Slight change to the way we’re running our Netflix guide – from here on out we’ll be covering only new content added to the streaming service each month. This will help you siphon the best from the worst and leave you with extra time to binge on what’s deserving of your time.
First up, Big School and Pompidou. You might recognise the names behind both shows…
Noflix – Pompidou
I’m actually starting this week’s piece off outright on the Noflix, because I have literally sacrificed 3o minutes of my life I’m not going to get back. Pompidou regards itself as an experimental comedy series, featuring minimal or skewed dialogue and relying entirely on the visual gag. It’s an experiment helmed by comedian and writer, Matt Lucas, who appears to lose control and steers the show into a meltdown. The other half of Little Britain, Lucas does attempt to do something new with his show, like resurrecting an old joke, but it’s just not funny and being completely honest, it’s better off dead.
Centred around the life of a broke aristocrat, played by Lucas and his loyal but unfortunate butler, Hove, (Alex McQueen) and their adventures trying to maintain their lavish lifestyle with no budget. The show attempts to emulate iconic and beloved series Mr. Bean but, for a silent comedy, it makes a hell of a lot of racket and the gargled dialogue is annoying at best and confusing at worst.
The show is scripted like a children’s TV show and not in a good way, I don’t want to detract from the hard work the fine folks over at CBeebies do, but Pompidou feels and watches like something even these guys might turn their noses up and guffaw at, hopefully loudly. It’s like an episode of Ballamory gone wrong (I have two small nieces, that’s my excuse for knowing about these shows!). The adorable dog puppet/sidekick can’t even rescue it from total disaster.
To give credit to Lucas, he does attempt something that we haven’t seen in a long time but, even so, it feels like he’s still not shaken off the ghost of Little Britain.
Fans of Little Britain, Mr. Bean and Harry Enfield will hate this!
Yesflix – Big School
It’s better news for Matt Lucas’ colleague David Walliams, though, and his 2013 series Big School. The British sitcom brings some familiar faces together including Catherine Tate, Frances de la Tour and Philip Glenister as well as Walliams under the roof of a school as squabbling teachers and administrative staff.
Tate plays the newest member of staff at Greybridge Secondary School, Sarah Postern, a motivated and enthusiastic language teacher. She catches the eye of awkward and campy chemistry teacher Keith Church (Walliams) and boorish PE teacher, Trevor Gunn (Glenister), who are already at odds with each other before developing romantic feelings for the same woman.
The series revolves around the staff trying to engage their bored students while juggling their personal lives which all too often spill over into the classroom. Tate and Walliams are standout in their roles, as the duo dance awkwardly around their mutual attraction for each other. With Walliams the lesser experienced partner, Tate’s Postern dances circles round him and there is a strong hint that she enjoys the drama she so often protests about. The rest of the cast only add to the mess, particularly the stonecold headmistress played by de la Tour, who takes pleasure in debasing her staff, confiscating and consuming alcohol and drugs from students and running her office like a Godfather figure.
Special mention to Julie T. Wallace who plays the laboratory assistant to Mr. Church. A depraved silent figure with only one thing on her mind, her sporadic appearances break up the classroom shenanigans (or lack of) and Walliams does seem genuinely afraid/intimidated by her. You can’t help but be reminded of some of the teachers you grew up with and, while it may not be as exaggerated as Big School, you’ll certainly take a trip down memory lane to that day the French teacher and German teacher had an explosive row just before class and it’s all the entire school (faculty included) talked about for a week…
It’s not all gold stars, though! The show, as its name suggests, is set in a secondary school and the very tired trope of even more tired and disillusioned young students is used more often than it should. While there are some stand out characters amongst the lethargic student populous, they’re rarely seen or heard enough to add some life to the writing.
David Walliams does himself a favour here and, while you can certainly see comparisons between Little Britain and Big School, he manages to pull the whole thing together enough to avoid falling down the rabbithole of just another sketch show and delivers some really likeable characters and an entertaining show.
Fans of Little Britain, Teachers and The Catherine Tate Show will love this!
Editor-in-Chief, part-time super villain and hoarder of cats. If you can’t find me writing, I’m probably in the kitchen!
