Reviewed by Stuart O'Connor
Stars Sharon Horgan, Stephen Mangan, Anthony Head, Matthew Holness, Sara Pascoe | Written by Chris Niel
UK certification 18 | UK RRP £19.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 132 minutes | Directed by James Griffiths
Someone, somewhere at the start of this century decided that for television situation comedy to now be clever and post-modern, it had to be dark and bleak and full of sad characters. Just look at Ricky Gervais's The Office and Extras, for example; or Larry David's masterpiece, Curb Your Enthusiasm. And, for good measure, these anonymous someones decided, they should also be very, very sweary – again, see Curb Your Enthusiasm (the "beloved aunt" episode from Season 1 in particular) or the stunningly brilliant British political spin sitcom The Thick of It (which has, sort of, been spun-off into the film In The Loop).
Now you can add to that worthy list this new Channel 4 sitcom, Free Agents. Set in a talent agency, which is peopled by a motley bunch of characters. There's Alex (Mangan), recently divorced and adjusting to life without his kids. Or a home. Then there's Helen (Horgan), who's adjusting to life without her fiancé, who suddenly driopped dead one day without any warning. And there's foulmouthed agency boss Stephen (Head), who loves nothing more than discussing his and his staff's sex lives. Daily. Whether anyone actually wants to or not. The first episode begins with Alex and Helen having sex, and from then on, Alex seems determined to start a relationship with her. Helen, of course, wants nothing of the sort. Or, at least, she thinks she doesn't.
Cracking scripts and great acting lift this series way above the average sitcom you get on TV these days. In many ways it reminds me of that great Stephen Fry BBC sitcom about PR a agency, Absolute Power – although Free Agents is much darker and less cynical. The main characters, Alex and Helen, are often in tears and you'll go a long way to find a more bitter or pathetic pair on television. It's rarely laugh-out-loud funny; the humour, like it did in The Office, often makes you cringe. You're laughing at the suffering of others, which is really not a nice thing to do – but then, we all do that at times, don't we? Free Agents is easily the best new sitcom to hit our TV screens in quite some time.
EXTRAS *** A making-of documentary; a blooper reel; "in character" featurettes which include tours of the offices, Alex and others explaining exactly what it is that agents do, a revelation of what goes on in "Chapter 7", and a tour or Stephen's "crib"; improvised scenes; a photo gallery; and trailers.