If you’ve never ventured onto BBC3 assuming it’s just not for you, now’s the time to pause before you skip through to BBC4 for another fabulous Scandi crime drama. Because the Beeb have done something much more adventurous than the Danish and Swedish TV producers. With the comic genius of Sharon Horgan and Holly Walsh, they’ve entered the realm of crime COMEDY. Tricky to pull off – Dirk Gentley did a pretty good job – but Dead Boss takes the genre (if there actually is one) to a whole new level.
I wasn’t completely convinced after watching episode one because inevitably there’s a fair amount of set up and introduction to characters. But three eps in all the characters have firmly established their personalities and back stories.
They’ve got everything so right – from Jennifer Saunders as a 21st century Googie Withers style governor to Susan Calman as a non-speaking mini-thug with a fierce line in evil stares.
It’s like the best bits of the first two series of Bad Girls and Pulling with a smattering of porridge thrown in. Only it’s much much more than the sum of its parts. Plus there’s a continuing murder mystery thrown in, just to get crime fans hooked. When was the last time you saw a sitcom with cliff hangers at the end of episodes?
Female protagonist(s), crime to be solved, a lot of gags – yep, it ticks my boxes.
Dead Boss 10.30pm Thursdays on BBC3 (and randomly timed repeats thereafter). Catch up on BBC iPlayer here.
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