Weak in the presence of Beauty
I've been commenting about it on Twitter and elsewhere as it's gone out, but now that the second (and probably final) series of Beautiful People has ended, maybe it's time for a quick roundup:
The first series was always hit-and-miss, and it's fair to say the second was as well, unfortunately with a slightly higher rate of misses this time. I can't help thinking that the amount of time it took for the BBC to give the nod can't have helped, leaving less writing time for Jonathan Harvey. There was an entire episode that felt horribly misconceived ("How I Got My Camp," one of the few parts of the second series that directly corresponded to something in the book, but got there through an uncharacteristic misjudgement of the show's occasional black comedy: Reba being beaten up to Steps' version of "Tragedy" wasn't dark, it was just unpleasant, and the episode ending with adult Simon groping his straight assistant was just a bit creepy.)
Fortunately this was the only one to really get things wrong, and the rest of the episodes all had some classic moments. There's maybe not one single scene that stands out as much as last year's "Watermelooooooooon" from "How I Got My Tongs" but the second series did start with a classic moment from Enya tribute act Enyata, and her alternative lyrics to "Orinico Flow:"
In a boat, in a boat, in a boat upon the ocean
If you're scared, if you're scared, you may pass a nutty motion
If it hurts, if it hurts, please be sure and use some lotion.
The celebrity guests were well-used as well - Dana International ("Miss International! Over here Miss International!") and Elaine Paige were good but Dannii Minogue was probably the funniest. And then there was last night's finale, "How I Got My Gash," in which the 14-year-old version of Simon came out to his mother (it should go without saying Olivia Colman has more than maintained her levels of fabulousness) and got himself a boyfriend. We found out that in the present day he's marrying the same boy, which is a bit cheesy for me, but still it was an episode that had half the internet confessing to shedding a little tear (not me because I'm NAILS innit.)
This second series seemed very lucky to get made at all, and having ended up on Friday nights rather than BBC2's traditional Thursday comedy slot it doesn't seem like the Beeb expect to give it a third. A lot of people have said how final the episode felt, which is true what with so many plot elements being tied up; on the other hand I can see it also as Harvey giving himself leeway for a third series if he gets it, creating a lot of new dynamics to be played with (Simon out of the closet and with a boyfriend; a baby in the house; and Jayeson as an unexpected addition to the extended family.) I don't think we will be seeing any of that play out, but I said that last year as well.
The first series was always hit-and-miss, and it's fair to say the second was as well, unfortunately with a slightly higher rate of misses this time. I can't help thinking that the amount of time it took for the BBC to give the nod can't have helped, leaving less writing time for Jonathan Harvey. There was an entire episode that felt horribly misconceived ("How I Got My Camp," one of the few parts of the second series that directly corresponded to something in the book, but got there through an uncharacteristic misjudgement of the show's occasional black comedy: Reba being beaten up to Steps' version of "Tragedy" wasn't dark, it was just unpleasant, and the episode ending with adult Simon groping his straight assistant was just a bit creepy.)
Fortunately this was the only one to really get things wrong, and the rest of the episodes all had some classic moments. There's maybe not one single scene that stands out as much as last year's "Watermelooooooooon" from "How I Got My Tongs" but the second series did start with a classic moment from Enya tribute act Enyata, and her alternative lyrics to "Orinico Flow:"
In a boat, in a boat, in a boat upon the ocean
If you're scared, if you're scared, you may pass a nutty motion
If it hurts, if it hurts, please be sure and use some lotion.
The celebrity guests were well-used as well - Dana International ("Miss International! Over here Miss International!") and Elaine Paige were good but Dannii Minogue was probably the funniest. And then there was last night's finale, "How I Got My Gash," in which the 14-year-old version of Simon came out to his mother (it should go without saying Olivia Colman has more than maintained her levels of fabulousness) and got himself a boyfriend. We found out that in the present day he's marrying the same boy, which is a bit cheesy for me, but still it was an episode that had half the internet confessing to shedding a little tear (not me because I'm NAILS innit.)
This second series seemed very lucky to get made at all, and having ended up on Friday nights rather than BBC2's traditional Thursday comedy slot it doesn't seem like the Beeb expect to give it a third. A lot of people have said how final the episode felt, which is true what with so many plot elements being tied up; on the other hand I can see it also as Harvey giving himself leeway for a third series if he gets it, creating a lot of new dynamics to be played with (Simon out of the closet and with a boyfriend; a baby in the house; and Jayeson as an unexpected addition to the extended family.) I don't think we will be seeing any of that play out, but I said that last year as well.