Fat Friends

I watched this with my mum who is going through slimming world at the moment and we both agreed that it is so relatable. The show markets itself as a comedy about a group of people going through a weight loss group.

The one thing I liked about the show the most is that it really feels like an ensemble piece; each main character gets their own episode so we were really able to see the personal issues they were all facing. No character felt like they were 'more important' than the others. Not only this, but in these episodes we were able to see how they struggled not only with weight but also with other things. We saw issues with relationships, religion, financial stress as well as a variety of eating disorders too.

The show did well at humanising all of the characters and not making them seem like greedy monsters which a lot of other shows about fat people seem to do. Furthermore, the show managed to exaggerate things and add comedic value in all the right places and overall, it's just a really great dramatic comedy that hits all the right places.

A funny film that shows what it is like to be fat in this world where a lot of things are about looks. Sometimes the films becomes sad, but it is always optimistic.

Everyone who has been on a diet and has tried to lose weight will recognize the problems in one of the characters. It was very easy for me to relate to that.

The film does not mock fat people. But it shows the fact that we all know - you don't have to be slim to be happy.

We all know this, but not everyone really believes it and lives his/her life accordingly.

As if I didn't hate soap operas enough, I thought that I would utterly detest "Fat Friends" because the main plot is basically about people who are... well, yeah, fat. But what a relieve this was: not only was the subject matter per episode much more interesting than the usual "who slept with whom" in your average drama series, I was surprised to actually see some REAL ACTING on the screen! So they're fat. Who gives a ***. When I watched the show I never had the feeling that I was being forced to take in some kind of moral stance on the "fat issue", but instead I was swept away in the everyday life of the main characters, who go through things and encounter problems that could happen to anyone (divorce, distrust, insecurity, anorexia in the family, being teased etc.). Mostly thanks to the magnificent acting, and the matter-of-factness in style (not a lot of make-up, no overkill in violin-music in dramatic scenes, etc.). A welcome change from the "overdone" melodramas that crowd all TV-channels nowadays (Dutch people like to criticize American TV-series for being too mushy, but Dutch dramas are a lot worse...). I think this "natural thing" in TV and film is something the British are good at. Keep up the good work, guys.

What can I say about the show, it started off good and then Coronation Street decided we want to take some of those actors for our show and then those actors just randomly disappeared from Fat friends and they were damn good characters. James Corden's character was terrible and he was the one of the characters that kind of hung around sadley, Actress Gaynor Faye her mother wrote this so it was only inevitable that she was going to stay in the show now credit where credit is due she didn't get all the scenes there was no favouritism each character had it meat and potatoes it was just really annoying how how some of the characters from season 1 disappeared because they were brilliant we invested time in them and then ITV decided they wanted to steal them for Coronation Street and turn them into mopey dopey dull characters that we couldn't wait to die and in fact the whole family was written out after a year or two. Lynda Baron was a great edition because she's a wonderful actress and she needs to star in more TV shows. So is Lisa Rylie.

I've never actually watched it until now! Even though I love Gavin and Stacy, I never knew some of the cast were in this, too. Now, the first 2 series were perfect. Heartfelt. Beautifully written. However, I have to agree with the other reviewer that the 3rd and particularly the 4th series just missed this spark. That being said, they were both very enjoyable to watch and I would happily watch them again. I love this kind of UK drama and Kay Mellow shows here that she is one of the best writers of this genre around!