Image: Adelaidenow.

Angry Boys started with much anticipation on BBC Three recently with the series being hyped as being one of Chris Lilley’s finest comic creations, following that of his excellent comedy Summer Heights High. The latter was a one series affair that pushed comic boundaries by being near the knuckle on a regular basis. Angry Boys, at least from a first impression looks to carry this on. I counted every profanity I knew being said at least once within the opening 9 minutes, and this was including racial slurs. Lilley’s comic license appears to be used as an excuse for this. Most characters in the opening episode all appear to be foul-mouthed however this works because the tension raised from their often inappropriate language provides many laughs.

The series opener sees the return of identical twins Daniel and Nathan Sims, both played by Lilley, from Lilley’s previous comedy endeavour We Can Be Heroes. Their development of character in this episode enables us to understand how they live on their farm in Dunt, South Australia, after the death of their father several years previously. Despite Daniel’s behaviour and choice of language, the amount of care he shows for his brother Nathan, who’s deaf, is rather heartwarming, a theme that continues without the episode when we encounter the boys Grandmother, Ruth “Gran” Sims, also played by Lilley.

Gran, a guard at a juvenile detention facility in Sydney, is a racist authoritarian who “doesn’t take any shit” and this is clearly evident from her staggering lack of decorum and racially motivated slurs to the racial minority of inmates. However in amongst this through-the-teeth hilariousness, we also discover Gran has a caring side to her, looking after the boys despite their crimes and acting as a mentor for them as well as a guard. This proves very powerful and whereas I found I didn’t laugh as much during an episode of Angry Boys in comparison to the lol-heavy Summer Heights High, the profound nature in which Lilley delivers his unique style of comedy in Angry Boys kept me watching.

Overall this opening episode set the scene rather well and unlike other mockumentary-style sitcoms, this added something different, something much more real than other comedy’s of the same style. Each character seems to be instantly relatable, and Lilley’s writing and skill for enabling us to think as an audience to sympathise is truly excellent. Whether the series will continue at this high-quality remains to be seen. The series is a long 12 episodes of half an hour each, however the production value of this episode – helped in no small part to a presumably larger budget from the joint ABC/HBO venture – will probably keep viewers in Britain entertained. Angry Boys will appeal to the demographic of young people who watch BBC Three, who also enjoyed Summer Heights High. I’m particularly excited to see more of this series.

Link: iPlayer.