Big Boys season 3 review

Back for a third and final season Big Boys is probably the first show to make the previous decade nostalgic in the same way popular culture has lionised the Eighties or Nineties for some time. One day all dramas will namedrop cultural icons from 2013 or 2015 just like nowadays they hark back to 1985 or 1996.  Like a lot of successful comedy Big Boys has its roots in real life experiences yet its also the case that a brilliant cast propel Jack Rooke’s wonderfully eccentric, filthy and often poignant script into the stratosphere.  Its deceptively casual anarchy lands on so many levels ranging from hysterical slapstick, bawdy dialogue, realistic drama and bittersweet moments.  Some may find it hits too hard in one or more of these areas- and it is not for the faint hearted- but this is television at its most direct. 

 

This third series has a quartet of brisk episodes packed with riotous fun whether with the extended family on holiday in Greece or various characters tackling the final year of university or dealing with babies and dating. As ever Jack Rooke never uses one profanity where five will do but it works so well. Swearing is just part of this show’s DNA. Front and centre here is Harriet Webb’s boisterous Shannon, a character who wolfs life down like there’s no tomorrow. Harriet Webb is terrific, her performance even more impressive when you think not so long ago she played a tense, serious former soldier in Wreck. In the first episode alone, she has some physical comedy (catching her skirt in the revolving doors, falling over on the beach), spaced out behaviour, anger, ribald storytelling and more. She can jump from the outrageous to the sympathetic yet there is always a bite.

The opener sees the family in Greece, thanks to a bingo win (complete with a surreal bingo caller) but things don’t go according to plan when Jack gets serious sunburn which scuppers his chances of any Greek liaisons while Danny is in the doghouse after well-intentioned but naïve ides that he and Corrine will be fine in a tent in thirty five degree weather. The whole Greek endeavour works really well and is probably typical of many an English family abroad. Beneath the anarchic surface you see that these characters are getting ready to move on. They are learning to live with events whether deaths or births (poor Tariq has to spend the time looking after his and Shannon’s baby) but also loving life. Much of it of course is posted on `Facey B` including a revealing peek at Peggy.

The second episode’s trio of dates is a highlight especially Peggy’s squeaky attempts to stand or sit after she’s been squeezed into something way too tight. The expression on Camille Coduri’s face is a picture. Shannon and Tariq end up at the same restaurant as Corinne and Danny and both have to put up with the attentions of a pretentious server, a funny guest role from Freddie Meredith who played the same waiter in a season one episode. The other focus is the dissertations the final year students have to do and each of Jack, Corinne and Danny end up with seemingly unlikely tutors to help them through.

One aspect of the show is that whatever the serious underlying issues nothing is beyond a vicious, bitchy barb. Highlights of episode three include the most pretentious spoken word group you may ever see where the out pourings of terrible spoken word followed by clicked fingers rather than applause. They are led by the amusingly named Bamboo Armitage  an amusing turn from Will Hislop. The episode skirts the boundaries with jokes and comments that may offend some so beware but its all in context. The whole cast give it everything and these episodes feel even funnier than previous seasons as if Rooke is packing in as many laughs in as he can before something alters late episode four. Any series that can pivot from the joy of Tariq’s awkward proposal to Shannon to Danny ditching Corinne is deserved of praise anyway and both are immaculately performed. 

Only a writer as skilful and drawing from his own experiences as Jack Rooke could turn what is essentially a tragedy into something uplifting without the viewer feeling they’ve been tricked. We already know from previous series that one of the real characters on whom Danny is based did not make it through, overwhelmed by the turn of events. The plot of his gran’s dementia has been especially well played and familiar to anyone who has seen a relative go through that experience till the end as I have.  Jon Pointing gives a moving performance, a stillness in sadness, as Danny’s life spirals down. The contrast with his chipper Danny of earlier episodes is striking. So, during the mostly sombre episode five it seems like we are heading for that precipice. We know what’s going to happen.

Only we don’t. The writer himself penned the synopsis for part six on Channel 4’s listings which read: “There’s no synopsis for this episode. You’ll just have to click Play”. Its tempting to leave it undiscussed so if you’ve not seen it read no further till you have. In some ways its not completely unexpected that the real Jack shows up here as he did in part six last season. His narration is an ever present presence anyway; its just that Dylan Llewellyn has his vocal mannerisms down so well a lot of people probably assume its the actor narrating. It’s a device that could seem intrusive yet Rooke pulls it off because he is unsentimental and realistically resigned to things.

So at the start of the episode an intervention from the real Rooke who chats with Danny on a bench overlooking the beach suggests we can have an alternative ending, a positive one and that is what unfolds in part six.  What could easily be a rug pull too far instead becomes a bittersweet conclusion as we are treated to another possible ending for the character, one in which he survives and finally thrives. Help too comes from a most unexpected source. It’s a bold gambit that could only come from the love and respect the real Jack obviously has for his old friend and makes us all wish that was what really happened. He seems to be offering a happy ending not because it will please the viewers or to follow the rules of tv drama but to simply pay tribute to the life of his friend. It works so well that you can almost hear that real friend say something like “that’s all a bit much innit?”

It tops off what has been a very funny, sometimes emotional and often perceptive series. It’ll be known as a classic in future, I’m sure. If you’ve not watched it don’t be put off by its apparent vulgarity and brassiness- this is a comedy with a realism you will recognise and characters you’ll enjoy watching wrapped up in some of the best comedic writing and performances you’ll see this year.