At first glance this is another British mockumentary in the same vein as The Office. Pathetic characters in normal situations that are familiar yet far-fetched. We laugh at these people with a 'there but for the grace of god' sigh of relief. And yet there's something very real about the characters we meet in this comedy. Even if you don't live in a council tower block you either know people like this or know that people like this exist. The ambitions and eventual failure in achieving them by these sorry losers is very real. They're decent, (fairly) honest people caught in a trap and you're really cheering for them, but if they came up trumps it wouldn't be funny. The comedy is in their failure.
Like many people of my generation who were aspiring DJs, spending countless nights on the decks with their mates getting stoned, there's so much in this that rings true, and these relatively unknown actors do a superb job in making it all feel so real. We laugh with them, we laugh at them, then we come away feeling really bad for them, and it's this subtle fine-line that makes this new comedy really stand out.
Like many people of my generation who were aspiring DJs, spending countless nights on the decks with their mates getting stoned, there's so much in this that rings true, and these relatively unknown actors do a superb job in making it all feel so real. We laugh with them, we laugh at them, then we come away feeling really bad for them, and it's this subtle fine-line that makes this new comedy really stand out.