| Fresh Meat | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy-drama |
| Written by | Jesse Armstrong Sam Bain Tony Roche Penny Skinner Rose Heiney Keith Akushie Richard Pinto Jon Brown Tom Basden |
| Starring | Zawe Ashton Greg McHugh Kimberley Nixon Charlotte Ritchie Joe Thomas Jack Whitehall |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 40 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Channel 4 |
| Picture format | PAL HDTV (1080i) |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original run | 21 September 2011 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Fresh Meat is a British sitcom created by Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, who also created Peep Show. The first episode, directed by David Kerr, was broadcast on Channel 4 on 21 September 2011.[1] It aired on Channel 4 on Wednesdays at 10pm. Fresh Meat marked the acting debut of comedian Jack Whitehall and also stars Kimberley Nixon of Cranford and Joe Thomas of The Inbetweeners.[2]
Channel 4 describes the show as a comedy drama.[1]
Contents |
The show revolves around the lives of six students who are freshers (with the exception of Howard) at the fictional Manchester Medlock University. They live in a shared house off-campus rather than university halls of residence.
Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain created Fresh Meat's characters and wrote the first episode; subsequent episodes were written by other writers. Bain has explained the reasons for this approach: "We always imagined this as a team-written show partly for practical reasons because Peep Show has been recommissioned, and moving forward if we're lucky enough to get another series of Fresh Meat we simply couldn't write two shows at once. So we always knew we wanted to bring other writers on board, some are more experienced, some very talented women writers, and one who had just graduated when we started writing."[3]
Fresh Meat is produced by Liverpool-based Lime Pictures and London-based Objective Productions. The programme was filmed at The Sharp Project in Manchester, a recently built £16.5m studio facility to fill the void when Granada Studios closes in 2013.[4] The programme is also set in Manchester,[5] specifically at the fictional Manchester Medlock University.
Channel 4 have announced that a second series has been commissioned.[6] The second series will begin filming in May 2012, set to be broadcast the following September.
| № | # | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.K. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Episode 1" | David Kerr | Jesse Armstrong & Sam Bain | 21 September 2011 | 1.69[7] |
| Five new students arrive at Manchester Medlock University to share a house. The girls are the sweet-natured Josie, streetwise and forthright Vod, and Oregon, who is anxious to appear cool. The boys are JP, an ex-Stowe public schoolboy who failed to get into a 'proper' university and tends to look down on people, and kind-hearted Kingsley, off the leash at last after years of caring for his sick mother. Already in residence is Howard, a Scotsman of indeterminate age who seems to have lived at the house longer than a second-year student should. At the pub Kingsley thinks he has scored with Rachel (Emma Rigby), only to discover that she is recruiting for a Christian group. In fact Josie is attracted to him but somehow ends up in bed with JP. Once the term has started Oregon loses no time in arguing with her English tutor Professor Shales, though somehow Vod seems to have claimed ownership of her essay. Howard is happy that he now has some friends and is no longer a social outcast. | ||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Episode 2" | David Kerrr | Tony Roche | 28 September 2011 | 1.33[8] |
| Josie catches JP putting his weights in the room occupied by unseen housemate Paul, and tells him she regrets that they slept together. The housemates realise they are in 'social Siberia' so they decide to throw a party, spearheaded by Josie in the hope that she and Kingsley will get together – a plan scuppered when her long-term boyfriend Dave turns up unexpectedly. JP unsuccessfully tries to impress two of his old schoolmates by inviting them to the party, where he gets stoned and then finds Paul throwing his weights out of the window. Vod gets Howard to pose as her boyfriend to get rid of someone she accidentally kissed in the pub, and Oregon's attempts at cultivating an 'alternative' image are dented by the revelation that she has a car. Geology lecturer Dan's attempts to fit in at the party culminate in him embarrassing himself by throwing up and falling over. | ||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Episode 3" | David Kerr | Penelope Skinner | 5 October 2011 | 1.13[9] |
| After an encounter with seductive drama student Ruth, Kingsley switches to her course, upsetting Dan in the process. Josie enrols everyone in a charity dating scheme but her own date does not turn up, which she later discovers was because he recently died. JP falls asleep whilst having sex with his date and a misunderstanding leads him to worry that he raped her, and Vod and Howard's charity date at an all-you-can-eat Chinese restaurant ends badly when Howard's 'beat the buffet' tactics backfire. Prof. Shales invites Oregon to his house, supposedly to do his cleaning – Vod warns her not to get romantically involved with him, but Oregon ends up embarking on a secret affair with him anyway. Kingsley's frustration at not being able to get close to Josie inspires his performance piece on his new course. | ||||||
| 4 | 4 | "Episode 4" | Nick Wood | Keith Akushie and Penelope Skinner | 12 October 2011 | 1.20[10] |
| As the housemates are drinking and revealing how they lost their virginity, Kingsley shocks everyone with a far-fetched story about losing his virginity aged 12. When she talks to him about it later, he admits to Josie that it was made up and that he is still a virgin, which she tells Vod and Oregon despite promising not to. When Kingsley finds out, Josie offers to have sex with him as a way of making it up to him (as she plans to break up with Dave), much to Kingsley's delight. Oregon and Prof. Shales' affair becomes strained when he books them into a hotel but says he will not be able to stay the night, and Vod finds herself actually enjoying writing an essay after Oregon refuses to let her copy her work anymore. Before Kingsley can meet up with Josie for their planned encounter, he ends up sleeping with Ruth, whilst Josie fails to break up with Dave, due to it being his birthday. Neither of them confesses to the other, and they sleep together as planned. JP continues to try and impress his old schoolfriends by obtaining drugs for them, using Howard as a 'wingman'. They continue to shun him and he returns to the house depressed, only to be amused by the discovery that Kingsley has only just lost his virginity. | ||||||
| 5 | 5 | "Episode 5" | Nick Wood | Richard Pinto | 19 October 2011 | 1.20[11] |
| The housemates are attending an anti-tuition fees protest with JP planning to use the demo as a free trip to meet up with his friends in a bar. At the demo, Kingsley gets kettled with both Ruth and Josie and the truth about him losing his virginity is revealed, leading he and Josie to fall out explosively. Vod is furious when she finds out about Oregon and Prof. Shales' affair, and Oregon promises to end it – but she finds herself unable to, and she and Shales sleep together again, although she tells Vod she broke it off. Meanwhile, JP ends up being dragged back to the coach by the police after getting carried away at the demo, and Howard spends the trip bonding with his new friend Brian. | ||||||
| 6 | 6 | "Episode 6" | Nick Wood | Rose Heiney and Tony Roche | 26 October 2011 | 0.93[12] |
| JP is devastated when his emotionally distant father tells him that he recently suffered a heart attack, and Oregon learns that her childhood horse is dying. Vod accidentally overdoses and is taken to hospital where she is told she should enter rehab, but JP talks her into going back to the house instead. JP, Oregon and Vod decide to take acid, but before the girls can take their tabs JP gets a call saying that his father has had another heart attack and that JP needs to return home. As Oregon and Vod are driving JP home whilst he is high on acid, Oregon's mother calls to say her horse is fading fast. They make a detour to her house where Vod is shocked by Oregon's privileged background, and that her name is in fact Melissa. An emotional JP sits with the horse and projects his feelings about his dying father onto it. By the time they reach JP's house his father has died. Meanwhile, Josie accepts a marriage proposal from Dave, and competes with Kingsley to write an article for the student newspaper – Kingsley's article about Vod's overdose is printed whereas Josie's piece is not. However, Kingsley opens the "Rejected" folder while at a party at the student newspaper's headquarters, and discovers that Josie's article is titled "When a friend won't listen to good advice" and, realising it is not just about Vod, he tries to call her, though she doesn't hear her phone. Howard asks Lauren, a girl on his geology course, on a date, but this is sabotaged by his jealous friend Brian, leading Howard to end their friendship. | ||||||
| 7 | 7 | "Episode 7" | Annie Griffin | Jon Brown | 9 November 2011[13] | 0.94[14] |
| Kingsley is dismayed when Dave moves into the house, and further annoyed when Dave wins the other housemates' admiration by fixing the dishwasher. When he complains about Dave's untidiness Josie accuses him of just being jealous because he blew his chance with her, but when she becomes tired of it herself, she suggests Dave stay in Wales until they get married. JP is in denial about his father's death and goes to see a counsellor just to try and get out of his end-of-term exam, but later decides to take the exam after he bribes Dan to reveal the questions. Vod is in danger of being expelled from her course, and Oregon secretly persuades Shales to increase Vod's grade. Shales' wife thinks her husband is having an affair with Vod and arranges to meet with her to discuss it. Oregon goes instead and confesses, and is surprised when his wife is happy for the affair to continue. Brian accosts Howard in the pub and makes a move on Josie, and gets headbutted by Dave after revealing that Josie slept with Kingsley. Dave storms back to the house to confront Kingsley, who is hiding in the bathroom with JP, and finds out that Josie slept with both of them. In JP and Howard's geology exam, JP discovers that Dan lied about the questions. Howard and Brian's friendship is resumed after Brian fakes an urgent note to get Howard out of the exam. The next day, Josie tearfully reveals that Dave has broken up with her, and Vod angrily tells Oregon she knows about the grade change, and tells everyone Oregon's real name and background. Oregon is horrified when Shales turns up on the doorstep and tells her that he has left his wife for her. | ||||||
| 8 | 8 | "Episode 8" | Annie Griffin | Tom Basden | 16 November 2011 | 1.04[15] |
| Vod is unconcerned by her impending expulsion from university, despite Oregon's attempts to persuade her to appeal. Josie starts binge-drinking and sleeping with random strangers in an attempt to embrace single life, much to Kingsley's annoyance. Paul Lamb's mother asks Howard to keep an eye on her son, who has apparently had a nervous breakdown. Howard does this by installing cameras around the house and inadvertently records an embarrassing video of Paul, which JP gets hold of. JP finds himself agreeing to pay for Ralph's 'Love Cloud' club night in return for a DJ slot, and when he discovers it clashes with his father's funeral he tries to make arrangements to attend both with the help of a lift from Ralph's friend. Shales expects Oregon to move into his new apartment, but she is unsure and decides to spend time both at the apartment and at the house. During an awkward dinner party at the apartment, attended by the housemates and Shales' middle-aged lecturer friends, Josie and Kingsley's initially subtle sniping at each other erupts into an all-out argument. The housemates come to JP's rescue when Ralph's friend lets him down, and they all accompany him to his father's funeral. Afterwards, Kingsley resolves to confess his true feelings for Josie, after learning she always talks about him when she's drunk. At the Love Cloud night, JP finds his DJ slot has been given to someone else, and that Ralph is claiming to have paid for the night himself. Vod is outraged and tells everyone that it was funded by JP, who then dedicates the night to his father and finally stands up to Ralph. Meanwhile, Vod agrees to appeal her expulsion and Oregon abandons Shales. Ralph's friends have got hold of the video of Paul, and Howard claims it is in fact him in the video to save Paul from the embarrassment. Kingsley is unable to find Josie to tell her how he feels, and gets kicked out of the club after being hit by Ralph. He returns home, to find Josie and JP having sex – which a surprised Josie miserably tells Kingsley was because 'I couldn't find you'. In the final scenes, Oregon and Vod reconcile and prepare for her appeal, JP finally begins to mourn his father, Josie goes to Kingsley's room, presumably to reconcile with him, only to find that a frustrated Kingsley has left early, and Howard is blow-drying a Peking duck – a thank-you gift from Paul. | ||||||
Critical reaction to the series' opening episodes was mixed, with reviews becoming more positive as the series progressed.[16] Stuart Jeffries of The Guardian gave the opening episode a very positive review, finding it "sharp" and "refreshingly gag-dense".[17] Phil Hogan's review in The Observer was also positive,[18] as was Tom Sutcliffe's in The Independent, which said "what really holds the thing together is an underlying sympathy, the sense that these characters might be comically foolish but they aren't (with some exceptions) contemptible."[19]
However, Michael Deacon in The Daily Telegraph called the opening episode's script "a torrent of prattling self-hatred" and found the episode "drainingly bleak".[20] Rupert Christiansen, also in the Telegraph, was similarly unimpressed, calling it "[p]athetically laboured and over-acted" and "limply written and predictable"[21]. Rachel Cooke of The New Statesman felt the opening episode was a "damp squib" and commented that this might be because "the writers failed to remember that going to university is also rather melancholic, what with all the loneliness, the strange and soon-to-be-shed new friends and the general exhaustion of trying to act cool and grown-up".[22]
The Guardian's review of the second episode was less positive than the first, noting that "at an hour, it just felt too long for the random emptiness of student life. Cut it in half and there's a potentially great comedy".[23]. Simmy Richman of The Independent also took issue with the episode lengths, saying that "at almost an hour, Fresh Meat should really do more in terms of both comedy and drama"[24]
As the first series progressed, The Metro felt it was "proving to be assured and audacious".[25] After the show was recommissioned, Metro said "this is a series that continues to go from strength to strength, with everything from the performances to the scripts showing marked improvements since the start of the programme".[26]
By the end of the first series, the Radio Times said the show had been "full of well-worked plotlines and gorgeous character comedy",[27] and The Daily Telegraph praised "the series' admirable habit of stirring pathos into the flow of gags" as well as complimenting the scripts and performances.[28] The Guardian felt it had "managed to live up to sky-scraping expectations",[29] and Metro said "Originally billed as a university version of The Inbetweeners, Fresh Meat has developed into something much more sophisticated than its more-established sibling."[30]
Fresh Meat won the 'Best New Comedy' award at the British Comedy Awards 2011. It was also nominated for 'Best Comedy Drama' but lost out to Psychoville.[31]