Nathan Barley

Chris Morris advances on the agitprop satire of Brass Eye, and the ambient weirdness of Jam, with the wonderfully caustic and gleefully vicious Nathan Barley. As others have noted, 'Barley' is probably Morris's most-subtle creation yet... a seemingly conventional sitcom about life in the world of the media, with cutting edge magazine publishers, idolised DJ's, crusading digital filmmakers and techno-wiz-kids all standing in as the centre of attention, complete with their own annoying txt-speak characteristics, daft costumes, anti-establishment opinions and ever-so-trendy idiosyncrasies. However, the joke here is not what is written into the scripts (though, more often than not, this is incredible funny), but rather, the notion that these kind of characters - which do exist in real life - will no doubt buy into the whole joke, watching each episode eagerly before going into the office the next day to confront their friends and co-workers with the usual one-liners.

Morris, writing here alongside Charlie Brooker, is to television what Luke Haines is to pop music... someone who can work within the confines of an industry, gathering acclaim and a legion of devoted fans, whilst simultaneously trying to bring said industry down from the inside!! Morris and Brooker seem to have a genuine contempt for the characters that they write about, and - as with Brass Eye and The Day Today - the joke sometimes becomes so scathing and so accurate, that you actually forget that you're watching a satire (a notion continued by Morris's faux-edgy directorial style, which has swerving hand-held cameras and random zooms to, I would hope, rip the pip out of all of these trendy new TV shows that want be challenging - in a Dogme-style sense - so bad, they can practically taste it!!). Some of the media pastiches are fantastic too, like the so-chic it hurts art gallery that consisted of nothing more than pictures of celebrities urinating, or the Russian underground website, which includes pay-per-view downloadable clips of "tramp marathons" and tooth-pulling competitions, complete with armed police threatening anyone refusing to take part with assault rifles and teargas.

The madness of the show works because Morris and Brooker tend to anchor the shows to the character of Dan (The Preacher Man) Ashcroft, a cynical and fairly down-to-earth sort, who seems at odds with the backslapping and self-congratulatory cretins who populate his office. As a result, the jokes work because we can relate to Dan's anguish at being celebrated by these fools, who find humour in irreverent spreads on child molestation, have chainsaw ring tones and have a unhealthy habit of composing raps while they get it on with the opposite sex (Nathan's seduction of Claire is absolute comedy genius... "yeah, well plastic, man!!"). My favourite gag would have to be Dan unintentionally creating a new trendy hair-style when he falls asleep under the paint table. "What's it called?" asks Nathan. "Errr... Geek Pie" replies Dan. Cut to Nathan on Japanese TV promoting said hair-style without a shard or irony or good humour.

Most of the jokes work on multiple levels, often acting as an out-and-out parody of the kind of pretentious, novelty, tabloid-bating nonsense that seems to be continually spat out of these nu-media outlets (digital television, on-line publishing, underground advertising, or remnants of the shallow mid-nineties art scene, etc)... but then, there's also the integration of the characters, the disgust and contempt that Dan has for his colleagues, and the sheer genius of the word play used by these bizarre caricatures (typical Barley invitation, "you should come doll snatch, it's gonn'a be Mexico!!"... all this and more from the man who gave us "fact me till I fart"). The cast is great, padded out with characters form The Mighty Boosh and the brilliant Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, so you know the timing and delivery will be pitch perfect and the plausibility spot on.

Nathan Barley may not scale the comedic highs of Morris's more on-the-nose satires like The Day Today and Brass Eye, but it is, nonetheless, very funny, not just in the way the jokes are constructed, but in the believability and plausibility of the characterisations and the recreation of that kind of self-conscious, self-styled universe. Morris (and Brooker) should be commended for taking a risk with this serious, creating something that almost passes for a normal sitcom, but with that much loved/much needed Morris contempt always lurking, just beneath the surface.

Everyone who says that Nathan Barley is trash(bat.co.ck) never known anyone like Barley or Ashcroft. These days you can not help but be bombarded by the idiots who are going to inherit the world. I didn't have to watch this show. All I had to do was go outside of my apartment in London to see the idiots with massive amount of money and no direction.

For me it wasn't funny watching my life portrayed by Dan Ashcroft who seems to be the only one who sees through the idiots persona. He is the only one who realizes that there is no escape, there is no turning back, there is nothing you can do to avert the rise of the Idiots.

This is a sharp commentary on todays idiot youth. Its funny and to the point. Everyone should watch it and see if they know any 'Idiots'

I've watched the DVD several times now and I can say it's hilarious. It did take a little to get over the overly annoying characters though but...

I caught this on TV when it came out and I didn't really give it the time and as such... I didn't really get much out of it. To tell you the truth, the character wound me up a lot. Later on a friend pointed out that Chris Morris had directed it, so I had to give it another go.

Being a Chris Morris fan (other for Blue Jam, which I thought was just a little bit too far over the line) I had to give it another go. And it was worth it. Give it a bit of time and there is no turning back. As many have said, it's not an overly obvious joke based Sitcom but it's in the subtleties.

I'd say, give it a go and you MAY love it… or you can give it to a friend. The choice is yours.

Mat

Before I watched this series on DVD, I was wondering why there were so many bad reviews by fans of Chris Morris. But now I kind of understood the reason why. Because the story is pretty much about Chris Morris himself; a caricature of what he has achieved and people who appreciate his comedy. Chris Morris's followers are all despised in there. The person who you believe is your 'Preacher Man' now tells you he is an 'Idiot'.....who could instantly appreciate such things? From 'On the Hour 'to 'Blue Jam', he had been making, topical , but more and more excessive humour to the point that no one can really laugh out loud. (Oh, please, is there anyone who's cracked up with the joke about a man who kept committing suicide?) Those jokes are just like Nathan's trashbat.co.ck and what his people find 'COOL'. By watching this sitcom, one could guess a bit about his inner thoughts when he received all those praises and admiration on his works. He might have been in a gridlock because how deviantly he went, no one said no to him and the way out was to ridicule himself in the exactly same way as he did previously. I think Nathan Barley is a natural step for a comic genius like Chris Morris. I really loved it. Glad to purchase this DVD.

One of the most important things about comedy is, in my opinion, the characters. If you don't feel a certain amount of emotion, whatever kind it may be, for the characters within a comedy, it's not worth watching it and it's boring. All of the characters in Nathan Barley you can feel something for.

The first character that I felt a kind of affinity with was Claire, the young aspiring film maker with sass and a kind heart. And her brother Dan, trying to keep his head above water whilst swimming in a sea of idiots and failing miserably because of his extreme lack of assertiveness and initiative. His character you can only feel sorry for up to a certain point before you realize that he has brought most of his misfortunes on him self.

There's also a funny thing about Nathan Barley as a character. At times he certainly falls into the demographic of "the idiot" and even quite a horrible person, but at other times you are forced to almost feel sorry for him, while at the same time remembering if he wasn't an idiot he wouldn't have gotten him self into the mess in the first place. There's something lovely about all of the character in this series, something we can all relate to, laugh at and bond with.

In a way they have hit the nail on the head with the culture in every city society that is coming to light over the past few years. The wearing of tight jeans, huge sunglasses, huge white running shoes, fluro off the shoulder t-shirts and probably the most pointless, the cross over of meaningless web sites into real life clubbing culture. I'd like to call this show a spoof, but that would somehow cheapen it and I don't want to do that. Watch it and make up your own mind on what genre, if any, it is.

Personally I thought it was brilliant as I like to laugh at the little things in a comedy show. The little throw away sentences that not everyone would pick up on, the slight look of a disgruntled character or an extras dressed a certain way in the back ground. If you like to laugh at those little details, then this show is certainly for you. It is also for you if you like what I refer to as 'cringe worthy comedy.'

Probably the first "sitcom" i can think of that achieved this was Faulty Towers. You felt something for Basil, even if he was a prat, and therefore found your self cringing at the scenes in which he embarrassed him self or the scenes in which he got physically hurt. Another show that's like this is The Office. David Brent is another character you find your self not liking too much, but almost wishing when you watch it the second time around that he wouldn't embarrass him self and say what you know he is going to say.

Nathan Barley is the same kind of thing and you'll find your self feeling sorry for many of the characters, while at the same time disliking them immensely. Comedy is an awfully emotion thing, and this is one of the most emotional comedies around at the moment.