Channel 5 squeezed the entire six-episode run of The Feud between 14 and 23 April 2025, a scheduling decision as cramped as the loft conversion that detonates the plot. On a quiet cul-de-sac in Newcastle, Jill Halfpenny and Rupert Penry-Jones play Emma and John Barnett, whose plans for a modest extension provoke Amy Nuttall and Ray Fearon’s Sonia and Alan Spence into legal warfare, hedge-trimming sabotage and anonymous letters about planning permission.
Writer-creator Aschlin Ditta filmed on three adjoining houses in Benton, Tyne and Wear, turning identical pebble-dash semis into a battlefield where bin-placement is a declaration of war. Larry Lamb’s retired neighbour Terry referees with the weary cynicism of a man who once served on the residents’ committee, while James Fleet and Tessa Peake-Jones supply the street’s Greek chorus of clipped disapproval.
Critics split: The Daily Telegraph’s Benji Wilson awarded one star and called the series “unoriginal”, though he admitted the cast “did their damnedest with limited material”; The Times’ Carol Midgely gave three stars, praising its “knowingly naff” tone and its knack for exposing how petty boundary squabbles metastasise into obsession. Whatever its dramatic merits, the nine-day broadcast window guarantees The Feud a footnote as the shortest-lived neighbourly dispute ever televised.
Production Details
5 / 1 Season / 6 Episodes / 2025
Created by: Aschlin Ditta
Writer(s): Aschlin Ditta
Producer(s): Lesley Douglas
Main Cast
Jill Halfpenny as Emma Barnett
Rupert Penry-Jones as John Barnett
James Fleet as Derek Abshire
Amy Nuttall as Sonia Spence
Ray Fearon as Alan Spence
Alex Macqueen as Nick Hewitt
Tessa Peake-Jones as Barbara Abshire
Larry Lamb as Terry Dobson
Chris Gascoyne as Lee Hatby
Jamie Lee O'Donnell as PC Gallagher
Megan Trower as Beth Barnett
Patryk Szewczyk as Pawel
