Misfits

Misfits is the story of what happens if teens who are juvenile delinquents (convicted of minor, not major crimes) get super powers. And as its a British TV show, there's more foul language, rough sex, sharp dialogue,obscenity and eccentricity than it would be if it were an American one. I watched the first one out of curiosity not expecting much, but was hooked. At first (and second and third) glance, the characters are unsympathetic. Kelly- an aggressive version of Vicky Pollard, Alisha- a sexaholic, Curtis a disgraced track star, Simon a kid so withdrawn he's heading into creepy territory, and Nathan the smart-arse whose snark makes you laugh AND want to kill him. A disparate bunch forced to do Community Service under court orders as an alternative to jail. They get superpowers from a freak storm- and then its a thrill ride all the way. Violent attacks, murder, burying bodies..from the action packed first episode its a hair raising thrill ride with some amazing music in the soundtrack. The actors are superb. This is MUST SEE TV!

Series 1 and 2 of Misfits are outrageous and far more entertaining than the synopsis suggests. The production values are sky high, and it can do horror and thrills as well as almost any other TV programme. Much more importantly though, it surprised me... because it made me roar with laughter. The credit for that goes almost exclusively to Nathan, who takes one look at all the cool haircuts and pouts before tearing it all apart with filthy sociopathic charm. He leaves at the end of Series 2, and the show misses him badly. Rudy tries to fill the hole, but he is increasingly alone in trying to provide some charisma and laughs. By Series 4, the characters who populate the show have become entirely forgettable. Get in, get your fill, then get out while you're ahead.

Brilliant! People seem to refer to Heroes when talking/writing about Misfits. This isn't valid as Heroes is a very different series. Misfits is about some ordinary late-teenagers getting super powers - Heroes is about Hollywood characters receiving superpowers and saving the world by being superheroes.

The storyline of Misfits is twisted and clouded. Until now no one seems to be using their powers for anything weird and they still do their community service. I like that. They're not suddenly super heroes and nothing fancy is going on.

The more I see of British "telly", the more I love it. The budget is smaller, the realism is more important and the various series seem to be shorter with focus on quality instead of ability to survive a buck load of seasons. Go Britania, go! As the Brits would say: SPOT ON!

I must admit that not once did I think of 'Heroes' when watching this programme, although now the point has been raised I can see why people would compare the two. What this programme does is show what a fertile ground British TV still is as not only is it very well cast, but the writing, direction and production design match anything that out US friends can do. Along with Skins and The Inbetweeners Channel 4 have now got another great programme that is 'yoof' but also appeals to an older audience. It is very dark, very twisted and quite often very very funny.

Initially I found Robert Sheehan's character 'Nathan' to be really irritating to the point that I thought he would ruin the programme, but as the show progresses he really is the heart of the whole thing and by the end of it I realised he was far and away the best thing in it !

Sheehan is certainly a face for the future, so too Lauren Socha who as 'Kelly' again initially seems like a real 'Chav' before blossoming into a very rounded character who you can sympathise with. Following her work in the Arctic Monkey's 'Scummy Man' promo she could also be one to watch.

If this was US produced I dare say we'd have had a minimum of 12 episodes to season 1, but the six we do get are excellent.

It would be a real crime if this doesn't reappear for a Second Series by the end of the year.

I came to the reviews here to work out whether I should carry on as S4 ep 1 was rough to put it politely. Other reviewers have confirmed that the door should be closed at the end of S3. The loss of major characters and intro of new (less interesting) ones was an error of judgement.

So anyway, seasons 1 to 3 a brilliant ride of madness and crazy adventures, really worth a watch if you like this type of show.