The World's Strictest Parents (or World's Strictest Parents) is an international television franchise reality series developed by Twenty Twenty which is now a division of Warner Bros. Television Entertainment UK (the British subsidiary of Warner Brothers) with its original broadcast in the United Kingdom by BBC Three.
There are also many other international foreign versions (listed below) including an Australian version, a New Zealand version, and a German version titled Die strengsten Eltern der Welt, as well as other locales to have locally produced adaptations include Scandinavia, Turkey and Poland. The series won an International Emmy Award for Best Non-Scripted Entertainment.
Since 2013, the official YouTube channel has been uploading small snippet clips from many of the episodes, largely the UK, US and Australian broadcasts: however, these snippets, in some cases, were just whole episodes broken into smaller notable highlights of an episode. As of 2019, this has been extended to entire episodes, starting with the UK version and then moving to the Australian version. These episodes, in some cases, are not complete re-uploads of the broadcast: for example, the rundown of the teens at the beginning has been cut in some cases, depending on the teens who were broadcast in the episode. In addition, censorship has been done with profanity and surnames of certain people. The censorship has taken the form of either blurring the mouth during swearing and surname (if included) or profanity and names being bleeped in the audio tracks. Alongside these edits, the ending credits sequence is not included.
United Kingdom Unruly British teenagers are sent to live with strict families in an experiment to try to change their behaviour. Generally they spend 10 days, later 7 days, with their host parents trying to live by the latter's rules.
All series episodes were broadcast on a weekly basis.
Series 1 (2008) Series 1, which was filmed in the summer of 2008, had six episodes and aired from 18 September 2008 to 23 October 2008 on BBC Three.
EpisodeFirst AiredTeenagersFamilyNotesBBC Episode Guide118 September 2008Naomi Fisher (16, Brighton, East Sussex) and Ross Torry (16, Southend, Essex)Mark and Lynn Garnett (A pharmaceutical company worker and part-time teacher) in Birmingham, Alabama, USIn the first episode, the teenagers, Ross and Naomi, are both the same age. At the charity work, Naomi and Ross get in trouble, Ross for shouting and using profanity and Naomi for asking a homeless man for a cigarette. At a bowling alley, Ross and Naomi sneak to a bar and ask a stranger for a cigarette. When Hunter Garnett catches them and when they get home, Mark Garnett loses his temper and punishes the teens by sending them straight to bed early.
(Note: At the end of the episode, the wrong trailer is used by mistake, advertising the next episode that the host family is in Ghana which is actually (episode 3); the next one (episode 2) is in Jamaica). This episode was also aired as an Australian episode and narrated by Axle Whitehead.||BBC Episode Guide – S01E01225 September 2008Charlotte Hart (16, Tiptree) and Sam Northaide (17, Brighton)Dave and Sharon Rose (A government driver and householder) in Jamaica, West IndiesSam gets sent to bed early after a confrontation with Sharon Rose about church, Charlotte leaves school early on the first day for writing an inappropriate essay and arguing with a teacher about writing the essay, and gets sent to the principal's office.
The member of staff at the school whom Charlotte apologized to, Mrs. Wilks, died in 2017. This can be found on Denbeigh’s Facebook page.
This episode was also aired as an Australian episode and narrated by Axle Whitehead.BBC Episode Guide – S01E0232 October 2008Lizzie Pol (17, Birmingham) and Stephan Alvarez (17, Southend)Richard and Vida Adega (a part-time pastor and businesswoman) in Ghana, West Africa Lizzie gets into trouble in school for falling behind. Meanwhile, Stephan proves a productive member of the household. This episode was also aired as an Australian episode and narrated by Axle Whitehead.BBC Episode Guide – S01E0349 October 2008Josh Breslin (17, Tamworth) and Charlotte Abrahams (16, Bristol)Sanjeev and Meena Sharma (a high court lawyer and a householder) in Jaipur, India During school, Josh and Charlotte sneak out to McDonald's, get caught by the principal, and receive a grey punishment card. This episode was also aired as an Australian episode and narrated by Axle Whitehead.BBC Episode Guide – S01E04516 October 2008Lucy Dodds (17, Hornchurch) and Grant Stevens (16, South London)Hannes and Alma Moolman (a farmer and a householder) in Eastern Cape, South Africa Lucy is expelled from school for not complying with the dress code and for smoking on school grounds with her uniform on in front of the people passing by. After realizing how disrespectful Grant is and how he has had no father around for the majority of his childhood, Hannes contacts Grant's mother, Karen. Hannes finds out that Grant is rude to everyone in his family and he has it too strong for too long. This episode was also aired as an Australian episode and narrated by Axle Whitehead.BBC Episode Guide – S01E05623 October 2008Catch up with the 10 teenagers featured in the series, looking back over their experiences to see if strict parenting has changed their relationship with their own parents. This episode aired in Australia on 7 December 2013BBC Episode Guide – S01E06
Series 2 (2009) Series 2 premiered on BBC Three on 15 October 2009 and ran to 17 December. EpisodeFirst AiredTeenagersFamilyNotesBBC Episode Guide115 October 2009Bex Keene (17, Walton on Thames) and Chezdan Dundee (16, Bolton)David and Wanda Kimbrough (a pastor and school administrator) in Atlanta, Georgia, USThe Kimbroughs are a Christian African American family. Bex and Chezden get a scolding from Wanda after ditching Sunday School. Bex also gets in trouble at school for walking out of class, talking back to the principal, and using Facebook. Chezden spends a couple hours out of the house for having an angry outburst over David being considered his father. The song that's featured in this episode is "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse. This episode was also aired as an Australian episode and narrated by Axle Whitehead. BBC Episode Guide – S02E01 222 October 2009Peter Wrigley (16, Dorset) and Jocelyn Harris (17, East Sussex)M. S. "Unni" and Madhu Unnikrishnan (a factory CEO and a householder) in Pune, India During the show, Peter gets reprimanded by Unni for getting tattooed from an unlicensed artist, thus putting him at risk of contracting HIV, as the unlicensed tattoo studio apparently reuses needles. The production staff intervene, fearing for his safety. Peter is very unhappy after being forced to leave the parlour with a half-finished tattoo which was, ironically, to say "Wisdom" in Hindi.BBC Episode Guide – S02E02329 October 2009Hannah Moorehead (17, Worthing) and Leigh Sturge (17, King's Lynn)Michael and Marianyana (career army and a nurse) Selelo in Botswana, AfricaThe family lives in a village. Leigh and Hannah both lie about smoking and drinking. Leigh disagrees with the locals about their ideas surrounding disciplining their children. Both teens attend school, where Hannah is much more reluctant than Leigh. At the end of school year ceremony, Leigh performs in the school's dance performance, while Hannah gives a speech. This episode was also aired as an Australian episode and narrated by Axle Whitehead.BBC Episode Guide – S02E0345 November 2009Hannah Thorpe (17, Liverpool) and James Gowing (17, Leicester)Spencer and Nicholeen P. Peck (a plumber and home-school teacher) in Tooele, Utah, USThe Peck family are devoted Mormons. This is the first episode that features a teen who is a young parent (Hannah). This was the most viewed episode on this show. This episode was also aired as an Australian episode and narrated by Axle Whitehead.BBC Episode Guide – S02E04512 November 2009Gemma Lyons (16, Farnborough) and Jack Travers (17, King's Somborne)David and Tzippi Schechet (an attorney and a writer) in Ayalon Valley, IsraelGemma and Jack are introduced to the Schechet (pronounced "Shekay") family, an Orthodox Jewish family from Los Angeles, who relocated to Israel to live a more religious life. Gemma is an angry girl, who uses her looks and temper to get her way. Jack is a goth, and is bisexual, and is ridiculed by his family. The teens at first throw tantrums and disregard rules, but are humbled by their enjoyment of the work, and a meeting with two elderly Holocaust survivors. However, Gemma becomes jealous when attention is turned to Jack, 'reverts to her couldn't-care-less attitude', and is caught sunbathing in a bikini on the front lawn of the Schechet's home by Tzippi, disobeying the community dress code, after which she is asked to leave. After she spends a night in a Tel Aviv hotel, the Schechets decide to give her another chance and invite her back to join them for lunch in Jerusalem, after which they visit the Western Wall, which interests Gemma. This episode was also aired as an Australian episode and narrated by Axle Whitehead.Meet the BBC's strictest mom – an Israeli, by Sharon Kanon, Israel21c, 2 July 2009BBC Episode Guide – S02E05619 November 2009Debbie McQueen (17, Carlisle) and Daniel Drinkwater (17, Leeds)Abdulsalam and Iman Hajjar (police officer and nurse) in Beirut, LebanonFor a week they must live under the strict rules of the Hajjars, a liberal Sunni Islamic family.BBC Episode Guide – S02E0673 December 2009Calvin Kirlew (16, Nottingham) and Rosie Harley (16, Brighton)Earl and Rosie Perez (lumberyard manager and school administrator) in Belize, Central AmericaEarl and Rosie apparently whip their children when badly behaved.BBC Episode Guide – S02E07810 December 2009Kaya Elliot (16, Manchester) and Jay Birch (17, Sturry)Stacey and Shannon White (police officers) in Kiefer, Oklahoma, USKaya (a Beauty Queen) was picked by the police for running away from the Whites. After being rushed to hospital, it was revealed that she faked an illness, then refuses to stay after her scheme is uncovered. Meanwhile, Jay struggles with motivational issues ever since the death of his four-year-old niece, Molly, which are gradually resolved over the week with Stacey's help. This episode was also aired as an Australian episode and narrated by Axle Whitehead.
Kaya becomes the first teen to fail the "program" and go home before the week was over. Her parents were left questioning how her life will end up if she continues this path. Jay eventually continued to stay until the week was over.BBC Episode Guide – S02E08917 December 2009The programme catches up with ten teenagers featured in the series. The episodes that were represented were Atlanta, India, Botswana, Utah, and Lebanon. The teens recall their experiences and promises, answering whether or not the programme changed their life.BBC Episode Guide – S02E09
Series 3 (2010) Series three premiered on BBC Three on 11 October 2010, the show returned for an 11-episode run. While not formally announced, it appears the teens now spend a week with their adopted families rather than the 10 days in the two previous series. Each episode aired at 9:00 pm on BBC Three and was repeated at various times over the following week. It was also moved to a Monday.
EpisodeFirst AiredTeenagersFamilyNotesBBC Episode Guide111 October 2010Wesley McGillian (19, Manchester) and Tamsin Carruthers-Cole (16, Brighton)Joe Leveille and Scott Loper in Cape May, New Jersey, US The first time one of the training parents (Scott), has gone to the home of one of the British teens, as well as the first time that the parents have been same-sex, the second time one of the teens was a teen parent (Wesley), and the first time one of the teenagers stayed longer than planned (Tamsin).