Nathan Barley

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.

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

I came to Nathan Barley one Friday night totally by accident, as i am usually out and about on weekend nights. I stumbled on it and was immediately sucked in by their world. It may have got the lowest ratings channel 4 have ever received on a Friday night, but its popularity in DVD format shows its cult following. HMV (Leeds)sold out in their first week and had to re-order another 200 or so due to unexpected sales. The comedy depicts an image-conscious world where most of the characters are working in the media spectrum, either in newspapers (Dan Ashcroft), documentaries (Claire Ashcroft) or in websites/music or anything else he can get his idiotic hands into (aka Nathan Barley). The show is the typical 6 episodes. It centres mainly around the 'friendship' between Nathan Barley and Dan Ashcroft. Barley loves Ashcroft and wants to be just like him (e.g. copying haircut, salmon/scrambled egg coffee) but Dan Ashcroft despises him for being 'the King of the Idiots' and for wanting to sleep with his sister. Just as Dan seems to be winning his little personal duel against Barley, things go wrong for him. The comedy is layered and warrants multiple watches. I have watched 'The Mighty Boosh' last week to see what all the fuss was about. I personally believe Nathan Barley to be a far better comedy. More development of characters, better use of language, more money spent on design, interesting take on London society. Futuristic yet still very accessible, i recommend Nathan Barley to anyone. Even my dad managed a few laughs. It has catchphrases and songs, and games (Barley's take on paper, scissors, stones) and slogans (Suga Rape)and a high number of laughs per minute. It is worth buying the DVD just for the booklet of stencils and slogans and 'political comments' which accompanies it. Futures yeah! Would have been nice if Vince Noir (off 'the Mighty Boosh') had been given a better part. If Peep Show was the comedy of 2004, in the words of Ricky Gervais, perhaps Nathan Barley will end up being the new comedy of 2005. Believe.

Chris Morris has not, contrary to some people's opinion, failed at producing a truly inspired piece of work in his latest series "Nathan Barley". His talent for humour shines through all over the place, and the show is riddled with almost subliminal jokes. When I watched both of the two first episodes, I was laughing out loud. This certainly rivals "Brass Eye" and "The Day Today" and I would personally rate it above those two.

One thing I will say though is that the people who don't appreciate "Nathan Barley" clearly are the people who find "Friends" funny. There is a lack of the increasingly boring slapstick humour, instead the show is packed with amusing irony and stupid phrases - my favourite: "It's gonna be totally fukin Mexico." I think that Chris and Charlie are onto a winner and avidly await the next four episodes...

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.