# Mad Dogs (2011)

> Four middle-aged friends on a Majorcan retirement holiday are dragged into murder and police corruption after one of them is killed.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/34698

## Facts

- Seasons: 4
- Episodes: 14
- Episode runtime: 60 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy, crime, thriller
- Created by: Cris Cole
- Network: Sky One
- Cast: John Simm, Max Beesley, Ben Chaplin, Philip Glenister, Marc Warren, Tomás Pozzi, Eloise Joseph, Tim Woodward
- TMDB rating: 7.5/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1652218/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: darkly comic, tense, bleak, wry, cynical

## What critics say

Audience reception is positive overall, with the series praised for its dark comedic tone and strong ensemble cast, though its uneven season quality draws criticism.

## Synopsis

Mad Dogs (2011-2013) is a British black comedy and psychological thriller series created by Cris Cole for Sky One. Four long-time friends, played by John Simm as Baxter, Max Beesley as Woody, Philip Glenister as Quinn and Marc Warren as Rick, gather at a villa in Majorca to celebrate the early retirement of their friend Alvo, played by Ben Chaplin. The holiday curdles when Alvo is murdered, and the men find themselves tangled in a world of crime and police corruption they never meant to enter. Their engine is the scramble to cover up, bargain and survive, with each episode pushing them further from the lives they left behind. The series runs four seasons across a short run of fourteen hour-long episodes, following one continuing story rather than standalone cases. Set in the sunlit but rough-edged expat world of Spain, it blends sharp, bleak humour with tension and betrayal. Its tone is wry and bruised, with moments of genuine menace. Fans of Shameless, Fargo and In Bruges will find resonance in its mix of gallows humour, morally compromised friendships and escalating criminal mess.

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