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Big Boys (TV series)

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For the American punk rock band, see Big Boys.
Big Boys
GenreSitcom
Created byJack Rooke
Based onCheer The F**k Up
Good Grief
Happy Hour
Love Letters
by Jack Rooke[1]
Written byJack Rooke
Directed byJim Archer
Starring
Narrated byJack Rooke
Theme music composerFryars
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2
No. of episodes12
Production
Executive producerJack Rooke[2]
Producers
  • Bertie Peek
  • Ash Atalla
  • Alex Smith
  • Jack Rooke
  • Thomas Dixon
  • Chelsea Chandler
  • Franky Chadwick[2]
Running time23–24 minutes[3]
Production companyRoughcut Television[2]
Original release
NetworkChannel 4
Release26 May 2022 (2022-05-26) –
present

Big Boys is a British television sitcom created and written by Jack Rooke, first broadcast on Channel 4 and available on All 4 from 26 May 2022. It stars Dylan Llewellyn and Jon Pointing as first-year university students who live together, set in 2013, told from the point of view of Llewellyn's character Jack—a semi-fictionalised version of Rooke, who narrates the series—as he recovers from his father's death and explores his sexuality for the first time.

The show was renewed for a second series in August 2022,[4] which began filming in May 2023.[5] Set during the 2014–15 academic year, it began airing on 14 January 2024.[6][7] A third series was confirmed in June 2024.[8]

Cast and characters

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Main

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  • Dylan Llewellyn as Jack, a closeted, shy 19-year-old student on a journalism scholarship, who is grieving over his father's death and unused to the heavy social life of university, having been cooped up at home for the past few years with his mother.
  • Jon Pointing as Danny, a 25-year-old mature student, who is keen on nights out and trying to chat up female students, while dealing with, and disguising, his mental health issues for which he takes antidepressants.
  • Katy Wix as Jules, a former Brent Uni student-turned-student union officer, possessing an overenthusiastic and zealous approach to integrating new students
  • Camille Coduri as Peggy, Jack's mother, who hides her struggles over sending her son away to university, having had him to rely on for the past couple of years. Jack has hidden his sexuality from her, expecting a bad reaction.
  • Izuka Hoyle as Corinne, a studious and serious Oxbridge reject, who is also eager to let her hair down.
  • Olisa Odele as Yemi, a gay fashion student who accompanies Jack as he tries to explore his sexuality at university.
  • Harriet Webb as Shannon (series two, recurring series one), Jack's effervescent cousin, whose job running children's parties is not fulfilling her aspirations as she would like.

Recurring

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  • Annette Badland as Nanny Bingo, Jack's grandmother
  • Ian Burfield as Laurie, Jack's father, who passed away from cancer two years before Jack started university
  • Sheila Reid as Iris, Danny's grandmother, whose Alzheimer's is slowly worsening
  • Robert Gilbert as Tim, a young journalism lecturer who readily deals in caustic language when approaching student queries
  • Lucia Keskin as Kelly, a student union representative who apathetically assists Jules
  • Kristy Philipps as Leisa (series one), a feminist student initially hesitant to Danny's charms, but get together down the line
  • Callum Mardy as Ash (series one), a student union representative who deals drugs to new students on the side
  • Rhiannon Clements as 'Mad Debs' (series one), a first-year student from Newcastle upon Tyne who drops out in the first week
  • Mark Silcox as Dhru 'Ru' Pal (series one), a security officer at the university halls
  • Jake Dunn as Oscar (series two), a gay fresher who has an attraction towards both Jack and Yemi
  • Marc Warren as Dennis King (series two), Danny's estranged father
  • Shane Zaza as Tariq Miller (series two), a delivery driver and the father of Shannon's baby
  • James Doherty as Russell (series two), Peggy's new love interest

Episodes

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Series 1 (2022)

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All episodes were made available on All 4 prior to broadcast on 26 May 2022.

No.Title [9]Directed byWritten byChannel 4 airdate [9]Viewers (excl. on-demand)[a]
1"Hello You"Jim ArcherJack Rooke26 May 2022 (2022-05-26)817,000[10]
Jack, a 19-year-old who has deferred his place at university a year following his father's death, finds himself thrown together with Danny, a 25-year-old mature student, after an administrative error leaves the two living in a disused shed on campus. Danny tries to drag Jack out of his comfort zone by taking him to socialise at the freshers' events, where Jack's attempts to hook up go badly awry.
2"I Wanna Take You to a Gay Bar!"Jim ArcherJack Rooke26 May 2022 (2022-05-26)502,000[10]
Attending the freshers' fair, Jack is roped in to the LGBTQIA society trip to a gay bar, as Danny meets his match trying to chat up a couple of feminists, including sharp-tongued Corinne; both end up tagging along to the gay bar when Danny discovers he and Jack are barred from entering halls, and going to its parties. Jack is introduced to the gay scene, while Danny's excitement at hooking up with Corinne proves short-lived.
3"Merry Sexmas"Jim ArcherJack Rooke2 June 2022 (2022-06-02)386,000[11]
December 2013. A misdirected punishment results in Jack being front-and-centre of Jules' Sexual Health Awareness Week, exacerbating his insecurity about the size of his penis which results in a rather impetuous hook-up with someone who turns out to be much older than on first impression. Danny has managed a workaround to his antidepressants' effect on his ability to get an erection - that's generated a less-than-gratifying name for him on campus - and struggles to reconcile the fact he can only have one or the other.
4"Dad, I Did Drugs"Jim ArcherJack Rooke2 June 2022 (2022-06-02)320,000[11]
March 2014. Jack's attempts to rally his underwhelming grades are hindered by his lust for the course's brusque lecturer, while Danny begins to spiral following his decision to stop taking his medication - allowing him to have a normal sex life - which gets the better of the entire group; edibles abound, as Danny tries to distract himself from real life and Jack is encouraged to emulate his father and make him proud, with a messy and complicated aftermath.
5"What a Bummer"Jim ArcherJack Rooke9 June 2022 (2022-06-09)<298,000[12]
May/June 2014. Jack and Corinne become concerned about Danny, who has shut himself off from the two recently, only to discover he hasn't been attending classes, has failed his first year, and needs to appeal to overturn the university's decision to block him from further study. Meanwhile, Jack is determined to lose his virginity, and enlists Yemi into helping him prepare himself for anal sex, who is also busy campaigning to become LGBTQ+ society president. Sharon convinces Peggy to attend a widows' dating night, but her nerves and worry she's betraying her husband get the better of her.
6"The Letter"Jim ArcherJack Rooke9 June 2022 (2022-06-09)<298,000[12]
June 2014. Danny has cut all contact with Jack and Corinne, and returns home to Margate to find that his grandmother's condition has deteriorated; a visit that goes wrong pushes him close to the edge. Also returning home for the summer holiday, Jack is dead set on coming out to his mum, but is faced with a series of interruptions that result in an unexpected reunion and revelations about the two closest men to him in his life.

Series 2 (2024)

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All episodes were made available on 29 December 2023 for subscribers to the paid tier of Channel 4's streaming service;[13] this expanded to all users on 14 January 2024.[14]

No.Title [15]Directed byWritten byChannel 4 airdate [9]Viewers
(excl. on-demand)[a] [16]
1"The Boys Are Back in Town"Jim ArcherJack Rooke14 January 2024 (2024-01-14)679,000
August/September 2014. Danny is now practically one of the family, and - along with Yemi and Corinne - accompanies Jack to his dead father's 60th birthday bash. While there, Jack receives a stark reminder that he hasn't embraced his fully-out gay self, and tries to become abreast with theory in the month before uni restarts as Danny deals with the search for student housing. His high standards - and brash antics while playing dirty with the estate agent - risk the four living insecurely for the year, until a familiar blue shed hoves into view. Shannon struggles with the revelation that she's pregnant, but more so with ensuring that the news is kept on a need-to-know basis.
2"Strictly Cum Dumping"Jim ArcherJack Rooke14 January 2024 (2024-01-14)538,000
September 2014. A new influx of freshers sees Jack and Danny encouraged to flex their flirting muscles again. Danny discovers that trying to pull someone eight years his junior is laborious and frustrating, his lack of success compounded by an unwelcome text from a father he's been estranged from for nearly two decades. Jack's reluctance in attempting to find someone proves well-grounded; the friendship group is unsettled when Yemi apparently sleeps with someone he was hoping to. The situation becomes even more astounding, however, when Corinne revels in finding out that Yemi is actually camming. Shannon is less-than-enthused about the prospect of informing her Asos delivery driver that he is the father of her child.
3"Tennis Table Tennis"Jim ArcherJack Rooke21 January 2024 (2024-01-21)N/A
December 2014. Jack, whose continued infatuation with brusque lecturer Tim is growing obsessive, sees an opportunity to pin down his sexuality: taking advantage of his attempts to offload his table tennis table to scope him and his life out, rebuffing accusations he's effectively stalking him. Danny willingly ropes himself into an all-night session helping Yemi frantically finish his fashion course assignment by the deadline; Danny's desire for a distraction from the heavy burden of whether or not to meet with his estranged father, and Yemi having considered accompanying a rattled Corinne to an abortion more of a priority... though letting her deal with the sudden reappearance of her boyfriend herself.
4"Surprise, Surprise!"Jim ArcherJack Rooke28 January 2024 (2024-01-28)N/A (<380,000)
March 2015. The gang is determined to ensure Danny has a 27th birthday to remember, but Jack's overenthusiastic approach to the day leads to him setting impossibly high standards for himself, in particular for his harried arrangement of a surprise party - and excoriation of Shannon for her lack of effort. Danny, meanwhile, spends the day continuing to try and make up for lost time with his father, whose broken promise to stay away from the booze leads to an unwelcome revelation and an explosion. Peggy is reluctantly convinced of the benefits of dating apps, but finds someone closer to home to give her late husband's key to.
5"All Work and No Play Makes Jack a Dull Gay"Jim ArcherJack Rooke4 February 2024 (2024-02-04)N/A (<409,000)
May 2015. It's work experience week, as Jack heads off to assist with call-taking at a radio station for teenagers and its obnoxiously zealous host, while Danny is delegated to the offices of an online lads' magazine... Corinne not happy to also be tagging along at the last minute. Her fears over the misogynistic, sexist and egregiously laddish culture are at first rebuffed but then gradually come to be shared by Danny, while Jack is less-than-keen about his (lack of a) sex life being shared over the airwaves. Peggy and Shannon encourage each other to put more effort into exploring what they could have with potential other halves in their lives, leading to an unexpected shock for one of them.
6"The Night When"Jim ArcherJack Rooke11 February 2024 (2024-02-11)N/A (<407,000)
The different ends of life collide as the pilgrimage to Watford Hospital's maternity ward takes Jack and the family by the hospice, where they said goodbye to Laurie some years ago, and reminiscing about what and who has been lost leads them to imagine - and put in place - what can make them whole again. Danny gets roped into assisting Shannon give birth by irritatingly ebullient nurses, Yemi dives head-first into taking advantage of the change of scene for his Grindr exploits, while Corinne struggles to cope with sticking around for the night with how much of what's happening relates to her own traumatic upbringing.
  1. ^ a b Ratings are 7-day consolidated, and exclude viewership prior to linear broadcast through All 4, and any on 'devices' (PCs, tablets, and smartphones). As a result, these numbers will not accurately and fully reflect episode viewership, and should be considered with caution.

Production

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The show's commissioning was announced in November 2020,[17] following a pilot that was shot around 2018.[18]

The series is based on Rooke's comedy stage shows Good Grief, Happy Hour, and Love Letters.[1] Rooke said that the series is semi-autobiographical; when asked "how truthful to his life" the show is, Rooke commented it was "[a]bout fifty-fifty".[19]

Reception

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Viewership

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Over the six episodes, the series averaged 410,000 viewers including catch-up within seven days post-broadcast. Including viewership prior to broadcast - through the series being made available in full on-demand on All4 following the broadcast of the first episode - and all viewership on devices aside from televisions (smartphones, laptops and tablets), the series averaged 669,000 viewers.[20]

Critical reception

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Big Boys has been critically praised. Carol Midgley in a four-star review for The Times, wrote that it is "one of the most funny, tender, profound sad-happy comedies I've seen this year and is worth anyone's time, not just because it tackles the themes of grief, coming of age and sexuality with a beautifully light touch, but because the cast give the impression that they love performing it."[21]

Lucy Mangan writes in her four-star review for The Guardian; "[i]t is warm and funny, but with a melancholic undertow that fades in and out as the episode – and the series – goes on, but never disappears entirely", and that "[a]lthough it is gentler and less frenetic, Big Boys' combination of frankness, heart and wit – and the seriousness with which it treats young people and the problems they face – evokes the mighty Sex Education", but simultaneously, "Rooke makes it entirely its own thing – and one that can pierce your heart when you least expect it". She touches upon the relationship between Jack and Danny in the series, saying [t]he growing friendship between the two young men, in a genre and world when such things are seldom showcased or made part of the cultural narrative, is genuinely uplifting", and also praises Katy Wix's "tremendous turn".[22]

In a further four-star review for The Telegraph, Anita Singh poses that "this bubbly sitcom ... is also a sensitively handled study of friendship and loss", and "[t]he heartfelt bits are skilfully woven around more standard comedy", with "plenty of laughs, but at its heart this is the story of a friendship that you dearly hope will work out".[23] In comments also for The Telegraph, Victoria Coren Mitchell wrote that "[d]epicted well enough, as they are here, surely any viewer can relate to those feelings of social awkwardness, wrongness, outsiderism and embarrassment which characterise teenage existence and – for many of us – the rest of our lives as well" - recalling how she felt at university - and that the show "triggers tears in the eyes from both comedy and poignancy, which is very hard to do in a first series", comparing Jack Rooke's writing and lines to that Victoria Wood may have written, and "[w]e can't know how accurate a portrayal this is of Jack Rooke's actual life, but we can know he has a wonderful comic touch".[24]

The show was included on The Guardian's list of "the best TV of 2022 so far" in June 2022, which lauded Jack Rooke as "TV's most exciting voice of 2022", and the series as "a perfectly written and performed ode to gay-straight male friendship".[25] Later in the year, it ranked sixth in The Guardian's top 50 shows of 2022, with Hollie Richardson saying that when she finished watching the series: "I thought of all the men in my life I immediately wanted to implore to watch it. My initial hesitation about any awkwardness this might cause was proof that conversations around men's mental health still need to be normalised. But recommending this show to people is a gift – one I truly believe might change, maybe even save, some men's lives."[26]

Accolades

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Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
2022
 Royal Television Society Craft & Design Awards Director - Comedy Drama/Situation Comedy Jim Archer Nominated [27]
2023
 Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards Best TV Situation Comedy Jack Rooke Won [28]
Royal Television Society Programme Awards Scripted Comedy Big Boys Nominated [29]
Comedy Performance: Male Jon Pointing Nominated
Writer: Comedy Jack Rooke Nominated
British Academy Television Awards Best Scripted Comedy Jack Rooke, Jim Archer, Ash Atalla, Alex Smith, Bertie Peek Nominated [30]
Best Male Comedy Performance Jon Pointing Nominated
British Academy Television Craft Awards Best Writer: Comedy Jack Rooke Nominated
Best Emerging Talent: Fiction Nominated
BAFTA Cymru Best Actress Katy Wix Nominated [31]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Big Boys - Trivia". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "Big Boys". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  3. ^ "Big Boys". All4. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  4. ^ "Big Boys gets Series 2 at Channel 4". British Comedy Guide. 23 August 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  5. ^ "Big Boys Series 2 now filming". British Comedy Guide. 7 June 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  6. ^ "Big Boys Series 2 launches in January". British Comedy Guide. 14 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  7. ^ "Big Boys on Channel 4 HD at 10:00pm January 14th, 2024". Digiguide.tv. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  8. ^ "JACK ROOKE'S AWARD-WINNING BIG BOYS RETURNS TO CHANNEL 4 FOR A THIRD SERIES". Channel 4 Press. 13 June 2023. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  9. ^ a b c "Big Boys - Episode guide". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  10. ^ a b "Top programmes report - week 21, May 23–29 - Channel 4". Thinkbox. Archived from the original on 6 June 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  11. ^ a b "Top programmes report - week 22, May 30 - June 05 - Channel 4". Thinkbox. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  12. ^ a b "Top programmes report - week 23, June 06–12 - Channel 4". Thinkbox. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  13. ^ "Watch Big Boys | Stream free on Channel 4". Channel 4. Archived from the original on 30 December 2023.
  14. ^ "Channel 4 | Stream & Watch Live TV". Channel 4. Archived from the original on 14 January 2024.
  15. ^ "Big Boys - Episode guide". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  16. ^ "Big Boys s2 consolidated ratings". Imgur. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  17. ^ "Big Boys - a sitcom by Jack Rooke - to be filmed for Channel 4". British Comedy Guide. 26 November 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  18. ^ Gonzalez, Elliot (23 May 2022). "I TALK TO Dylan Llewellyn". I Talk Telly. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  19. ^ Ryan, Anya (25 May 2022). "Jack Rooke on his new Channel 4 comedy Big Boys: we never see straight/gay male friendships on screen". Evening Standard. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  20. ^ Price, Stephen (2 August 2022). "Big Boys beat a comedy legend". Broadcastnow.co.uk. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  21. ^ Midgley, Carol (26 May 2022). "Big Boys review — a tender, poignant tale of troubled teenage years". The Times. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  22. ^ Mangan, Lucy (26 May 2022). "Big Boys review – this warm, tender comedy will pierce your heart". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  23. ^ Singh, Anita (26 May 2022). "Big Boys, review: coming-of-age comedy blends laughs, life lessons and characters to truly root for". The Telegraph. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  24. ^ Coren Mitchell, Victoria (2 July 2022). "Hilarious and heartbreaking, this sitcom has writing worthy of Victoria Wood". The Telegraph. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  25. ^ Duggins, Alexi; Abbott, Kate; Richardson, Hollie (6 June 2022). "The best TV of 2022 so far". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  26. ^ Richardson, Hollie (14 December 2022). "The 50 best TV shows of 2022: No 6 – Big Boys". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  27. ^ Yossman, K. J. (14 November 2022). "Mick Jagger, P.J. Harvey, 'Heartstopper' Nominated for Royal Television Society's Craft and Design Awards 2022". Variety. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  28. ^ Farber, Alex (17 January 2023). "This Is Going to Hurt & Big Boys victorious at WGGB Awards". Broadcast. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  29. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (28 March 2023). "Kate Winslet, Kit Connor, 'The Traitors' Among Winners at U.K.'s Royal Television Society Awards". Variety. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  30. ^ Ritman, Alex (22 March 2023). "BAFTA TV Awards: 'This is Going to Hurt,' 'The Responder' Lead Pack of Nominees". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  31. ^ "2023 BAFTA Cymru Awards: The Nominations" (Press release). BAFTA. September 6, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
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