In just over a year, BBC Three is expected to make its move online and on Thursday, they launch their latest sitcom, Siblings, which if you hadn't gathered from the title, is about the world's worst brother and sister.
Every week we'll see them spectacularly wreck the lives of those around them through their own selfishness and idiocy. There have been a lot of sitcoms on BBC Three across the years, some good, some great, some bad. But where does Siblings fit?
So who are the world's worst brother and sister? Well, they go by the name of Hannah and Dan, and are played by Charlotte Ritchie (Fresh Meat) and Tom Stourton (Live At The Electric).
There's a lot packed into the six episodes that make up series one, from pretending to be disabled, making a speech in front of current sixth-formers, looking after someone else's flat only to take on his identity, looking after mother and many many more situations.
Charlotte Ritchie is great in Fresh Meat, and she's good in Siblings, although the boundaries between the two characters (Hannah in Siblings and Oregon in Fresh Meat) are somewhat blurred. It's understandable though. We've only ever seen her in Fresh Meat so therefore that's all we have to go on, and if you look at most actors, you could argue that they too play the same role time and time again.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing, and shouldn't put you off from watching Siblings as there are moments of great comedy, and the situations the two of them find themselves in often verge on the ridiculous.
The thing that really sells Siblings to me is Tom Stourton's performance. As a relatively new, and somewhat unknown actor, Tom does a great job at playing Dan, who's quite possibly the biggest idiot ever.He rarely puts a foot right which is why I'll never quite understand it when people trust him to look after their pets, as we see in episode two, or why someone would let him look after their flat.
Siblings isn't groundbreaking, it isn't edgy, and it's not cool. But what it is, is very watchable, and at times very warm and funny. I remember watching the first episode and not being too sure about it, or what the rest of the series would bring. Luckily, Siblings is definitely a grower and Tom Stourton proves himself to be a great comedy actor, and after the six episodes you feel like you've just watched a safe sitcom that's 'very BBC Three' (whatever that means) and on occasion, dare I say predictable.
What I like most about Siblings however, is how each episode is self-contained, and there are no over-arching story lines. Too often now, a sitcom will treat it's storylines like a drama - for example you may see something in episode one that becomes much clearer in episode six. Gavin & Stacey is a prime example, and it's for this reason that people aren't sure whether to call it a comedy or a drama.However with Siblings, it's very clear that what you're watching is a sitcom in a traditional sense, and that there will be no overarching story lines.
I feel like this allows the viewer to see even more of the world the characters are in as they are able to bring in a raft of great characters, which across the series are played by Emer Kenny (Pramface), Tracy Ann Oberman (EastEnders), James Lance (Black Mirror), Miranda Hennessy (Pramface) amongst others.Will it blow your mind? No? Is it worth a watch? Absolutely. The more you watch, the warmer it becomes, and by the end of the series you're pretty confident that whatever situation Hannah and Dan find themselves in, or wherever they end up, chaos will happen and destruction will follow.
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