pantomime, and keeps getting into arguments with the audience when they try and participate.
• Copiously Credited Creator: invoked He is Murder at Haversham Manor's lead actor, director, set designer, costume designer, prop maker, box office manager, press & PR person, dramaturgy, voice coach, dialect coach, and fight choreographer. He also filled in for the role of Mr. Fitzroy during rehearsals.
• Delusions of Eloquence: Occasionally slips into this, as he’s by far the most insistent on the company’s productions being serious epics, even when it’s a classic pantomime like Peter Pan. It also takes a certain type of arrogance to select some of his company’s scripts (like the Pilot (Not The Pilot) episode.)
• The Determinator: Everyone in the cast has this attitude after dealing with all the mishaps, but Chris stands out due to powering through mistakes continuously, rather than pausing for thought like the others.
• Directed by Cast Member: In-Universe. He's directed and starred in almost all of the drama society's productions. The only two exceptions so far are in The Goes Wrong Show; first in "The Nativity", which he directed and narrated (but didn't play a character in), and in "Summer Once Again", where Robert usurped Chris' spot as director.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • He doesn't seem pleased with how the group has been forced to sell out with blatant product placement when they perform "The Nativity", but he also notes that they need the money.
  • He also isn’t amused by Robert putting down his own niece’s acting ability.
• Evil Laugh: He performs one as Captain Hook. It's not exactly subtle.
• Giftedly Bad: Chris is just the right amount of too ambitious and too misguided to ever produce one of their shows the way he wants them to be… but he’s also just good enough to ensure the shows’ consistent level of Gone Horribly Wrong comedy, much to his consternation. Robert tries to replace him in "Summer Once Again", but fails to actually finish even the first scene of his play, and Annie's attempt to stage an old-school farce in "The Cornley Drama Festival" results in everyone except Chris, Trevor and Jonathan having to be hospitalised. He's also clearly got skills as an actor; it's as a director that the problems tend to arise.
• Heel–Face Turn: Simultaneously during Scrooge's, he realizes how bad he's been to his crew lately, resulting in a sincere apology and allowing for Robert to play Scrooge like he wanted to.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • At the end of Peter Pan Goes Wrong, he is sat on the stage practically weeping following the crash of the Jolly Roger.
  • In The Play That Goes Wrong He completely melts down after THE LEDGER is moved from where it should be at the climax, resulting in him curling up in the fetal position. Matters aren't improved by the audience helpfully pointing out that the ledger can be found under the sofa ("It's a chaise-longue!")
• Hidden Depths: It's implied that Chris can actually be a genuinely good actor when he's not plagued by a series of nonstop errors, with him being accepted by an agent in A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong. It could be that he gets to show his genuine talent more when he's not busy handling so many aspects of his own group.
  • He is also shown to be a talented pianist in The Goes Wrong Show.
• Insistent Terminology: He insists that his production of Peter Pan is a "traditional Christmas vignette'' rather than a pantomime.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He treats his actors like crap, particularly Robert and Dennis, but when push comes to shove he deeply cares about his friends, and their welfare and safety.
• Kick the Dog: He's pretty awful to Robert during A Christmas Carol, calling him the troupe's worst actor, and falsely claiming that everyone else would've walked if he was cast as Scrooge, when in actuality, they supported him. And when Jonathan mentions that Robert would be great for the part, Chris says that the role is "Ebenezer Scrooge. Not Ebenezer Huge". All this is made even worse since Chris was planning to completely abandon all his friends all this time. Luckily, he realizes the error of his way and decides to right his wrongs.
• Kick The Son Of A Bitch: After Robert spends the first two thirds of “Summer Once Again” treating him poorly, Chris arranges for him to fail miserably in the last third, before having all of his dialogue removed in the next episode.
• Large Ham: He patterns himself off of old-school theatrical actors, so his acting is quite broad and loud. Worth noting, though, that it's still a far more realistic example compared to his peers.
• Mr. Fanservice: Unintentionally so, as his snowman costume winds up being removed during "The Spirit of Christmas", forcing Chris to continue to play the rest of the scene in his underwear, showing off a fairly good build in doing so.
• Not So Above It All: As an actor, Chris tends to be one of the most straight-laced and professional members of the cast… but he has on several occasions acted in a hilariously similar manner to Robert; getting into arguments with the audience and engaging in Ham-to-Ham Combat.
• Only Sane Man: Relatively, at least; while not without an ego, he's comparatively down-to-earth compared to most of his fellow dramatists, simply wants to put on a good show, and tries vainly to keep things from going too far off the rails. He starts to lose this crown whenever he's provoked into arguing with the audience, however.
• Out of Focus:
  • "90 Degrees" is the only time he doesn't portray one of the main characters, with his part being an important role, but only onstage for a single scene outside of his pre-show intro. Additionally, we also get to hear him during Robert's backstage drama throughout.
  • Subverted with the Nativity play, which is the only time Chris doesn't play a character within the piece, but still has an active role as the narrator and piano player throughout the proceedings.
• Pet the Dog: After acting like an ass towards Robert during A Christmas Carol, Chris tries to make amends with him by giving him his role of Scrooge.
• Pretentious Pronunciation: Invoked often.
  • In The Play That Goes Wrong: "I am pleased to be making my di-rec-torial de-boo..."
  • In The Goes Wrong Show especially; when introducing himself as Cornley's director, he emphasizes every syllable and the "r" in a way that reinforces his pretensions of being a serious artist.
    Chris: I am Chris Bean, the di-rec-tor...
• Questionable Casting: Sometimes makes stunningly bad casting decisions, given his ensemble's makeup and eccentricities. For every time he smartly (if futily) casts Dennis in a non-speaking role, he casts every single one of his female actors as muscled prison men.invoked
• Shut Up, Kirk!: As part of his willingness to talk back to the audience, he's very quick to snap back at them whenever they protest if he chews out one of his performers on stage and hurts their feelings.
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: He's gotten into fights with the audience several times. He also takes his bickering and spotlight hogging with Robert on-stage multiple times.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Chris actually isn't really a narcissist, but he clearly thinks he's far better than the awful shows that he's involved in. And while he is one of the more competent people involved, he's still got his own fair share of shortcomings.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Best shown when he's working with Dennis, Max, and Robert.
  • He's quickly exhausted by Dennis's inability to remember his lines, his character, and the very play he's in.
  • He's infuriated by Max's pandering to the audience, clearly annoyed when Max makes him imitate the way he talks during the Shakespeare play.
  • He's irritated by Robert's attempt to steal the spotlight and outshine him.
• Too Clever by Half: As a director, he often showcases way too much ambition for his otherwise decent amount of ingenuity and skills, approving grandiose set designs his crew can’t pull off, using casts too large to avoid his company’s eccentricities and flaws, and barreling ahead with productions so far outside of their expertise that they’re Giftedly Bad.
• Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: As the director and lead actor he is arguably the main character, and consistently shares the role of Jerkass with Robert. This helps to make his failings all the more entertaining to watch.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Robert, the Society's co-founder.

Robert Grove

Robert Grove

"Anything you can act, I can act louder!"

Originated by: Henry Lewis

Cornley's wannabe leading actor. Unfortunately, his ambitions far outstrip his abilities.

• Acrofatic: While Robert's clearly the largest member of the cast, his involvement in the slapstick shows him to be more flexible and in better shape than you'd expect.
• Acting for Two: invoked
  • Plays Nana the dog, Peter Pan's shadow, and Starkey the pirate in "Peter Pan". He also briefly plays Peter for two lines when he as the shadow accidentally pops up in front of Jonathan as Peter, and he takes advantage of the situation.
  • Plays a mortician, an employee of Scrooge, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, Tiny Tim, and Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol".
    • The latter two were not planned. Robert repeatedly tries to incapacitate Chris to play Scrooge until the latter has a Heel–Face Turn and gives Robert the role, which he only gets to properly portray for a brief amount of time before Derek Jacobi comes back to reclaim the production and role. And during his attempts to steal the role of Scrooge, he knocks out Lucy who was playing Tiny Tim, forcing the not so tiny Robert to take over the role.
  • Plays Gabriel the Angel and later assumes the previously nonexistent role of "the manager" in "The Nativity".
• Adaptational Heroism: While his Stage Mom and Evil Uncle tendencies are still on full display in the BBC version of Peter Pan Goes Wrong, Robert is no longer responsible for crushing a child during a production of Oliver!, parking his car in the ambulance parking spot, preventing paramedics from saving his life, and still to this day parking in the ambulance spot. Instead, this is given to David Suchet. Additionally, the original version has Robert rather unprofessionally start the "Oh, yes it is" chant against Chris, while the BBC version has an audience member start it instead (though he clearly finds it hilarious).
• Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Accidentally winds up getting plastered during "The Spirit of Christmas", which causes him to frequently break character and engage in all sorts of shenanigans ad libbing.
• Ambiguously Christian: In Nativity Goes Wrong, Robert is part of Christian theatre company C.H.R.I.S.T. along with Chris.
• Big Beautiful Man: Definitely on the heavy side, but he's still a decent looking guy in his own right, and more than willing to play a Mr. Fanservice when given the opportunity. Unfortunately, the opportunity was in the role of Peter Pan's shadow, and involved a skin tight lycra bodysuit...
• Big Eater: Gets arrested in The Goes Wrong Show for stealing a giant packet of fruit gums all for himself.
• Break the Haughty: When he usurps Chris as director to stage "Summer Once Again", he gives himself a big entrance with confetti...and then proceeds to ruin the performance with his perfectionism and restarting scenes to get them right. It leaves the cast with no time to actually finish the play, and he's left looking very foolish after having to hastily summarize the remainder of the plot.
• Camp Straight: He can be fairly flamboyant and dramatic, and his outfits can match this demeanor, especially when we see his flashy sparkling hat. However, he was stated to have been married to a woman.
• Comedic Sociopathy: He goes above and beyond in trying to incapacitate Chris during A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong because that's the only way he'll get to play the lead role.
• Dawson Casting: invoked After completely incapacitating Lucy, he takes over her part of Tiny Tim.
• Demoted to Extra: In Universe. After Robert's brief (and tyrannical) stint as director of "Summer Once Again", the reinstated Chris punishes him by casting him only as non-speaking characters in "The Most Lamentable...". This does not stop Robert from giving himself lines.
• Directed by Cast Member: In-Universe; in the The Goes Wrong Show episode "Summer Once Again", after his Hostile Show Takeover.
• Drowning My Sorrows: Overdoes it on Santa's sherry in "The Spirit of Christmas", and reveals his wife has left him and he's living in his car.
• Dull Surprise: Whenever he gets a role he doesn't want or isn't enthusiastic about, he tends to read his lines in a dull monotone.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • He's a nasty Stage Mom towards Lucy, but he's horrified by the physical abuse she endures throughout, especially when he's the cause of this abuse.
  • Doesn't seem to care for Sandra being an excessive flirt.
  • He initially refuses to go down during a stage fight with Chris during "The Lodge", but he repents after it looks like he's seriously hurt Chris.
  • When his challenge to see how much of the way everyone can fill a beaker with their tears results in Max turning in an almost full beaker, Robert seems genuinely concerned.
• Evil Uncle: Robert isn't evil, but he fulfils the role by being a horrific Stage Mom towards his niece.
• Fat Bastard: Robert's not a villain, but he has his nasty moments and he's a fairly large fellow. Any time he plays a villain, this trope applies, particularly when he portrays Adolf Hitler.
• Freudian Excuse: His rehearsal diary in "Summer Once Again" implied that his mother was abusive (at worst) or just didn't have enough faith in him to be an actor (at best). So his acting methods suggest he's trying to prove her wrong and outshine everyone as the better actor so he can make a name for himself in The Actors' Guild.
• Hollywood Tone-Deaf: When he steals the mic from his dubber during "The Spirit of Christmas", his singing is more akin to just screaming the lyrics. This is due to him getting absolutely wasted beforehand, with his other instances of singing averting this trope.
• Irony as She Is Cast: invoked While he only plays the role after accidentally incapacitating Lucy, he applies here for his portrayal of Tiny Tim, given he's the largest and tallest member of the troupe. The fact that he accidentally beats the shit out of Dennis and Sandra while playing this sickly child only emphasizes it.
• It's All About Me: As other tropes state, he usually wants to be the center of attention, and when he once played Santa, his presents for the children were all copies of his book on acting.
• Jerkass Has a Point: While Max has his moments of competency, and Robert's criticisms of his skill are quite harsh, Max's complete disregard for character would cause most other theatre groups to not touch him with a thirty nine and a half foot pole. Not that many troupes would be clamoring for Robert either, but his biggest issues aren't exactly uncommon, and can be worked with.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Sure, his diva nature often causes trouble, but he's horrified and will try to help when the other actors are injured.
• Kick the Dog:
  • He's pretty mean to Lucy, forcing her to perform even when she's clearly terrified, and at one point claiming her poor performance is going to "ruin Christmas. To his credit, he's horrified by her many physical injuries that he indirectly causes. However, when she returns in The Goes Wrong Show he prompts the show with an apology for her poor performance.
  • While he may be right in his assessment of Max's lack of acting skills, his disgusted delivery of "what a loser" is just mean, even if Max wasn't present.
• Kick The Son Of A Bitch: His attempts to take Chris out of commission continually grow in danger, but considering Chris is acting like far more of a Jerkass than normal, we can sympathize with him.
• Large Ham: When he gets a role he does like, he hams things up like nobody's business. His book is called Anything You Can Act, I Can Act Louder.
• Laser-Guided Karma: After he usurps control of the company, he goes out of his way to demean Chris, rewriting his character as the shit-eating manure boy. However Chris gets the last laugh, when Robert's direction proves to be even worst than his, Robert trips and literally ends up with a shit-eating grin and the bricks within his bag, that he placed to humiliate Chris all the more, fall upon his feet. By the end the company becomes so tired of Robert's tyranny, Chris is almost immediately reinstated as the director.
• Laughing Mad: Tries to exit doing an Evil Laugh during "The Lodge", but he goes through quite a few obstacles in doing so, causing him to continue laughing until he can exit, with each failed attempt causing him increase in volume and intensity.
• Milking the Giant Cow: He wrote a book teaching this acting style, as seen in The Goes Wrong Show.
• Mr. Fanservice: He plays up the sex factor quite a bit as Peter Pan's shadow, all while wearing a very tight outfit. Given Robert's overweight and, as stated, playing Peter Pan's shadow, this can go into Fan Disservice, but not if you find him to be a Big Beautiful Man. The shadow thing, however...
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • He's clearly mortified and guilt ridden over horribly injuring Lucy during Peter Pan Goes Wrong.
  • Subverted in Peter Pan Goes Wrong. He clearly looks to regret his rather harsh words towards Sandra, Jonathan, and especially Max, when they're played for everyone to hear; however, in The Goes Wrong Show he's revealed to have learned nothing, and is utterly remorseless in trashing his fellow actors in his segment of "The Cornley Drama Festival".
• My Sister Is Off-Limits: In A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, he is less than pleased to find out the girl that Chris was making out with in the video of the Company's holiday party wasn't Sandra but his sister.
• Non-Singing Voice: invoked He's quite obviously lip syncing during his song in "The Spirit of Christmas", even before the actual singer pops up on camera.
• Oh, Crap!: When his Hazmat suit gets compromised in "A Romantic Dinner."
• Pet the Dog:
  • While he and Jonathan are trying to lift a knocked out Sandra out of the window in The Play That Goes Wrong, Robert moves Sandra's dress to stop it from showing off her underwear, clearly trying to lessen her humiliation, even though she's too unconscious to know.
  • After Lucy's been through enough Amusing Injuries to wind up in a wheelchair Robert seemingly tries to dissuade Chris from making her character walk the plank, realizing it's Tempting Fate. Unfortunately, Chris sticks to the script.
  • He asks actors to force out some tears during his masterclass and when Max fills a whole jug, he is genuinely concerned for his well-being, before urging viewers to stay emotionally safe.
• The Prima Donna: Robert is quite dramatic both in and out of character.
• Pushed in Front of the Audience:
  • In "A Christmas Carol", while originally only supposed to play the two ensemble roles and The Voiceless Ghost of Christmas Past, but after knocking out Lucy, he has to take over as Tiny Tim, and once Chris has a Heel–Face Turn, Robert briefly gets his wish and takes over as Scrooge.
  • In "The Nativity", in addition to playing Gabriel, he takes it upon himself to play "the manager" after Dennis mixes up the term with "the manger".
• Sad Clown: Behind his over the top nature, it's revealed that Robert's gone through a divorce that he's still not over yet and is currently sleeping in his car.
• Sex Sells: His dancing as Peter Pan's shadow is fairly suggestive, at one point emulating an orgasm on stage.
• Shameless Self-Promoter: Robert frequently promotes his book, Anything You Can Act, I Can Act Louder, and its sequel, Anything You Can Act, I Can Act Even Louder. He especially uses his allotted time in the Cornley Drama Festival to promote these and his teachings.
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: He and Chris frequently bicker or try to monopolise creative control and screen time from each other, a turbulence that often more than shrewdly seeps into several plays. Taken up to eleven in Christmas Carol Gone Wrong where Robert tries to injure Chris via method acting so he can usurp star role from him, with Chris retaliating in kind.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Robert is actually capable of giving good performances, but he's still far too confident in his own abilities. In a general sense, despite his career having led him little higher than an infamously inept and low-rate amateur acting society, he's nevertheless written two books about how to act.
• Stage Mom: He takes this role with Lucy, his niece. She clearly doesn't want to be a part of CPDS but he forces her to take the stage. When she finally decides she enjoys performing, he constantly criticizes her even during the performance.
• The Starscream: The more shows that the cast puts on, the less Robert tries to hide how much he wants to usurp Chris as director. Like the Trope Namer, when he gets his chance in the second series premiere, he quickly loses his newfound leadership role due to his own arrogance and ego, to the point that cast decide they prefer Chris.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Robert is arguably even more of a jerkass in the second series compared to the first. He forces the actors to perform "Summer Once Again" three times because it isn't "perfrect", he treats Chris horribly in his small role as the "manure boy", he constantly insults the acting abilities of his fellow cast members, and attempts to steal the show with every scene he's in. And in "The Cornley Drama Festival" he shoots him.
• True Art Is Angsty: His time as a director see his production of “Summer Once Again” as a parody of this idea - it’s a bunch of tragic nonsense where all the major characters die in pathetic ways that Robert uses more as an excuse to feed his ego… and that’s before, of course, everything goes wrong.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Chris, the Society's co-founder. They may not get on, but when ranking the actors, he still places Chris third after himself and Sandra.

Dennis Tyde

Dennis Tyde

"GET OUUUUUTT!!"

Originated by: Jonathan Sayer

A diminutive supporting player who struggles with remembering his lines.

• Acting for Two: invoked
  • Plays both John and Smee during "Peter Pan". He mixes up the costumes during the climax. The original version has him portray both characters battling each other.
    • He also winds up speaking Hook's lines when Chris prompts him with Smee's, but Chris puts an end to it before it goes on for long.
  • Plays a mortician, Bob Cratchit, and a future citizen during "A Christmas Carol".
  • Plays one of the wise men, one of the shepherds, all three innkeepers, and a dust bunny (or tumbleweed) in "The Nativity".
• Accent On The Wrong Syllable: He has trouble pronouncing words like "philanthropist" and "facade".
• Bad "Bad Acting": While not without his occasional moments of competency, Dennis stands out as by far the worst actor of the troupe. This reaches its zenith when he repeatedly fails at Playing a Tree.
  • In The Goes Wrong Show episode "The Cornley Drama Festival Part 1," he is ranked by Robert as the worst actor of the group (though placed just before Trevor, ranked lower for his role as stage manager rather than actor).
• Big Fancy House: The "See It Safely" short shows that he lives in one of these with Robert (who has presumably moved in after living in his car following his breakup with Denise.)
• Cloudcuckoolander: According to Jonathan Sayer, Dennis has trouble sometimes distinguishing between the plays and reality.
• Dawson Casting: invoked Plays the young John in "Peter Pan".
• The Ditz: He struggles to pronounce multi-syllabic words, cannot remember even simple lines, and seems cheerfully oblivious to the audience being there or the requirements of acting. At one point, Robert refers to Dennis as "medically fascinating" for his truly catastrophic levels of stupidity.
• Demoted to Extra: In-Universe, after playing large, significant roles in the previous productions, he's constantly cast as animals and props in The Goes Wrong Show. However, Dennis being Dennis, he frequently finds ways to mess up, giving him more lines than he's supposed to have.
• Everyone Has Standards: Even someone as ignorant as Dennis can tell when he's being humiliated.
  • He looks noticeably upset over having to play a horse in "Harper's Locket". Perhaps he doesn't enjoy being ridden by Max, or maybe, given the chronological order of how the show was supposed to air, it's that he's upset about being demoted to animals after the previous two episodes allowed him to play humans after his stint as props.
  • His butchered pronunciation of "cyanide" upsets him enough that he has to turn away from the audience to hide his emotion.
• Flanderization: He's never been the sharpest tool in the shed, but he's gotten progressively stupider as the shows go on, initially being quite upset when he noticed his mistakes, but has now become completely ignorant of this.
• Hidden Depths: As noted below, he can remember everyone else's lines perfectly well, and his larger performance in "90 Degrees" is only faulted by circumstances beyond his control. Except for forgetting he is disabled. In the Children in Need special "A Romantic Dinner", he seems to be get along fine, until he says he can’t taste anything (meant as a pickup line, but misinterpreted as him having COVID) and is quarantined.
  • In "The Most Lamentable...", he loses the words to his bawdy song but manages to improvise a new one fairly quickly.
  • Peter Pan Goes Wrong shows he has quite a good singing voice. Truth in Television as Jonathan Sayer was a chorister in his youth.
• Irony: He cannot remember any of his lines; however, he seems to remember every one else's lines, leading to the cast some times accidentally and briefly switching roles. One such case is when he & Chris exposit on Hook and the Crocodile in Peter Pan Goes Wrong.
• Kindhearted Simpleton: He's easily the dumbest member of the Company, but is also one of the nicest.
• Literal-Minded: When a fire breaks out on the set of Play of the Week, he runs in with a lit blowtorch thinking "fight fire with fire" applies to the situation at hand. In "There Is No Escape" he takes all of his bird cues as literal, such as "flies down" being interpreted as pulling his fly down and "sweeps in" as coming in with a broom.
• Manchild: As seen in Peter Pan Goes Wrong, he apparently still uses water wings while at the community pool.
• Nice Guy: Quite affable, and doesn't hold the others getting pissed at his horrible acting against them.
• Performance Anxiety: Suffers from stage fright. When Chris tries to give a backstage tour for "Whats On Stage.com" for promotional purposes, he catches Dennis trying to jump out of his dressing room window, to escape having to perform that night. Apparently this is a common occurrence; if his line at the beginning of A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong is anything to go by, a lot of the reason why he has trouble remembering his lines is because of nerves.
  • At the beginning of "A Trial To Watch", Dennis's anxiety at having to play the lead in an episode is apparent as he shakily delivers his first line, "You look nervous!" while hyperventilating.
• Playing a Tree: In The Goes Wrong Show he tends to be cast as an animal, inanimate object, or similar so that he won't have to remember any lines or directions. It doesn't help.
• Reading the Stage Directions Out Loud: He reads his lines exactly as they're fed to him. This means awkward pauses as cue cards get shuffled, lines being read backwards because he's looking through glass, or repeating random lines that get broadcast to his radio headset.
• Underage Casting: He portrays the the older butler Perkins in "The Murder at Haversham Manor" with his hair greyed up. Unfortunately, the grey doesn't cover the back of his head.
• Took a Level in Dumbass: While he blatantly reads his lines off of his hand, and horrifically mispronounces them during The Play That Goes Wrong, his performance there is still much more competent than the embarrassingly poor and downright stupid actor who can't remember any of his lines and screws up playing inanimate objects of later productions.

Sandra Wilkinson

Sandra Wilkinson

Actor, writer, philosopher

Originated by: Charlie Russell

Cornley's female lead.

• Acting for Two: invoked
  • Plays a mortician, a Good Samaritan, Belle, Mrs. Cratchit, and a guest of Francis in "A Christmas Carol".
  • Plays Mary and a servant of Herod's in "The Nativity".
• Aside Glance: She frequently gives flirtatious glances to the audience.
• Basement-Dweller: Not confirmed, but reading between the lines of the Her Codename Was Mary Sue radio play she writes heavily implies that she's still living with her parents.
• Bound and Gagged: One of the ways that Annie tries to steal Sandra's role in The Play That Goes Wrong.
• Butt-Monkey: In The Play That Goes Wrong, where she gets knocked out not once, but twice, and later has to deal with Annie trying to steal her role.
• Cat Fight: Ends up getting into one of these with Annie in both The Play That Goes Wrong and Peter Pan Goes Wrong.
  • In Peter Pan's case, she forgives Annie when it is revealed that Annie had no idea that Jonathan had been cheating with her.
• Cross-Cast Role: Plays a male mortician in "A Christmas Carol".
• Dawson Casting: invoked Played Wendy in "Peter Pan".
• Dude Magnet: She dated Jonathan and later became engaged to Max.
• Everyone Has Standards: She can't hide her disappointment with the group's forced product placement during "The Nativity".
• Gender Flip: The Good Samaritan she plays in "A Christmas Carol" is originally male.
• Her Codename Was Mary Sue: Her radio play in the "The Cornley Drama Festival" is essentially one long advert for herself, how great she is, and how amazing her voice acting abilities are, dressed up in a thinly-veiled story about a young woman entering a talent contest.
• Historical Character's Fictional Relative: Her aunt is apparently Diana Rigg, who narrates the CPDS's production of A Christmas Carol over the phone as a favor for her niece.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Her head barely reaches Max's shoulders.
• Impossibly-Low Neckline: In "The Cornley Drama Festival: Part Two", her slinky red dress positively plunges.
• Irony as She Is Cast: invoked
  • Her role in "The Pilot" says that she doesn't care about appearances, which is immediately followed by Sandra giving a seductive Aside Glance.
  • Also played the Virgin Mary despite constantly trying to play up her sexuality in roles.
• Ms. Fanservice: Frequently plays up her looks and appears in stages of undress several times.
• Not So Above It All: Shows frequent exasperation at Chris and Robert's self-absorbedness, but when she gets to be in charge of her own segment in "The Cornley Drama Festival," it's a love letter to herself and she throws a fit when it's ruined.
• Playing Against Type: In-universe, as with Max it's implied that this is her big problem with a lot of the Cornley productions. She's a natural at playing seductive vamps and femme fatale types, but keeps getting cast as and really wants to be a leading lady. This results in her playing nearly every character as a vamp, be it a Victorian schoolgirl, a shy and prim WAAF officer or the Virgin Mary.
• The Rival: She and Annie get into an onstage scuffle over who is playing the leading lady in The Murder of Haversham Manor.
• Romance on the Set: invoked She's in a relationship with Jonathan during Peter Pan Goes Wrong, eventually breaking up with him and falling in love with Max over the course of the production. She proposes to Max during A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong.
  • Became Truth in Television when Charlie Russell and Dave Hearn got together for real.
• Sex Sells: She has a habit of playing roles more seductively than expected. Such as her surprisingly mature portrayal of Wendy in Peter Pan Goes Wrong and the sashaying she does as Nistle in a children's Christmas play on The Goes Wrong Show.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In "90 Degrees," after several other cast members have injured themselves trying to exit through a poorly-placed door, when it's Sandra's turn, she simply gets up and walks around the set.
• The Smurfette Principle: Initially in The Play That Goes Wrong where she's the only actress in the group. Annie then takes up acting and continues to do so for all later productions, with Lucy appearing in a principle role in Peter Pan Goes Wrong, and Vanessa becoming a regular in The Goes Wrong Show.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: She's always been a bit of a diva, but by the time of The Goes Wrong Show she's a lot colder towards her fellow actors' mishaps than in previous productions. She does occasionally try to subtly comfort Vanessa during the worst of her improvisations.
• The Vamp: Plays one in The Play That Goes Wrong, which isn't too hard to notice given her highly sexualized acting. Robert also accuses her of flirting with everyone.

Jonathan Harris

Jonathan Harris

"I made the lemonade!"

Originated by: Greg Tannahill

A supporting player who mainly juggles multiple walk-on roles.

• Acting for Two: invoked
  • Plays Jacob Marley, both present and future citizens, and a guest of Francis (possibly the same present citizen) in "A Christmas Carol".
  • Plays the lead juror and a reporter in "A Trial to Watch". Though the former role is rendered pretty much nonexistent when there's no room for him to fit in the set, and the latter one is all chopped up by the poor video.
  • Plays the doctor, the lead character's son and a wise priest in "Summer, Once Again", but due to having to run the role at speed, Robert shoots him away before he can deliver any lines.
• All There in the Manual: One of the backstage videos for The Play That Goes Wrong states that he is both an actor and a model (though this most likely is an embellishment on his part). It also shows him being caught in the act with Sandra.
• Amicable Exes: While their fallout was noticeably nasty, there's been no apparent bad blood between him and Sandra since, so it appears that they've worked things out.
• Ascended Extra: After playing a corpse in The Murder at Haversham Manor, he is given the lead role in Peter Pan Goes Wrong to Max's chagrin, before being Demoted to Extra, probably for his scummy behavior during Peter Pan, for A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong and The Goes Wrong Show (though he still has a pivotal role as Marley in the former).
  • In-universe he did have the larger roles of the Jury Foreman in "A Trial to Watch", the fake Churchill in "The Pilot" and Nostle in "The Spirit of Christmas", but set and makeup difficulties respectively kept him from participating each time. In fact he does generally have reasonably large parts in the "goes right" versions, but events always conspire to keep him offstage.
  • Also worth noting, this applies to his performance in "The Murder at Haversham Manor" as well. On paper the role is rather small, primarily acting as a dead body. But unfortunately, things go wrong, meaning he gets to be involved in plenty of antics despite all that.
• Amusing Injuries: He portrays Peter Pan, a role that requires being lifted up with a harness to perform flying tricks, in Peter Pan Goes Wrong. You do the math.
• Becoming the Mask: He seemingly portrays Winston Churchill in "The Pilot", but then, the end his character declares himself to not be the real Churchill. Unfortunately, he's unable to get the facial prosthetic off, so he settles for ending the play saying "I'm Winston Churchill".
• Butt-Monkey:
  • He gets jerked around, pantsed, and eventually knocked-out with a concussion during the flying sequences in Peter Pan Goes Wrong. This is even worse in the television version, which reveals that he is Going Commando following a Wardrobe Malfunction. Though since he's also Took a Level in Jerkass this would also appear to be some Laser-Guided Karma catching up with him.
  • He's also had two wardrobe malfunctions, the first revealing his (censored) junk as noted above, and the second rendering him completely nude, though he's able to cover himself up before his family jewels go on TV again.
  • Not only is he often the smallest role in The Goes Wrong Show, but those parts often wind up being Demoted to Extra due to unwanted hijinks. He finally gets his due in the second season finale, forced to perform an entire ensemble number on his own.
• Chick Magnet: Attracts both Sandra and Annie.
• Dawson Casting: invoked Jonathan is clearly middle-aged and there are more youthful members of the troupe, but he was the one cast as Peter Pan.
• A Day In The Lime Light: Always a supporting player, often playing the smallest part in the cast, he got to play the leading role of Peter Pan.
• Hidden Depths: He would seem to be a pretty good ballet dancer, as he gets a big dramatic solo in Chris's ballet in 'The Cornley Drama Festival: Part 1'...which we never get to see, since he accidentally knocks himself out before he can really start. He's also able to fill the roles of all the other cast members during his piece for the drama festival, and with some amount of success when it comes to juggling blades and riding a unicycle.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's at his worst during Peter Pan, but he tries to help and reassure Annie after she goes through a near death experience. And the jerk can be dropped for all other productions, as he actually comes across as one of the most professional members of the group in his other appearances.
• Jerkass Ball: His stint as Peter Pan is really the only time that Jonathan's ever really come across as a Jerkass. Otherwise he conducts himself in a friendly and professional manner.
• Kick the Dog: Upon taking his role back from Max, who he's learned is in love with his girlfriend, he refers to Max's part as the "crocodile that nobody likes" while shooting him a brief Death Glare.
• Mr. Fanservice: He winds up getting all of his clothing stripped off during the nativity play, though he blocks audiences from getting a view of his privates, though it doesn't hide that he's in fairly decent shape. His pants were also accidentally removed during Peter Pan, which he's not able to cover up, though it's censored.
• Out of Focus: Currently the only actor to not perform a lead role in The Goes Wrong Show, often being the smallest part, which is made worse by outside factors taking making his roles even smaller.
• Pet the Dog:
  • He warns Robert when he sees he's been set on fire and tries to guard Sandra from it.
  • He also looks after Annie when she's had a brush with death. Unfortunately, this leads to him cheating on Sandra with her.
  • In A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong he mentions that he feels Robert would make a great Scrooge, and seems rather put out when Chris insults Robert.
• Romance on the Set: invoked He's in a relationship with Sandra during Peter Pan Goes Wrong and falls for Annie while on-stage during the same production.
• Running Gag:
  • He has trouble with doors during The Goes Wrong Show.
  • He ruins the big twist of "The Murder at Haversham Manor" twice. He gets it right the third time though.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Despite being on pretty good behavior during The Play That Goes Wrong, he comes across as a Jerkass during Peter Pan Goes Wrong, being cruel to Max and cheating on Sandra with Annie. Perhaps getting the lead role went to his head. However...
• Took a Level in Kindness: After acting like a bit of an ass during Peter Pan, he's back to normal in the following shows, with his only act that's rather mean spirited being a snarky comment directed at Chris in A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, but considering Chris had been acting much worse than before, it's deserved.
• Whatever Happened to the Mouse?: He and Annie seem to fall for each other during Peter Pan Goes Wrong, passionately kissing before being caught by Sandra. Despite this, we never see any follow up on whether or not they became a couple, and if they did, are if they're still together. Given that Annie had found out he was cheating on Sandra, and that she felt terrible for it, even though Sandra had forgiven her, she probably chose to dump him.

Annie Twilloil

Annie Twilloil

" 'Ello Marjorie, how's the bread today?"

Originated by: Nancy Zamit

Initially Cornley's stage manager, and in later productions the supporting female player.

• Acting for Two: invoked
  • Plays Mrs. Darling, Lisa the maid, Tinkerbell, Cecco the pirate, and Tiger Lily during "Peter Pan". The first two directly contradicts the script which claims they're different in every way, she has noticeable difficulty making the costume changes in time, and for the latter two, she has to make her costume change onstage, something she's a little too slow on.
    • Worth noting, she only plays Cecco in the BBC version, as the original play has the part portrayed by Francis who was also the narrator. But his role was Adapted Out in favor of David Suchet playing the narrator, and rather than having him just play the rather small role Cecco, it was added to Annie's list of characters.
  • Plays a mortician, Frances; a Gender Flip of Fred, the Ghost of Christmas Past, and a future citizen in "A Christmas Carol".
  • Plays one of the wise men, one of the shepherds, along with the front and backside of a donkey in "The Nativity".
• Beware the Nice Ones: She's one of the kinder members of the Company, but when pushed, she strikes back hard. In one case she accidentally holds up a convenience store during "A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong", and even then can't help but show off her sweet side.
  Annie: (after everyone else has run off, while still holding up the glued gun) Give us a Snickers.
  (Cashier does so)
  Annie: Take one yourself.
  Cashier: What?
  Annie: TAKE ONE YOURSELF!
  (Cashier grabs one for himself)
  Annie: (motions to the woman behind her) And this lady's shopping is free!
  Cashier: Uh- yeah, whatever you say.
  Annie: Okay. (sweetly) Merry Christmas...
  (Annie runs off to join the others)
• Butt-Monkey: She's nearly killed in Peter Pan Goes Wrong and gets herself stuck on props and scenery due to Trevor haphazardly spreading adhesive everywhere during A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong.
• Character Development: In The Play That Goes Wrong, Annie is just a stagehand who's forced into appearing onstage when Sandra gets knocked out and can't play her part. At first she's uncomfortable with it, but she grows to enjoy acting enough to the point where she battles a newly conscious Sandra to keep her part. From that point on, Annie has remained an actress.
• Cross-Cast Role:
  • Portrays a man in "The Pilot". This wasn't actually planned, as Chris' father was going to play the part. Considering her small stature and the body double needed for her Shirtless Scene, it's not very convincing.
  • She also plays two different men in "A Christmas Carol".
  • Portrays both a wise man and shepherd in "The Nativity".
  • Plays the old king in "The Most Lamentable...". At one point a Stripping Snag leaves her in only her underwear, which makes her real sex very obvious. She tries to save the scene by improvising a speech about how some wicked curse must have turned her into a woman.
• Dawson Casting: invoked Plays a four year girl in "The Lodge". It's not very convincing.
• Hidden Depths: Though she started out as a stagehand who got thrown into acting by chance, she's actually one of the better actors in the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society. She's a decent and committed character actor, probably the most adept at juggling different roles within the same show and making them distinct from one another, and her Large Ham performances tend to be reserved for when it's appropriate for the character she's playing. She also turns out to be a very talented singer, but unfortunately her big solo in "Peter Pan" gets drowned out by Robert being saved from the doggy door, which forces her to yell most of the song.
  • Continues in the Drama Festival, where it’s notable that even though things still go wrong, she had the foresight to actually choose a farce, and largely cast everyone else in appropriate roles, so that most of the greatest problems with the performance were caused by others’ mistakes spilling over into her show. This makes her arguably a better director than both Chris and Robert! (Though, lest we risk going too far, it is still worth noting that this is only speaking relatively, as Annie's stint in the director's chair still results in all but one of the performers being rendered unconscious and having to be rushed to hospital, but at least she was largely not at fault.)
• Jack of All Trades: Quite a flexible character actor who’s one of the closest things Cornley has to a competent actor without as many quirks or ego as the others, a good singer, the only member smart enough to choose a farce and to cast everyone in roles that fit them in her turn as director during the drama festival, and actually proves a sincere example of The Cast Showoff when acting as a One-Man Band for Sandra’s radio play.
• Kick the Dog: Refusing to back down when Sandra comes back to reclaim her part, and resorting to physical violence to keep a role that was never supposed to be hers. While Sandra does initiate the physical drama, Annie's the one who truly ups the level of violence. Given she's otherwise a Nice Girl, this can be explained as her catching the acting bug after performing for the first time.
• Large Ham: She has her moments, especially when she portrays Tinkerbell.
• Ms. Fanservice: Not quite to the level of Sandra, but she's definitely not afraid to play up the sexiness in a scene. She's also had her underwear exposed during productions several times.
• Nice Girl: With the exception of holding the Jerkass Ball during The Play That Goes Wrong, Annie is one of the most genuinely actors in the troupe. No moment makes this more clear than when she accidentally robs a store, and decides to make her victim steal something for himself to keep.
• One-Man Band: During Sandra’s audio drama, she manages to play multiple instruments, all at the same time, and actually does very, very well.
• Pet the Dog: When Dennis admits he has forgotten his lines in "A Christmas Carol", she tries to help by strategically placing them around the set. Hilarity Ensues, but it was a nice gesture.
• Pushed in Front of the Audience: She got her acting break in The Murder at Haversham Manor^note OK, The Play That Goes Wrong when Sandra was knocked unconscious and she had to work as an emergency stand-in.
• The Rival: She and Sandra get into an onstage scuffle over who plays the leading lady in The Murder at Haversham Manor.
• Romance on the Set: invoked She and Jonathan publicly fall for one another on-stage during Peter Pan Goes Wrong.
• Rough Overalls: She wears a pair of blue overalls with paint stains in The Play That Goes Wrong, highlighting her role as the drama society's stage manager, set builder, and set painter.
• Took a Level in Kindness: She's arguably the biggest Jerkass in The Play That Goes Wrong, as she's not only unwilling to let Sandra reclaim the role that's rightfully hers, she repeatedly assaults her in attempts to keep the part. In all the following shows however, Annie is one of the nicest members of the cast. It's worth noting that her unlikable traits only popped up when she was going to lose her role, so it's likely that her new status as a full time actress whose part is no longer in question has kept any violent and diva nature at bay.
• Wardrobe Malfunction: Most members of the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society get this from time to time, but Annie seems particularly prone to it, with more instances of Comedic Underwear Exposure than anyone else.
  "Whoop—there go my bosoms!"

Max Bennett

Max Bennett

"Snap snap!"

Originated by: Dave Hearn

A supporting player who keeps getting distracted by the audience. He's actually one of the best actors of the bunch (when he's not too busy mugging for attention and laughs) but is usually relegated to bit roles.

• Acting for Two: invoked
  • Plays both Cecil and Arthur in "The Murder at Haversham Manor" as well as Michael and the Crocodile in "Peter Pan". He also plays Peter at one point, before Jonathan comes back in to take the reclaim the role.
  • Plays the head mortician, a Good Samaritan, young Scrooge, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and a future citizen in "A Christmas Carol".
• Ambiguously Bi: During the "The Murder at Haversham Manor", he seems to be physically uncomfortable with the love scenes with Sandra's character, but actually excited when Trevor's playing the role of Florence. However, he later publicly declares his love for Sandra during "Peter Pan", and the two end up engaged by the end of "A Christmas Carol". It's possible he was awkward playing across the object of his affections.
• Ascended Extra: The end of Peter Pan has the characters coming to the conclusion that his role of the crocodile is the show's true hero.
• Aside Glance: He's constantly looking away towards the audience.
• Attention Whore: Downplayed; he's not especially egotistical, but he does love it when the audience cheers him and laughs at what he's doing, which will prompt him to goof off in order to get more of it.
• Bad "Bad Acting": Max can actually be a decent actor at times, but any talent of his goes out the window as soon as he starts mugging for the audience.
  • In The Goes Wrong Show episode "The Cornley Drama Festival Part 1," Robert ranks the 8 Cornley members in terms of acting ability. He places Max at 5, just before those he considers "sub-actors."
• Brainless Beauty: Max is a good looking man and all too happy to play Mr. Fanservice, but if his onstage antics are of any evidence, he's not too bright.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: He's very much aware of the audience and often mugs to get attention.
• British Teeth: Courtesy of his portrayer, Dave Hearn. He had noticeably crooked teeth in earlier productions, but got braces by the time of Peter Pan Goes Wrong which came off before A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Not to the same extent, but like Dennis, Max sometimes has trouble drawing the line between the play and reality.
• Dawson Casting: invoked Portrays the four year old Michael in "Peter Pan".
• Flanderization: The Goes Wrong Show (except for 90 Degrees) plays up his immaturity, which wasn't as prominent in The Play That Goes Wrong or Peter Pan Goes Wrong before being significantly downplayed in A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong (largely due to his depressed emotional state at the time)
• The Gadfly: Max’s most unprofessional acting up will sometimes involve messing with Chris or others in a deliberately provocative way for his and the audience’s amusement, intentionally toying with dialogue or acting in a way that requires others to either improvise with him or break character and order him to stop.
• Hidden Depths:
  • When he stops being such a shameless ham, he's actually shown to be a good actor, with the text for Peter Pan Goes Wrong noting that his brief turn as the title character is actually good.
  • If left to his own devices, he's actually a good stage entertainer. When tasked with putting on a kitchen-sink drama, he doesn't let the fact that he doesn't know what a kitchen-sink drama is deter him; he puts together a simple, but surprisingly effective musical number about anthropomorphic kitchen items that goes off with only one minor hitch (Jonathan not being able to make his entrance).
  • It says something that Robert considers his character's death in "Summer Once Again" to have been “very moving” in rehearsal, though it loses something when the bulk of the play has to be finished in six minutes.
• I'm Crying, but I Don't Know Why: In "The Cornley Drama Festival", he manages to produce a whole jug of tears compared to the other actors who can manage only a few drops. When Robert sincerely asks if he is ok, Max responds with a wobbly: "I don't know."
• Informed Flaw: He's mocked for being a bad actor but he repeatedly demonstrates that he knows his scripts and can put on good performances and improvizations. His main flaw as an actor is that he has a very unprofessional tendency to break character and mug for the audience in the most goofy way, even when he really shouldn't be. While the other actors have their own problems, for the most part they're all far more willing to commit to their role and stay in character.
• It's All About Me: Sort of. Unlike some of the other members of the company he doesn't come across as particularly egotistical, and in general is very sweet and lovely, but he absolutely loves it when the audience laugh at what he's doing and cheer him on, and so will unprofessionally goof around to provoke more of it, even if it means wrecking the scene and disrupting the show and his fellow actors in the process. The overall effect is of an attention-seeking five-year-old who constantly wants all the grown-ups to be laughing at what he's doing.
• Kindhearted Simpleton: He's probably the kindest member of the Company, and yet still comes off rather dim, though this is more likely due to his childlike naivety, given he is able to competently play most of his roles, rather than out and out stupidity like say Dennis.
• Literal-Minded: In The Goes Wrong Show he produces a "Kitchen Sink Drama" consisting of himself and the others dressed up as crockery and a dish sponge in an actual kitchen sink.
• Manchild: He has a tendency of mugging to the audience, as well as goofing about during the Show. The program for "Peter Pan Goes Wrong" states that even his own father thinks he has the mental capacity of a Four Year Old.
• Mr. Fanservice: Max, Dennis, and Sandra all get accidentally stripped down during Peter Pan, and while the other two are quite uncomfortable with it, Max is happy to show off his fairly toned body. He's all too happy to do so again when he plays a corpse in his underwear on The Goes Wrong Show.
• Nepotism: Unintentionally on his part, but his aunt runs the BBC, and thus he was only hired on to get the group onto the BBC, which he only finds out after hearing a recording, in the middle of the show no less, of Chris and Robert mocking him and his performance.
  • Based on the group not being brought back for the next year's Christmas show (not that it stops them from performing), it shows that his aunt has her limits, though it can be assumed that she's responsible for "Play of the Week" being broadcast on the network.
  • The original version that was not broadcast on BBC makes it so that his uncle gave a huge donation to the group.
• Nice Guy: He's probably the nicest member of the Cornley troupe, being rather sweet-natured and mild-mannered in contrast to the many preening egos he's surrounded by.
• Pet the Dog:
  • Comforts a humiliated Dennis after he gets upset over one of his many pronunciations.
  • Saves Sandra from getting hit Captain Hook's out of control ship.
• Playing Against Type: An in-universe example and the heart of his problem — Max clearly belongs in a comedy^note as seen in the screwball segment of the Cornley Drama Festival in The Goes Wrong Show or should be generally cast as the Comic Relief in more serious productions, but Chris (and later Robert) insist on wholly dramatic productions. Fortunately for the audience but unfortunately for Chris and Robert, Max naturally improvises hilarious adlibs and covers for the usual chaos on stage.
• Romance on the Set: invoked He begins a relationship with Sandra in Peter Pan Goes Wrong and this progresses to the two getting engaged in A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong.
  • Became Truth in Television when Charlie Russell and Dave Hearn got together for real.
• Sincerity Mode: He's able to turn off his childishness and deliver a sincere performance if properly motivated. this is best seen in Peter Pan Goes Wrong when he finally gets to take the role of Peter and play Sandra's love interest. He knows the script and focuses on what he needs to do on stage rather than mugging to the audience.
• Unskilled, but Strong: For both bad and good:
  • Max shows almost no interest in improving his acting skills for the purposes of the company’s usual (Giftedly Bad) “serious” fare, and in fact his immaturity and lack of dedication to the intended direction (however badly it is selected) makes him one of the few cast members to intentionally mess things up when he finds it funny.
  • At the same time, his natural intuition for acting means that Max has excellent comedic timing and an ability to be sincere when he actually wants to be, and is thus also one of the only cast members to get the reaction he wants out of the audience
  • This means he’s a horrible choice for any dramatic role he’ll get bored with or start adding comedic bits to when things go wrong… but a strong choice for any intentionally comedic role or one that requires interacting with the audience.

Trevor Watson

Trevor Watson

"Suf-FER-ing GREAT-ly AT the FRENCH-man's HAND..."

^{Click here to see him played by Rob Falconer} 

Originated by: Rob Falconer

Currently played by: Chris Leask

Cornley's technical director. He loves Duran Duran.

• Ascended Extra: In-Universe example, as the technical director of a production should obviously remain unseen throughout the show, but because everything goes wrong, he's constantly popping up to deal with issues, or accidentally appearing and causing them.
  • The biggest examples are when an actor gets taken out of commission, forcing Trevor to play the part, particularly in Peter Pan Goes Wrong, where he briefly takes on the lead role.
  • For the first time, he's shown playing a role without being Pushed in Front of the Audience during "The Nativity", though it has no lines. Later, after he gets stuck in the set, he's offhandedly referred to as John the Baptist, though he never acts the part.
  • Trevor finally gets a line as an English soldier in "The Most Lamentable...", though he overly stresses the iambic pentameter to comedic effect.
• Butt-Monkey: He's been knocked unconscious more times than anyone else onstage, though Sandra's only one behind. Additionally, he's constantly being spotted by the audience, even though his role as the technical director very clearly requires him to be an offstage presence.
• Crapola Tech: Most of the machinery he brings to the set is either Awesome, but Impractical or just plain crap. Quite apart from all the set change malfunctions that occur under his watch, when asked to provide Dennis with an earpiece in Peter Pan Goes Wrong, the most Trevor can manage is a very visible headset that picks up radio broadcasts and generally makes things much harder than they need to be.
• Cross-Cast Role: The Play That Goes Wrong sees him briefly portraying Florence after both Sandra and Annie have been knocked out.
  Trevor: (flatly reading) But Arthur, how can you resist me? I’m a beautiful woman.
• Dawson Casting: invoked Briefly plays Peter Pan.
• Jurisdiction Friction: In the BBC version of Peter Pan Goes Wrong, he gets into bitter arguments with the BBC stage manager over who's in charge of the production.
• Out of Focus: Unlike everyone else, he's not an actor, so while his handling and involvement in the many mishaps give him stage time and lines, he'll almost always have less than the other characters since unlike them, he's never meant to be seen or heard, with most of his appearances being quick pop ups and one liners.
• Pet the Dog: Usually seen looking mortified when he's the clear cause of one of Vanessa's mishaps. Or flashes her, again. In "The Spirit of Christmas" he runs in and stops the set falling on her before the others help him put it back in place, then takes on the task of stopping Robert from drinking after her failed attempt gets her shoved over.
  • Whilst he never usually goes out of his way to help with production issues unless prompted, in "The Most Lamentable..." after placing warning cones around a bottle Chris has smashed, he returns with a bottle of fizzy pop to replace it, and even gives him a pat on the back.
• Rouge Angles of Satin: He struggles to spell "A Christmas Carol" correctly on-screen. Eventually giving up and settling on "Scrooge".
• Small Name, Big Ego: In the Peter Pan and A Christmas Carol BBC productions, he argues vociferously with the BBC technical people over who's in charge... even though he's one of the primary reasons for the Goes Wrong tag.
• Special Effect Failure: invoked He's responsible for all the dodgy special effects seen in Cornley productions.

Debuted in Peter Pan Goes Wrong

Lucy Grove

Lucy Grove

"I... b-b-believe.... in fairies!"

Originated by: Ellie Morris

Robert's niece, the extremely nervous member of the CPDS.

• Butt-Monkey: She's bullied into appearing in Peter Pan despite her clear discomfort and is forced to continue performing despite constantly getting injured on-stage and being in clear pain. Likewise in A Christmas Carol, her stint as Tiny Tim, which she actually seems rather excited to perform, gets cut short when Robert drops an object on top of her head, knocking her unconscious. He was aiming for Chris.
• Character Development: After finally conquering her fear of acting at the end of Peter Pan Goes Wrong, she is much more chipper in A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong (despite her Amusing Injuries) and her appearance on The Goes Wrong Show displays that she no longer suffers from stage fright (though Robert still considers her performance to be dreadful.)
• Demoted to Extra: Following her debut in Peter Pan Goes Wrong, she makes only a very brief appearance in A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong before appearing as an unacknowledged extra in an episode of The Goes Wrong Show^note Ellie Morris is busy having taken over the role of Sandra in The Play That Goes Wrong while Charlie Russell works with the main cast on other Mischief Theatre productions. She makes a return appearance, this time in character, in the season two episode "There Is No Escape."
• The Dog Bites Back: After being KO'd with a coffin by Robert while playing the part of Tiny Tim - and then having a door slammed in her face by Robert when she tries to reclaim her role - she's able to achieve a minor victory at the end by whacking him in the face with the door during her entrance.
  • She also manages to get back at Robert in "There Is No Escape" after he micromanages her performance throughout and tries to get her to cry by reminding her of unfortunate events in her life.
    Robert: Think of the time you soiled yourself at your ballet rehearsal.
    Lucy: (annoyed) That was you!
    Robert: Oh yes. Twist. (beat) starts crying)
• Hope Spot: At several points in Peter Pan Goes Wrong she finally seems to start to start getting comfortable with the audience and enjoying herself... only for Robert to show up and start bullying her about some minor flaw in her performance, shattering her confidence. And then he ends up getting her injured.
• Nepotism: Was cast in Peter Pan Goes Wrong because she is Robert's niece. Unusually for this trope, she has no desire to appear on stage in the first place.
• Performance Anxiety: She is so completely uncomfortable on stage, she can barely get through her lines without hyperventilating.
  • Her appearance on The Goes Wrong Show shows she's much more capable, but is flummoxed by Robert's attempts to perfect her performance.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: In both Peter Pan Goes Wrong and A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, she suffers increasingly ruinous injuries and generally poor treatment at Robert's hands; however, by the end of both, she manages to have a moment in the spotlight that makes up for all the traumas.

Francis Beaumont

Francis Beaumont

"So as Peter plays with Wendy, and jealous Tink draws near, our tale shall continue, and I shall disappear!"

^{Click here to see him played by Neil Patrick Harris} 

Originated by: Harry Kershaw

Was a temporary member of the CPDS during their production of Peter Pan.

• Adapted Out: Replaced as the Narrator in the TV version of Peter Pan Goes Wrong by David Suchet.
• Butt-Monkey: He gets thrown about because the throne he sits on moves too quickly. Eventually, he falls off and gets hit in the head, which knocks him out for most of the finale.
• Stage Magician: According to the in-universe program for Peter Pan Goes Wrong, he was one of these before he joined the drama society. His last accomplishment as a magician was when his "Diamonds are Forever" trick won the 2011 Best New Trick award, which had to be rescinded, along with his license to perform, when it was discovered that the diamond tattoo he imprinted on his volunteer couldn't be removed.

David Suchet

David Suchet

The renowned actor, best known for playing Hercule Poirot. He joins the CPDS for their televised adaptation of Peter Pan as part of a BBC initiative to promote regional theatre.

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• Accidental Child-Killer Backstory: He tells the audience about how during a stage production of Oliver!, the person playing Mr. Bumble fell on one of the child actors, and the child died of his injuries due to David having parked his car in such a way that the ambulance couldn't get to him in time. He blames himself for the child's death...then he reveals that he was the one who was playing Mr. Bumble.
• Actor Allusion: He briefly acts like Hercule Poirot to distract from an on-set accident, to which the audience cheers and applauds.
• As Himself: David Suchet plays himself as the play's narrator.

• Role Reprise: invoked When the production grinds to a halt because Annie was electrocuted, he tries to vamp for time by sticking Chris' mustache onto his face and acting like Hercule Poirot for a few seconds.

Debuted in The Goes Wrong Show

Vanessa Wilcock-Wynn-Carraway

Vanessa Wilcock-Wynn-Carraway

"Join me in fiction!"

Originated by: Bryony Corrigan

A new addition to the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society.

• Ascended Extra: In a meta-sense and, possibly, in an in-universe sense. Bryony Corrigan was promoted to a regular for The Goes Wrong Show but was a supporting extra in many of the troupe's earlier productions, including the original West End and Broadway runs of The Play That Goes Wrong and Peter Pan Goes Wrong. Non-theatre audiences can see her as a stagehand in the BBC production of Peter Pan Goes Wrong and as the BBC receptionist in A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong. As the names of these characters are never revealed, this has led to the fanon that the stagehand actually is Vanessa, who like Annie eventually got promoted from Cornley's behind the scenes crew to become a performer, though the latter role is presumably a different character.
• Beware the Nice Ones: She usually has a pleasant disposition, but she has her limits, particularly when having to deal with Dennis's ineptness, which unfortunately for her is quite often.
• Butt-Monkey: Among the female cast, Vanessa takes the most bumps. Even when she takes active precaution, such as in "Summer Once Again", she'll get smashed in the face or head and occasionally get knocked unconscious.
• Cannot Tell a Joke: Her primary role in Annie's farce during The Cornley Drama Festival is to make sexual innuendos. Sadly, under pressure, she keeps using words that make her lines cleaner than intended and having to correct herself, resulting to a lot of Anti-Humor.
• Dawson Casting: invoked Portrays the leading little girl in "The Spirit of Christmas" even though she's taller than Annie, who plays her mother. When she's desperately trying to keep the show on track and protests "Santa's" offer of a sherry because she's just a little girl, Robert replies "You're twenty-six!"
• Flat Character: In Series 1 of "The Goes Wrong Show," given that she's the newest character added to the cast, she hasn't had much time to establish a personality like the rest of the characters (largely because the half hour timeslot means the series is unable to show much of the behind the scenes action), and is mainly just known as the third female actress.
  • "The Nativity" starts to show a little more of her personality, making a bit of a dorky improv, being unable to understand Robert's cry for his halo, and having a little rivalry with Annie.
  • The second season plays up her nervousness and inability to properly handle the various mistakes that go on. "The Cornley Drama Festival Part 1" shows that working with the Cornley Drama Society has left her deathly afraid of the unexpected and her attempts to adapt to improvisation make things worse.
  • Later episodes also suggest that she possesses a certain amount of prudishness and squeamishness around matters relating to sexuality — which, given the nature of the show, of course leads to her getting embroiled in all manner of mortifying and compromising situations.
• Hidden Depths: She's actually a legitimately good singer, but this is overshadowed by her having to sing far too high for her big solo in "The Spirit of Christmas".
  • "The Cornley Drama Festival Part 1" shows she's a fairly good dancer as well, provided her partner doesn't drop her or things get in the way of her feet.
• Naïve Newcomer: Downplayed, but as the newest cast member she's also less used to the company's usual mishaps and reacts with a lot more visible horror and embarrassment. While also one of the more competent actors, she's also completely unable to improvise her way out of difficult situations (Bryony Corrigan describes her as an actor who always sticks to the script no matter what), resulting in her reading whatever telegram is put in front of her in "The Pilot", drinking from a bear statue in "90 Degrees," almost subjecting Trevor to an Ass Shove in "Harper's Locket", and even killing her daughter in "The Lodge" when Jonathan fails to enter in time to stop her.
• Not So Above It All: Despite being The Straight Man, she joins Dennis in confusing Robert asking for his "halo" as him wanting them to say "hello". In the same episode, she starts to feud a bit with Annie.
• Sixth Ranger: She joins the cast for the first time in The Goes Wrong Show, making the gender balance of the main cast more equal.
• Straight Man: She is the most normal, capable cast member and often tries to help the others when disaster strikes, with little success.
• Those Two Guys: They're not exactly a double act, but she often has the misfortune to find herself acting opposite Dennis — which, given Vanessa's utter inability to cope with things going off-script and Dennis's utter inability to keep things on-script, naturally leads to chaos.
• Vocal Range Exceeded: While she does have a lovely voice, her song in "The Miracle of Christmas" continually ups the Key, with her seeming to be in physical pain due to the song being far too high for her to sing. Fun fact, Bryony Corrigan actually has an amazing Soprano range, and the cast had to constantly make the song higher to finally get it out of her range, and even then they admit that a lot of her voice cracks were just acting because she could still reach a lot of the notes naturally.
• Womanchild: During "Zoom Goes Wrong" when her husband accidentally answers Chris' call, she is seen walking around in monkey pajamas.
  Husband: Ness, are you supposed to be on a Zoom?
  Vanessa: (walks in wearing monkey pajamas, with her mouth full of chips/crisps) What?
  Husband: Yeah a Zoom Call.
  Vanessa: (looks down at her outfit and rushes to the computer) OH NO, NO, NO, FOR FU-!!!
  (Chris disconnects her)
• Word of God: Her surname was never used onscreen or in publicity materials but Henry Shields stated on Twitter that it is Wilcock-Wynn-Carraway, purely because it sounds funny.invoked