The comparison with 'Alfie' was pretty accurate, Vince Swan (played by Ed Weswick) breaks the fourth wall continuously to keep the plot movie. It provides some of the character's insights, but it can be distracting as it is hard to feel any compassion for Swan who is pretty much a self-centered jerk to his wife and coworkers.
Secondly, there is the annoyance of the constant 80s music. Trust me, I love 80s music but it seems to be overused in this series. And it's not just background music, it blares at the end of every scene. Just look at the playlists on the official website, there are 15-20 songs per episodes. It's just too much, and appears to be added just to draw in more viewers.
Overall it's not a bad show, James Buckley and Joe Thomas recreate their 'Inbetweeners' roles and interactions which are about the best thing going. Linzey Cocker gives a pretty good performance as Swan's suffering wife.
Weswick's recent legal troubles (he was accused by three women of sexual assault in November 2017) put season two in question. BBC2's announcement of the second season was before this news broke. I am not sure if the show will survive without Weswick, it does center on him despite his character's unappealing antics. Why he couldn't have been just a con man is beyond me, extending his sleaziness to his personal life wasn't necessary unless the intent was to garner hatred towards him.
Obviously it's tough trying to follow up a great series such as 'Inbetweeners' and Damn Beesley didn't do so with 'White Gold,' but even mediocre BBC shows can be worth watching. This is one of them, just don't expect too much...
Secondly, there is the annoyance of the constant 80s music. Trust me, I love 80s music but it seems to be overused in this series. And it's not just background music, it blares at the end of every scene. Just look at the playlists on the official website, there are 15-20 songs per episodes. It's just too much, and appears to be added just to draw in more viewers.
Overall it's not a bad show, James Buckley and Joe Thomas recreate their 'Inbetweeners' roles and interactions which are about the best thing going. Linzey Cocker gives a pretty good performance as Swan's suffering wife.
Weswick's recent legal troubles (he was accused by three women of sexual assault in November 2017) put season two in question. BBC2's announcement of the second season was before this news broke. I am not sure if the show will survive without Weswick, it does center on him despite his character's unappealing antics. Why he couldn't have been just a con man is beyond me, extending his sleaziness to his personal life wasn't necessary unless the intent was to garner hatred towards him.
Obviously it's tough trying to follow up a great series such as 'Inbetweeners' and Damn Beesley didn't do so with 'White Gold,' but even mediocre BBC shows can be worth watching. This is one of them, just don't expect too much...