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It’s hard not to get excited about Channel 4’s new comedy-drama Fresh Meat. Based on the comedically-fertile premise of Freshers living together in student accommodation, and created by the superb Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain (of Peep Show fame), on paper Fresh Meat should be hilarious. And on the basis of Wednesday night’s first episode, it looks set to deliver on this potential.
The sitcom follows six students living together in housed accommodation after missing out on halls of residence. At the heart of the show is the budding romance between awkward everyman Kingsley (Joe Thomas, aka Simon from The Inbetweeners) and awkward everywoman Josie (Kimberley Nixon). Despite their obvious mutual attraction, they do of course conspire to inadvertently give off the wrong impression to each other. Then there’s Vod (Zawe Ashton), an intimidating tough girl lacking somewhat in brains; Oregon (Charlotte Ritchie), an English student trying desperately and failing desperately to fit in; and Howard (Greg McHugh), an outlandish third year whose friends have mysteriously left him behind.
It is, however, Jack Whitehall who steals the show in episode one. A quick googling of his name reveals how much the comedian divides opinion, but the character he plays, JP, plays on his posh image hilariously. In spite of his unbearable sense of entitlement, cringe-worthy adoration of Jay-Z and all-round pompousness, JP is paradoxically loveable, and how he develops as a character and the tension between him and the others looks set to become one of the highlights of the series.
At roughly 40 minutes long, the show lacks the punch line rate of half-hour sitcoms such as Peep Show but, as a result, the show feels more like a drama with plenty of laughs, rather than quicker paced comedies such as, say, The Inbetweeners. The characters, too, have the potential to become well-rounded, rather than simple caricatures, and the dynamics between such a mix of varied individuals – much like any group of Freshers living together for the first time - ought to make entertaining viewing.
They have already been presented endearingly (you couldn’t imagine any of them fitting in at a Skins-esque rave) and could well become much-loved by viewers. It’s still early days, but with these characters and plenty of amusing studenty-observations, Fresh Meat is showing promise of becoming a cult hit.
Fresh Meat continues Wednesday 10pm Channel 4.
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