Big Boys

[Better Midlands]

Also, it's mad that this never got past one page of CaB chat. Mad, I tells ya.

Absolutely.

Sreies 2 looks like it drops on 14/1/2024 for us plebs.

[jonnyunitus]

Finished series 2 last night. Very good again, overall. Amusing throughout but feel like they really have a handle on the emotional/more serious stuff. The final couple of minutes completely destroyed me!

[Icehaven]

Didn't know this was back, cheers! Going to binge.

[Oosp]

Fuckin hell, never saw this thread and am now anxious to find out more. Mentioned in the same breath as Detectorists? Yes please

[A Hat Like That]

Watched episode 1, a few solid, solid laughs (I remember a time before sweet chilli sauce, slagpipes), some standout performances, and a genuine sense of warmth and caring about the whole set up. 

[ajsmith2]

Have to admit it breaks my brain watching it how it's set semi nostalgically in 2014 like that's a whole different epoch. I mean, I know it totally is (pre Brexit Lockdown Trump etc etc etc) but the relative recentness still weirds me out. Gawd, I remember watching the (somewhat sillier) gay coming of age sitcom The Beautiful People in the late 00s and that was set in the late 90s which seemed unsettlingly 'too recent' too, but this show is looking back semi wistfully at a time 5 years after I was watching the Beautiful People. I know that's just how time works and this is very much my own issue but it's still odd to me. Definitively doesn't help being 43, obviously when you're younger (as the target demographic for this show will be) 10 years is a longer time relative to your lifespan whereas the older you get the more you're like 'shit, that could have been last week for me in some ways but now people are writing retrospective eulogies to that moment'.

[jonnyunitus]

It'll be interesting to see if they go to a third series with this. The second ends on such a perfect grace note that I kind of want them to leave it there. Also if it follows the trajectory of Jack Rookes book then a third series has the propensity to be even more heartbreaking

[bobloblaw]

Obviously the final sequence meant a lot to Jack but felt a bit self-indulgent for the casual viewer

[jonnyunitus]

Yeah I can definitely see that perspective, made me cry like a baby though haha

Spoiler alluding to the end



As a fully fledged member of the dead dad club I think it definitely resonated with me in quite a raw way.

[bobloblaw]

Yeah the whole storyline was very moving but the device regarding walk out of hospital came... not out of nowhere exactly (we'd had the bench sequence) but didn't feel earned as much as the scenes with the regular cast

[jonnyunitus]

Yeah you see I really liked that device. Appearing as himself across various scenes, out of focus. Then at the end, he's fully in focus as it's the (possible) culmination of his story and he's reached some kind of acceptance. To be fair I am a sucker for a bit of self reflexively in films/tv I find it weirdly thrilling

[The Mollusk]

Yeah you see I really liked that device. Appearing as himself across various scenes, out of focus. Then at the end, he's fully in focus as it's the (possible) culmination of his story and he's reached some kind of acceptance. To be fair I am a sucker for a bit of self reflexively in films/tv I find it weirdly thrilling

Was it various scenes? I'm usually pretty eagle eyed with that sort of stuff but I only recall seeing it when Danny's on the bench and then in the last episode. It was a nice way to show him getting some sense of closure from telling his story and being able to move on, but yeah unless I missed a lot of appearances I also feel like it could have been deployed a bit more.

Anyway this was broadly as good as the first series I think. Such a great cast, particularly Jon Pointing who is fantastic and does mental health awareness so well. The scene where he lost it at his dad was heavy.

It's quite a risk making a show rooted in tropes that are a decade old but still fresh in the memory, and also that it's a story told with earnest and doesn't rely on being overly crude or zany, and yet they pull it off marvellously. The lads mag stuff in the last episode was a bit too on the nose but otherwise I can't really fault it, it's charming and relatable, full of heart and very funny.

[The Mollusk]

I will say however it's kind of annoying seeing them get cultural time stamps wrong. A lot of the music they use is pre-2015 by enough distance to make its use in the show seem weird. Like there's no other reason you'd get such a densely packed selection of indie disco hits like Heads Will Roll or Skeleton Boy or Ready For The Floor (all from 2008-09) unless they were being used to signify a certain time period right? And this series is set in 2015 - where's Tame Impala, Courtney Barnett, Beach House, Wolf Alice?

Also I could be wrong but I saw someone honking one of those vapes with the fat box base and I was sure they didn't come around for another few years?

[ajsmith2]

Also the last episode was set in May 2015 and mentioned Cameron/Pig but I'm pretty sure that didn't break until September that year. This stuff is important.

[jonnyunitus]

Was it various scenes? I'm usually pretty eagle eyed with that sort of stuff but I only recall seeing it when Danny's on the bench and then in the last episode. It was a nice way to show him getting some sense of closure from telling his story and being able to move on, but yeah unless I missed a lot of appearances I also feel like it could have been deployed a bit more.

Anyway this was broadly as good as the first series I think. Such a great cast, particularly Jon Pointing who is fantastic and does mental health awareness so well. The scene where he lost it at his dad was heavy.

It's quite a risk making a show rooted in tropes that are a decade old but still fresh in the memory, and also that it's a story told with earnest and doesn't rely on being overly crude or zany, and yet they pull it off marvellously. The lads mag stuff in the last episode was a bit too on the nose but otherwise I can't really fault it, it's charming and relatable, full of heart and very funny.

You're probably right, I was quite stoned when I watched it so that could easily have confused things hahaha. Perhaps I'm conflating it with the first series? I feel like they used the same device in that, could be wrong though!

[Virgo76]

Good series. I find it hard to feel nostalgic about 2014 though. Too recent.

[DSBoy]

Good series. I find it hard to feel nostalgic about 2014 though. Too recent.

Yeah, good point.

This series did made me feel nostalgic for my (20+ years ago) university days though!

[A Hat Like That]

Thought Marc Warren was excellent as the Dad. The little shrug/sip he did after the bollocking from his son was so, so well observed.

[astrozombie]

I don't post on here often. But it's 4:22am in the morning and I just finished a binge of series one. Hands down one of the best British shows I've seen in years and as it finished I was delighted to see I have an entire second series to watch during my Saturday off tomorrow.

Loved it from start to finish. Top marks. Proper funny and heartwarming stuff.

[Sleepless Slab]

Binged through the two seasons in one night last week. Absolutely lovely; tackles serious subjects without veering it deeply into drama and just has such a likeable cast. Beside our two leads it's impossible to dislike Corinne and Yemi even they get used for comedic fodder at times it never lowers them to punchlines. The end of season 2 with Corinne is legit heartfelt and Jack's whole family is so close to being overly broad parody but stays clears of it by being very real and likeable people. The time jumps make for fun story lines with Peggy finding a life now her husband has died and her son is off to college.

How it handles the situation with Danny's parents in season 2 is done very well also and it logical conclusion feels sad yet kind of hopeful he found a new 'family' and the whole arc with his grandmother is just extremely sad and realistic how it is with loved ones slowly falling away.

Perfect use of Katy Wix's character also; over exposure would make it tiring but her appearing from time to time in episodes really makes for some of the best jokes in the series.

[mrfridge]

So the last episode...

Spoiler alert

Was the guy walking away in the taxi at the end the writer or something? Was he meant to be dead? We were completely baffled!

[close]

Great series otherwise!

[dead-ced-dead]

Binging series 2. This is so lovely and just warm as toast.

[lauraxsynthesis]

So the last episode...

Spoiler alert

Was the guy walking away in the taxi at the end the writer or something? Was he meant to be dead? We were completely baffled!

[close]

Great series otherwise!

Yeah that's him. I think it was him from behind we saw in several previous episodes. Unlike the character, he's extremely tall. I saw him in the bar of the Soho Theatre last week.

[dead-ced-dead]

Finished season two. Cried pretty much all through the final episode, I was pretty much hyperventilating. Wonderful stuff.

[lauraxsynthesis]

Yeah, last episode

Spoiler alert

got me in the bereavement feels

[close]

. Dammit.

[dead-ced-dead]

Yeah, last episode

Spoiler alert

got me in the bereavement feels

[close]

. Dammit.

Same.

Spoiler alert

Dad died in hospice a few years ago. During lockdown (not of covid) and I wasn't there, sooooo that really caught me off guard.

[close]

[Small Man Big Horse]

I loved the first series of this but the first two episodes of the second only seemed pretty good, likeable but not lovable. But then I watched the third and binged the rest of it within 24 hours, and this is the first tv series that I've done that with in ages. As with pretty much everyone else the last episode destroyed me, I kept on having to pause it / skip backwards as I was in floods of tears. Weirdly I kind of hope this is two and done though, I liked the way it came to a close and I kind of think it'd be a bit odd to have that ending and then come back for a third series. Plus selfishly I don't think I could cope with another finale like that, as I also found myself almost hyperventilating at one point.

[dissolute ocelot]

There have been vague mentions of a third series but don't seem to have started any kind of work on it. They would definitely have to find someone else to experience tragedy, focus more on people other than Jack and Danny, although not sure how that would work. Otherwise I guess they could try and do a more conventional sitcom without heartbreak at the end? Again, not sure whether that would be a good idea.