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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Spells &amp; Karma" data-source="post: 432003" data-attributes="member: 23">This week marks a rare foray into the world of the 21st Century British sitcom with Beautiful People: <img src="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fen-images.kinorium.com%2Fmovie%2F1080%2F450087.jpg%3F1728112306&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=fbf23b2febfd3bb78fe0a1616a1928a89884c7881fb4ae767aaa4a03e6c88953" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="width: 576px" />I hadn't even heard of this one until five minutes before I started watching. I simply scrolled through iPlayer looking for a sitcom I hadn't watched before that didn't look too challenging, or too long. At just twelve episodes long, this fitted the bill.The bright colours and the title font in the image above give off strong AbFab energy presumably intentionally since the series have the same producer. There's no mistaking they're going for "camp" here. The  jazzy opening imagery of New York with the accompanying upbeat song give very Anglo-American vibes, as do the bookend scenes at the start and end of each energy with the older Simon, usually in the window at Barneys, but sometimes walking along a New York street.If this Will & Grace element  with camp adult Simon and his camp boyfriend was the tone of the entire series, I'd have checked out after an episode or two. Fortunately, these are only a means to an end and very brief, with most of the series told in flashback back in Reading. And this is where it gets good. The "looking" back element has hints of The Wonder Years, and there's also more than a dash of Adrian Mole to the series, both of which  are very good things.iPlayer describes the series thus:And Wikipedia has this to say:The key selling point for me was Jonathan Harvey's name attached as the writer of this adaption. His film Beautiful Thing had a big impact on me when I first watched it last year, and there are a number of thematic similarities between the two projects. Once again it's set in the late Nineties (albeit Beautiful Thing was actually filmed then as well) and the key character is a young lad whose sexuality an interests make him different from most of his peers.As it turns out, that's not the only common ground with that earlier project. This one has Tameka Empson and Meera Syal. Meera's role is quite different from her cameo in the film - here she plays the sassy blind aunt. As the hairdresser with attitude, Tameka is playing her usual type, which is no bad thing. As in the earlier film she wastes no opportunity to break out into song. Instead of Mama Cass, here she's delivered songs from And I Am Telling You to Waterloo. Sadly, the character has just dropped dead in the last episode I watched, but I have seen that this isn't the last we'll see of the actress, which is good news.Olivia Coleman seems to be omnipresent in recent years and I confess I find it a little off-putting. I shouldn't have, because she's great fun here. As the gobby-but-supportive mother, Debbie, who is fond of the sauce. Certainly in terms of vocal inflections, she seems to be channelling Bev from Abigail's Party.Sophie Ash as Simon's promiscuous sister gives great attitude  (I probably keep re-using certain adjectives, but the fact is that most of the characters here - especially the women - are gobby, sassy and have attitude), and Aidan McArdle as their dad is also great... he's permanently harried and frazzled by the madhouse in which he lives, and is quite possibly the only sane member of the family. Brenda Fricker did a great turn as his once-solidly-Christian mother now filterless after too much ECT resulting from her depression (think Sophia Petrillo with an Irish accent and you're pretty much there).Really, though, this series belongs to Luke Ward-Wilkinson as Simon and scene-stealer-and-he-knows-it Layton Williams as his wildly OTT friend Kylie (real name Kyle) who are brilliant together. Special mention, too, to Sarah Niles as Kylie's scowling mother Reba who regularly throws objects at the boys while calling them "batty boys" (this would never fly in 2025). One of the first episodes saw a hilarious catfight between Reba and Debbie.[MEDIA=youtube]5_TxeQe60GY[/MEDIA] The humour delves into the surreal with dream sequences and even the occasional musical interlude, but done in a way that's really funny and without going full-on Glee.  The second episode had a terrific performance in the cul-de-sac to a bizarrely brilliant mashup of Tomorrow/Take That Look Off Your Face/Don't Rain On My Parade/Ease On Down The Road/Only Women Bleed. [MEDIA=youtube]JH1hD3g8AwM[/MEDIA]The Nineties references really make this series, from the Macarena and 5,6,7,8 to events on Corrie and 'Enders, all with tongue firmly in cheek. Last night I watched an episode which centred around trying to obtain a coveted Posh Spice doll, with Simon agreeing to play football with his father only after he learns that Victoria Beckham is going to marry a footballer (how fitting that I watched this on the very day that footballer received his knighthood).There are a few anachronisms in these references, such as 1997 Simon having a picture of Steps traitors H & Claire on his wall from circa 2002 (after they'd split from the group). However they're forgivable because of their spirit. In fact, one such anachronism (certainly by British viewing standards) gave me a little buzz as Debbie was trying to bribe Simon into playing football:</blockquote>

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