Angry Boys

Angry Boys is a hugely ambitious new series from Chris Lilley – and one that I feel has been misunderstood by some viewers. While not as consistently funny as his previous shows, I found this to be the most engaging – with well drawn characters who you grow to care about more and more as the series progresses. Even though there were only a handful of hilarious moments per episode, I still felt that the series was solidly entertaining – incorporating moments of obscurity, profanity, profundity and tragedy – but while also managing to be funny and uplifting.

Some have criticised the amount of characters that Lilley brings to the screen in this series, but I never considered this aspect of the show to be excessive. Across 12 episodes, 6 characters felt like the right amount – and not every character is featured in every episode. Furthermore, the plots were often interwoven – both physically and thematically. Others have criticised the appearance of the characters – suggesting that they are not believable, or that they look too much like Lilley. However, this was never an issue for me. Using Gran as an example, the mannerisms, the attitude and the voice were more than enough for me to feel that she was her own character. I actually consider the understated physical differentiation between each character to be a huge triumph – demonstrating Lilley's great skill as an actor, while immersing the viewer into a strange Being John Malkovich esque parallel universe where all of the main characters look exactly the same.

Overall, I feel that Angry Boys is an accomplished series, but perhaps not one that will benefit from repeated viewings to quite the same extent as his previous shows. Nonetheless, I feel that it is further proof of Chris Lilley's diverse range of talents – and I for one cannot wait to see what he does next.

(Can't finish the review without giving a special mention to Jen Okazaki - Chris' most appalling and hilarious creation to date!)

I, like some other reviewers, stumbled upon this little diamond by accident.

Although it is not a new format (mockumentary) Chris Lilly presents us with believable characters that we can learn to "love to cringe" with!

Great fun and with story-lines that usually interlink at some point.

It is clever but with a splash of total silyness but stories that leave you wanting more.

I feel I know the characters already and know this will run and run.

Even though I am from the UK, I have met most of them in one form or another.

Well done Chris!

When I first hear about this show from a friend, I didn't really care much for it, I thought just another comedy show, but I was very wrong, when I watched the first episode on BBC iPlayer I was absolutely blown away,it was a very funny show, but yet very realistic, the comedy is not over the top, the characters are fantastic and very well played, and the last few episodes show that the show can be very emotional, I had never heard of Chris Liley before this show, and as I looked him up on IMDb he seems to be quite famous in Australia, I will have to look up some more of his work overall 10 out 10, a very good show and I hope there are more series to come!

What i love about all of Chris's shows is that they are enhanced by watching the other shows. Summer heights high is better after watching We can be heroes etc.

With angry boys you can see Liley, using the trust of the TV station and money to full extent. The series begins with 2 story lines. Gran and Nathan and Daniel (we can be heroes). and it starts of quite small but completely brilliantly, with the same charm of SHH and WCBH. Then after 1 it just gets better and better. They are 6 episodes so far, each more epic than the last.

A must see, especially for Lilly's fans i can see this turning into Lilly's masterpiece as we have a 12 episode series.

After initial disappointment I found this series to hit something above the normal. As the stories developed I realised I was not watching Lilley but watching entirely authentic characters. He is a great actor, writer and commenter on society. The characters are like from a modern Ibsen play; good characters but not necessarily of good character. As the narratives slowly piece together (and it is a very gradual process) something emerged for me that was close to the sublime; a humanity that is more important than the comedic values, a sincerity that is more valuable than the dramatic qualities and a genuine compassion for the characters. I am so happy I stayed with it and watched the series in it's entirety. The emotional gratification in the latter episodes had me overwhelmed at times.