When a fourth series of Fresh Meat was announced, fans had every right to be worried. The successes of the first and best series were lost amidst the tedious Josie-Kingsley teaseathon that overshadowed every subsequent alcoholic rampage, shattered ego and argument.
Their break-up seemed to be the full stop we were plodding inevitably towards. So it is with mixed feelings that I greet the first episode of the unnecessary fourth series, a watchable affair stifled by purposeless nastiness but buoyed by walking punchline Howard.
If I was a ‘nerdy girl’ like Candice, I would be in a no doubt watchable relationship with Howard, the self-appointed ‘Fritzl of revision.’ The human Eeyore is still the show’s greatest asset, his understated miserablism the one constant writers Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong of Peep Show fame had the sense to keep. His naïve insistence that Candice, mentioned but unseen, remains his girlfriend despite numerous hints to the contrary is simultaneously endearing and tragic. It’s left to Josie, who’s far more tolerable now she’s not chained to Kingsley, to nudge him kindly into the path of the blindingly painful.
The final semester of third year is defined by tempered hedonism. Fresh Meat’s most humanist trait is its expert portrayal of the tension between securing a job and the allure of clubbing undergraduates navigate in the run up their finals. Josie, whose post-student life drifts as messily as her trainee dentist days, fears not finding a future career.
Similarly, Vod is muted by grey issues, namely a Kilimanjaro of debt. Although Fresh Meat would be far politer without her, Vod plateaued into predictable anarchy a long time ago, although the drug-based difficulties she embroils herself in retain a savage kick. Vod’s and Josie’s casual self-destruction appears to be their answer to a lack of drive. Not that motivated people make engaging telly. A programme in which Zawe Ashton does harbour ambition, Not Safe for Work, proved anything but, showing that schadenfreude will keep entertaining us for the foreseeable future.
New entrant Tomothy, JP’s husk of a brother, is a typical Bain and Armstrong creation. Ruthlessly self-interested, he is another addition to the parade of venal characters specialising in destroying the self-esteem of ‘loved ones.’ Whereas Peep Show’s legendary Mark Corrigan and Jeremy Usborne are sympathetically spiteful, Tomothy is empty, an unappealing parody of life who earns the housemates’ disdain after ‘encouraging’ JP to entrust him with his career. Like other dysfunctional characters who passed through, wept then fled, Tomothy will enjoy a few sizzling one liners before disappearing. He adds nothing new, an indication that series four could wither before its end.
Whether you’re tuning in out of habit, loyalty or curiosity, a Bain and Armstrong creation like Fresh Meat will produce highly watchable moments. Habit is a pertinent concept. The characters detest each other so much it’s reasonable to suggest they’re only living with each other out of necessity. Every housemate is a guilty habit for the other, whose insecurities are massaged by the company of their equally hopeless contemporaries.
Series four will have sentimental value for undergraduates toiling through essays, but Bain and Armstrong have failed to recreate the strange warmth of Peep Show. Thank Hendrix for Howard, Fresh Meat’s understated source of intelligent humour.
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