Not so grim up north
GRITTY, funny and refreshingly unique, this hotly-anticipated new comedy has all the makings of a cult classic. Starring This Is England’s Joe Gilgun, who created the show with Shameless writer Danny Brocklehurst, it’s a razor-sharp look at life for a group of working class mates living in the north of England.
Corrie and Our Girl actress Michelle Keegan brings her usual energy too, playing the girlfriend of one of the group and there’s a brilliant cameo
from The Affair actor Dominic West, who plays GP Dr Chris, a man who would rather check his dating app than listen to his patients.
Gilgun plays Vinnie, a Lancashire lad with bipolar disorder who is at the heart of every low-level criminal plan.
His best mate Dylan, played by Damien Molony, knows how to win a hand or two of poker and he’s in love with Erin (Keegan) and trying to be a role model for her five-yearold son Tyler. Erin is at college doing everything she can to give Tyler a better life, but Dylan is easily distracted by Vinnie and his plans.
There’s also Ash, who “can switch to extreme violence at a moment’s notice” and champion kebab eater Cardi – short for cardiac arrest.
Together the group of lads find various, usually illegal, ways to win at life while living at the forgotten end of society. Think a poor man’s Ocean’s Eleven.
The first episode sees the curious incident of a tiny horse, a xenophobic farmer and a pet pigeon. And if you like that, you can binge the whole series right now.