People Just Do Nothing

At first glance this is another British mockumentary in the same vein as The Office. Pathetic characters in normal situations that are familiar yet far-fetched. We laugh at these people with a 'there but for the grace of god' sigh of relief. And yet there's something very real about the characters we meet in this comedy. Even if you don't live in a council tower block you either know people like this or know that people like this exist. The ambitions and eventual failure in achieving them by these sorry losers is very real. They're decent, (fairly) honest people caught in a trap and you're really cheering for them, but if they came up trumps it wouldn't be funny. The comedy is in their failure.

Like many people of my generation who were aspiring DJs, spending countless nights on the decks with their mates getting stoned, there's so much in this that rings true, and these relatively unknown actors do a superb job in making it all feel so real. We laugh with them, we laugh at them, then we come away feeling really bad for them, and it's this subtle fine-line that makes this new comedy really stand out.

Firmly in the tradition of the Office and Phoenix Nights comes this gem following the day to day ups and downs of a group of friends running a pirate radio station in a bedraggled West London neighborhood. We meet best pals, the wonderfully delusional MC Grindah and the loyal, clearly talented but dim DJ Kevin "Beats" Bates who run Brentford's top Garage/DnB,Grime Pirate radio station Kurupt FM. Not very ably assisted by child-like stoner Steves and modest & quiet DJ Decoy; the lads face the day to day struggles of keeping their station going and managing their complicated private lives. The ambitious but severely deluded local 'entrepreneur' Chabuddy G provides the station with much needed help & advice that usually brings chaos to the group, while Grindah's housewife/hair dresser girlfriend provides the vital ego massaging that a 'genius' like Grindah needs. Much of the comedy comes from Grindah's frustration at not being a mega star and with his loyal but dimwitted crew who seemingly frustrate his every move as well as the buffoon- ish but well intentioned Chabuddy's attempts to help his friends. This sort of thing has been done before and a lot of Grindah's mugging to camera is straight from the Ricky Gervais school of comedy but this is clearly a labour of love for the cast, about music they clearly have a passion and talent for. Truly a joy to watch the writing and acting (much of which is ab- libbed) are fantastic. A Bad News Tour or Spinal Tap for modern British urban music.

It's been a very long time since the golden age of British sitcoms, back in the 90s. Since then, we've seen very little in the way of outstanding, memorable stuff. The last truly great one, in my opinion, was Peep Show which finished last year and you'd have to go back to The Office before that (though I'd like to give a shout out to Plebs, which although not in the same league is still very good). Well now, we've finally got another one.

It's very much inspired by The Office and much of the acting (particularly from the two main characters, Beats and Grindah) clearly has Ricky Gervais's imprint all over it. I don't see this as a bad thing though and if you liked The Office you'll love this. As will anyone with a passing knowledge of inner city life in the UK, the DJ / underground music scene or even if you just like laughing at the "chavvy" end of society. Most of us will recognise at least one of these 4 main protagonists or the characters they associate with, in real life and it all rings very true, particularly the dialogue which is expertly done.

What this is doing languishing on BBC 3 is anyone's guess but it certainly deserves a larger audience. I cannot recommend this highly enough, I haven't laughed so much in years!

This series is fantastic. I guess if your one of these people ( they do exist ) you may not find it funny. Other wise it is great observational comedy. The characters are endearing and horrific at the same moment. The total delusion of grandeur these people have is so on point. The worrying thing from my point of view is I like the music they play. Well worth a watch.

As an American I sadly was not in London when pirate radio and garage was popping. Nonetheless, the show managed to keep me invested in the story and the characters. While season one was slow, I'm glad I continued watching as the show gets much better. Season 4 was a little bit weak, but that's probably just because I wasn't a fan of Grindah's character in it. But the show managed to end on a high note with a good season 5 and a great ending. Overall the show is well worth a watch, and got me listening to some new music as well.