Really enjoyed Plus One on Channel 4 tonight. The set up is a guy has been dumped by his grilfriend who then hooks up with Blue singer Duncan James.
He is then invited to the wedding and must try and find a date to compete. As he himself put it: “Of all the people in the room who will have seen Lindsey’s fanny, I am the least impressive.”
It not only nailed the insecurity and paranoia that follow being dumped, it was also a savage critique of our celebrity-saturated culture. The constant references to “Duncan from Blue”, this over-coiffured, fake-tanned presence that hangs over the whole show, encapsulates the modern deification of celebrities and credit to James himself who plays the role perfectly, happy enough to lampoon his own image.
As with The Office, it never sacrifices being funny to make its point, and the result is that what it has to say is disarmingly subtle and deliciously subversive.
