Psychoville - Overview of a Crazy Comedy
BBC Comedy-Thriller Series Defies Expectations and Genres
A recently concluded comedy-thriller-insane series from two of the makers of The League Of Gentlemen, BBC2's Psychoville provides a meaningful insight into what the world would be like if populated entirely by lunatics. Through the eyes of a confused schizophrenic.
It's difficult to describe the plot without ruining the well-framed twists, but in short, the series revolves around a diverse group of individuals who all have a certain... oddness about them. A ruined clown, an embittered blind man, a serial-killer obsessed man-child and more. As the story begins, they all start to receive threatening notes from an unseen man in black.
An Eclectic Style
Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton have crafted a smart, impressive seven part series, which seems to weave together as many ‘intense’ clichés as possible, all the while keeping a healthy sense of its own absurdity. The insane collector lurks in his home and pines after completing his set of... beanie babies? An unhinged telekinetic threatens the lives of all around him... whilst working as a pantomime dwarf?
This is the same oddball humour that the League thrived upon (not to mention cross-dressing, provided amply here by Shearsmith playing Maureen Sowerbutts), and its been refined here, nailed on to a plot which seems distressingly familiar. The series homages such a broad range of previous stories that it's almost impossible to tell what it will do next. (Witness the musical number in episode five!)
The style is still slightly fragmented, however, as the series revolves around six or seven main characters, most of whom never meet until the very end. For the bulk of the run, the narrative cuts to and fro between them as they go about their entirely unrelated business. This can make for a disjointed viewing experience, but to the discerning (or disturbed) viewer, it simply adds to the experience of Psychoville.
Defying Definition
Despite the word "comedy" frequently popping up in descriptions of this series, one would have to admit (if forced, at gunpoint) that the actual jokes in Psychoville are sometimes few and far between. The right-minded viewer will smile, but in satisfaction rather than at any clear punchline. Anyone who comes to this series expecting a straight-forward sitcom might be disappointed, not to mention a little disturbed.
But if you like to watch smart writers subvert well-worn ideas, accompanied by the pleasure of following a storyline which is genuinely impossible to predict, then Psychoville could be for you. Much like Dexter, the American serial killing serial drama, it provides a highly fictionalised, but ultimately compelling, vision of insanity.
This being a BBC series, the initial seven-episode run is all that's been promised so far, and once you’ve watched them, you might find yourself hoping they never do more, leaving this as a beautifully formed, slightly mad, little story.
The BBC's Psychoville Takes you Inside the Asylum
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