Broadcast and ratings Scheduling of the series changed over the course of its development. The first announcement of the series in May 2010 stated it would be broadcast during the spring of 2011, The consolidated ratings for the first episode raised to 1.61 million viewers, giving the episode the second largest multichannel audience for that week, behind an episode of
Glee on
E4. Overnight ratings declined steadily to 802,000 by episode two, and 691,000 by episode three. The first series finale attracted 938,000 viewers. The first series became the eleventh most watched programme in
Sky 1's history. The second series premiered on Sky1 on 19 January 2012.
Critical reception Michael Deacon of
The Daily Telegraph reacted positively towards the series, stating "episode one was enjoyably sinister. It was also, once or twice, quite amusing, in (of course) a blokey way." Deacon liked the beginning of the pilot where the main characters record a video message, stating "this is what Mad Dogs did well – like any competent suspense thriller, it made you ask questions throughout. The episode bubbled with foreboding, right up to the cliffhanger." Deacon also noted at the cliffhanger that "the most disturbing sight wasn't the shower of blood but the gunman's rubber mask, which was of a grinning Tony Blair." John Crace of
The Guardian was more mixed, starting "after unsuccessfully fobbing us off with endless series of Ross Kemp looking macho, Sky is now throwing serious money at getting viewers to watch something other than sport." Crace was critical of the set up of the episode, stating "I'm all for allowing a drama time to breathe but we didn't really need a whole hour just to establish that Alvo was a bit dodgy and that the four others had complications in their lives. Rather than building menace, the snail-like pace dissipated it," However, he reacted positively towards the end, as "things did eventually look up," adding "there's hope for Mad Dogs yet." Jane Simon of the
Daily Mirror believed the "setting and the gangsterish plot are both reminiscent of that great British movie
Sexy Beast, and this first instalment of the four-part series presses all the right buttons," adding "it has naturalistic performances, an effortless blend of comedy and sinister undertones plus rather more shots of Marc Warren's bum cheeks than might be considered absolutely necessary." Ben Walsh of
The Independent rated the series three stars out of five, having written "there's far too much exposition, a very daft plot, some risible dialogue and yet Sky's ripe four-parter is horribly compelling," and added "it's extremely silly, but Simm and Glenister are always compelling and they make this gamey tale of gangsters, police corruption and 'friendship' work." Reviewing the first two episode,
The Stage believed the first was "a slow-burning exploration" and "all very intriguing and disturbing, with a great performance by Chaplin as the smilingly psychotic host." The reviewer criticised the death of Alvo, as he was considered the most "compelling character" and since "sent the plot line spinning off into less original territory," adding the producers took ideas from crime capers such as
Sexy Beast and
Shallow Grave. The reviewer added "what
Mad Dogs lacks in originality it makes up for in energy, verve and humour. The dialogue positively crackles with great lines." In the end, the reviewer stated that
Mad Dogs "may be an unapologetic crowd pleaser, but it is a finely made one, with excellent performances from a dream cast. It also offers the only opportunity I have of seeing blue skies, azure waters and sunshine in February, so I am in for the duration." Ryan Lambie of
Den of Geek said of the first episode; "In terms of writing and acting,
Mad Dogs is good, but not perfect, and much of its knock-about banter is uncannily like any Brit gangster flick you've ever seen," like "
Sexy Beast: the series." However Lambie noted "when events push its premise from naff lads' drama into exotic thriller,
Mad Dogs gets infinitely better, and if nothing else, it keeps you guessing. As the series progressed, Lambie noted that
Mad Dogs was "developing into a nifty TV thriller with an engaging sense of the absurd. Writer, Cris Cole, enjoys picking holes in his characters' machismo as the tension mounts, and the strange billboard posters dotted all over the sun-scorched island, which say "Yenda a ninguna parte," ("Going nowhere") are perhaps a foreshadowing of their imminent fate." Lambie was disappointed at the ending, calling it "unexpectedly flat," adding "the major plot twist that the previous three-or-so hours appeared to allude to never arrives, [...] I couldn't help but feel that, as the closing credits rolled on the whole saga, the tension and intrigue that had gradually built up in previous weeks had been allowed to slip away.
Home media release The first series of
Mad Dogs was released on
DVD and
Blu-ray Disc in the United Kingdom on 7 March 2011, and on DVD in Australia on 3 May 2012. The second series was released only DVD in the UK on 12 March 2012, along with a collectors boxset containing both series. The third series was released on 1 July 2013, and the fourth series was released on 13 January 2014. On the same date the complete boxset of all four series was also released. All sets from the UK are released with a "15"
British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) certificate, indicating that it is unsuitable for viewers under the age of 15 years. In 2012 it was nominated for a
Broadcast Award for Best Drama Series or Serial, but lost to the
ITV1 period drama
Downton Abbey.
Spin-off series and U.S. adaptation In November 2011, as the third series was in production, Left Bank was in the stages of developing a spin-off series,
Mad Cats, which would feature a similar storyline but for "an equally glossy female brand with a cast of the calibre of John Simm and Philip Glenister." In November 2012, American writer and producer
Shawn Ryan announced in an interview for the
Kevin Pollak Online Chat Show, that he was working with Cole to develop a planned American adaptation of
Mad Dogs. Later, in March 2013, the American cable channel
FX picked up the adaptation, which will be produced by Left Bank and Sony Pictures Television. The series would follow a similar storyline to the original, though the setting would be changed to
Belize. On 15 January 2015, Amazon Studios released a pilot episode of the American adaptation along with their 4th season of new pilots. The adaptation was written by original series creator and writer Cris Cole, who has also signed on for the whole series if it is commissioned. Also,
The Shield creator Shawn Ryan joined Cole as an executive producer on the pilot episode. The series stars
Michael Imperioli,
Billy Zane,
Steve Zahn, and
Romany Malco, as well as Ben Chaplin, who appeared in the British
Mad Dogs series in the role of Alvo, played by Zane in the US series. The pilot episode is 55 minutes long and has been rated 18, compared to the 15 rating provided to the original series. The American pilot also ends at a different point to the original. The pilot led to a 10-episode full season that began airing on 21 January 2016, although the promotional release date was slated for the following day. On 28 February 2016
Mad Dogs executive producer
Shawn Ryan announced that the series would not be renewed for a second season and instead concluded its 10-episode run as a limited series. ==References==