Fresh Meat

I am waiting for a download at work. I should have gone home, but I do not have the money
Anyway. I ignored this  program when I was living over the hills and across the sea. There was something about the promotional video, that irked me. I should have listened to that Kiwi

Oh my god, I was wrong. The opening scene, when Vod, walks into the student house and sees Howard stark bollock naked, took me back to my days in university. No not the nudity, though the series flirts a bit with that. We see a flash of boobs for example. I wonder if someone had an eye on the teens and tits market. There are backsides and possibly testicles on display

Vod, and it seems to have been a breakout role for Zawe Aston annoyed me at first. I could not decide wether her accent was fake. I wondered if this was a deliberate act by the actress One meets mockneys a plenty in university. I also found her behavior annoying. Now I realize that is intentional.

Howard brought me back to the heady days of the late 90s. I was living in Glasgow, surrounded by hard drinking dressing gown wearing bearded Scots. Though Howard is something of a recluse in the earlier series. He grows though

Interestingly note how few scenes there are between Howard and Oregon. It is my contention, that Oregon is not supposed to be a sympathetic character, and she grows the least in the show. Yes she has a friendship with Vod, but she has precious through memorable scenes with the rest of the cast. Indeed her and Vod complement each other, they are both seeking attention. Vod is from a neglected background. Oregon is perhaps simply rather concieted. Vod was the smart girl who never believed in herself. Oregon is the hardworking girl, but was never as smart as she believed.

Like all British sitcoms Class is a supporting actor.

J.P played by Jack whitehall steals the show. Conventional wisdom, is that its Vod. Certainly Aston is the better actor. Indeed the plastic head of Russel Brand is a better actor. J.P always gets the best lines, even though he is basically Bertie wooster with gay jokes.

Its clearly set at a specific point in time. Unlike the inbetweeners which could be anytime from the mid 1990s to now. We see a student protest, which mentions kettling. Do they still do that?

Kingley that guy from the inbetweeners, and the Welsh girl make up the rest. They fall into a romance. As a relationship its crazy and cosy, and ultimately doomed.

The series gets the loneliness of university. The is that it feeling. The uncertainty, everyone feels on day one. The drunken rutting on squeaky beds.  The long days of summer when the world seems young and unlimited. The cramming. The booze, The drugs. The terrible food. The fear. The students are attacked by muggers.

Oh I was home, for a moment, I was somewhere behind the botanic crescent sitting on the grass watching the sun go down