Fresh Meat

Seasons: 4

Years: 2011 - 2016 

Characters: Kingsley, Josie, Oregon, JP, Howard and Vod 

Quick Synopsis: A comedy that follows a group of six students about to embark on the most exciting period of their lives so far at university. 

Creators: Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain

Pilot Episode 

The comedy series begins by introducing one of the characters, Vod. She is seen walking to the student house with a back pack and dismorfed editing. The next character we are introduced to is Howard, who is blow drying chicken in the kitchen with no trousers. With these two being the first ones, we get and understanding that they are the unusual ones who do not have the need to impress anyone and feel comfortable being themselves and 'not giving a shit'.

The show then shows  Josie in her room in the student house walking up and down, and Oregon in her room trying on different outfits. We then meet Kingsley who is in the room opposite Josie and they are able to talk to each other with a wall in the hole. The show did not waste time by showing each character walking in the house and introducing themselves to each other. A conversation is sparked between Kingsley and Josie which is awkward with sexual comments. There is also a love interest between the two with their attempts to get each others attention, and Josie's jealousy when Kingsley's leaves the pub with a girl.

The first time we see everyone all together, is in the living room which is very awkward as no one knows what to say. Oregon is portrayed as the girl who lies to try and fit in and can't keep track of what she is lying about. But she lies more to Vod to try and impress her and seem cool as Vod has this carefree attitude and likes to get high.

The next character we get introduced to, which is revealed he is one of the flatmates is JP. We first see him inviting Kingsley into one of the boys cubicles to do cocaine with him. Immediately we get the sense that he is a creepy guy, along with his bad chat up lines to Josie (who he has a one night stand with).

Next we see the Josie and Kingsley at the freshers fair, where it is revealed that Kingsley didn't have a one night stand but ended up at a christians house who was against sex. Josie defends him by shouting at the girl for using him - instantly creating a strong friendship between the two.

What inspired me? 
Since my sitcom is based on a university student trying to find her self and find a boyfriend, I was interested to see how a comedy show on uni student portrayed its characters. The fact that it had various personalities which somehow balanced each other out.

Kingsley is the kid with an ordinary background, Howard is the odd student who lives off nothing and just about scrapes by, Vod is the cool student who does drugs and sex, Josie is the emotional students and Oregon is the student who is trying to escape from her boring personality and try to become cool and fit into university.

My sitcom varies with the fact that Hara's family follow her to London and intervene on her journey. So how was I going to make it funny? Do I make them into stereotypical Greek family or give them student like stereotypes? I did both, thus making them a new age alternative Greek Cypriot family. My sitcom is based in a house turned student accommodation fro Hara and her flatmates Chantelle (wannabe rapper) and Sebastian (posh boy), along with Hara;s grandparents, parents, little brother and her dodgy uncle. With the student dynamic of the teenagers and the parents dynamic there was material I could work on, and the fact that I had two English people living with the Greeks was a great way to show a comparison between the two cultures,

Haras parents are trying to reignite their love life and her mum, Andy, is a carefree spiritual person. Yiayia Maria ends up getting high with Pappou Andrea without knowing it by eating Chantelles weed brownies, Sebastian is the posh person who mocks them, Kotchy is the 'normal' one and Uncle Panny is the wealer dealer.