TRIPPED Series One
Sliders for stoners
released OUT NOW! 2015 | 15 | DVD
Director Jamie Stone
Cast Blake Harrison, George Webster,
Georgina Campbell, Richard Gadd
Blake Harrison is best known as Neil in The Inbetweeners. Here he’s Danny, a less dense but similarly immature chap, who finds himself lost in a succession of parallel universes after a maniac with a sword materialises in his home.
Along for the ride is Milo ( George Webster), Danny’s best friend. He’s unhappy that his mate is getting married to Kate ( Georgina Campbell) and feels rejected. Together the two must find their way home and resolve their personal issues.
There’s a host of influences here – everything from Bill And Ted to 2000 AD’s stranger strips. Think Sliders with more swearing and a gleefully bouncing willy, and you’re close to Tripped’s peculiar tone. And it more or less works. The central theme – that Milo is mourning his youth as well as the “loss” of his mate – is a strong one. And though it’s a sci- fi comedy, it thankfully doesn’t resort to endless pop culture references.
Unfortunately, it’s never quite as entertaining as it could be. Too often the show mistakes shouting and swearing for jokes. Misfits captured that tone better, and had more heart. The stoner- schtick, meanwhile, wears thin very quickly. Jamie Mathieson co- created the show, but it lacks the punch of his work on Doctor Who.
Tripped does, however, show promise in the season’s second half. A running gag about Peter Andre gets a superb payoff; the third episode, set in a world on the brink of nuclear annihilation, is funnier and more affecting than the previous two; while a satisfying finale wraps things up. If more episodes are forthcoming, perhaps they will see the show develop into something truly interesting. Until then, however, it’s all a little half- baked.
Extras None. Will Salmon
Tripped started as an unaired pilot called ALT, starring Gethin Anthony as Danny and Craig Roberts as Milo.
Mistakes shouting and swearing for jokes