| Map Men | |
|---|---|
 Logo since Series 3 | |
| Genre | Geography Comedy |
| Created by | Jay Foreman Mark Cooper-Jones |
| Written by | Jay Foreman Mark Cooper-Jones |
| Presented by | Jay Foreman Mark Cooper-Jones |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 35[1] |
| Original release | |
| Network | YouTube |
| Release | 4 May 2016 (2016-05-04) – present |
Map Men is a British edutainment mini-series[2][3] which is created, written, and presented by Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones.[2][3][4] A mix of comedy and geography,[4] its videos regularly attract 1 to 5 million views on YouTube.[1][2][3]
Premise
The series is created, written, and presented by Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones.[2][3][4] Mark Cooper-Jones is a former geography teacher,[3][4] and the pair met at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where both were performing in 2009 or 2010.[4][5] The series started in 2016,[4] and has aired for four complete series, with a fifth one currently airing. The episodes are a mix of comedy and geography,[4] with each episode answering a short geographical question, often involving maps.[4] The style has been compared to Horrible Histories[2][3] and the pair cite their inspiration as Monty Python.[4] The videos feature deadpan, split-second visual gags, and comic sketches.[3][6]
The pair have claimed the show's success to be due to the growing redundancy of maps as an everyday item, leaving them to be "geeky".[4] They also cite the mix of comedy and geography as the unique element behind the series, leading to its success compared to other more education-based alternatives.[6] In 2021, the series was nominated under the "learning and education" category for the 11th Streamy Awards, losing to Veritasium.[7] In 2024, an edited version of the video about why some British place-names are hard to pronounce won 'Video of the Year' in the inaugural UK and Ireland TikTok Awards.[8] In October 2025, the duo released the book This Way Up: When Maps Go Wrong (And Why It Matters) (ISBN 978-0-3697-7503-0).
Episodes
| Series | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| 1 | 6 | 4 May 2016 (2016-05-04) | 7 August 2016 (2016-08-07) | |
| 2 | 5 | 15 April 2019 (2019-04-15) | 2 September 2019 (2019-09-02) | |
| 3 | 11 | 16 November 2020 (2020-11-16) | 13 September 2021 (2021-09-13) | |
| 4 | 7 | 10 July 2023 (2023-07-10) | 31 August 2024 (2024-08-31) | |
| Specials | 3[a] | 13 October 2024 (2024-10-13) | 30 June 2025 (2025-06-30) | |
| 5 | 3 | 15 September 2025 (2025-09-15) | TBA | |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 11th Streamy Awards | Learning and Education | Nominated | [7] |
| 2024 | 1st UK and Ireland TikTok awards | Video of the Year | Won | [8] |
Notes
- ^ Includes the sponsored episode "Map Men vs. Geoguessr", as well as two sponsored shorts about the Ordnance Survey, all of which were released between series 4 and 5 and were produced outside of the standard episode production cycle.
References
- ^ a b "MAP MEN - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Khomami, Nadia (31 October 2023). "Britons go map-crazy, with geographical games and books becoming bestsellers". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g Keogh, Glen (6 April 2024). "'Horrible Geography' jokers the Map Men chart out a path to fame". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 1 April 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Burton, Katie (22 November 2023). "Map Men: where comedy meets geography". Geographical. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
- ^ Foreman, Jay (13 September 2021). "Mark Cooper-Jones an…". reddit.com. Retrieved 18 June 2025 – via Reddit.
- ^ a b Fitch, Chris (9 August 2016). "Map Men: teaching geography through comedy". Geographical Magazine. Archived from the original on 16 May 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
- ^ a b "11th Annual Streamy Nominees". The Streamy Awards. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
- ^ a b Rufo, Yasmin (3 December 2024). "Social media stars crowned in first UK and Ireland TikTok awards". BBC News. Archived from the original on 5 December 2024. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
External links
