2 out of 5

Created by: Simon Beaufoy and Alice Nutter

There is no fully monty in The Full Monty TV series, the 25-years-later followup to the movie of the same name, and the obvious, upfront question to ask and answer. While it would’ve seemed quite forced to include such a thing, in whatever form, it maybe does encourage the question: so what’s it about?

One could argue that it’s thematically linked: the movie used the “some Sheffield working class average joes strip for money” bit to explore male bonding and masculinity ups and down of middle-aged adulthood, and now we’re doing the same for those same characters in later stages of life, with grown children, and failed or failing marriages, and welfare needs, and struggling with the changes of the modern world. You could argue that, but it’s only true in so much as The Full Monty TV show happens to feature the same characters as before, and they happen to be older. In truth, it feels more like co-creators Simon Beaufoy and Alice Nutter – Simon having written the original – just wanted to hang out with some folks who’ve existed in a creative space in Simon’s mind for however long. The show has to then weakly find ways to hang a thematic hat on things, and it’s not very impactful at all; the concluding “let’s make the best of it” sentiment is hollow.

Or perhaps fitting, given the content? The series, after all, can be quite cringey if you’re not in the supposed demographic that was age appropriate the first time around and would be the same now: Beaufoy and Nutter, writing the whole bit, do their best to spread episodes out amongst the whole crew, but there are, perhaps, obviously going to be less fleshed out parts in the lot, necessitating tiresome attempts to put them into bottle episode hijinks, while also maintaining some semblance of “this is a contemplative comedy drama” veneer. In a world where meta comedy has existed for a while now, and most everyone has a tolerance level for drab or black humor, The Full Monty’s pokes and prods at being quirky generally fall flat. We have the requisite “I don’t understand the youth” stuff, which almost seems tossed in just to have it – either a plus or minus that’s it not given much space, depending how you look at it – and then a logical inclusion of the younger generation’s mirroring plights (relationship woes, school woes, sexism, classism), but it’s unfortunately written by the same folks doing the “I don’t understand the youth” aspect, so prepare to know these kids only as sketches, with some what’s-this-TikTok vibes underneath.

But then… you can make the best of this style: that familiarity Beaufort has with this world, while perhaps not enough to fill up 8 episodes, does translate to a comfortable, welcoming presentation, and allows the actors room to inhabit their roles. It’s not unpleasant. And I’ve picked at the humor, but there are some jokes that really tickle, and make you want a version of this that was tightened up a bit. And when things circle around to highlight the characters who already had the most meat on their bones, and are then doubly added to by their actors – Robert Carlyle’s Gaz, Mark Addy’s Dave – the show is able to make good on showing us the decades-later evolution of themes. This also is undercut to a degree, with Gaz almost forcefully featured as a side character for many episodes, perhaps to encourage not relying on his energy to support things, and Addy’s part is linked to a season long story about his crumbling marriage to his wife (Lesley Sharp), requiring him to grumble and not emote except at key points. Still, if there is / was a point to this, it feels most present with these two.

Lastly, but a top-down influence, just as the environment was a key part of the original, the same is true here. Regardless of the show’s script weaknesses, the setting feels real; feels lived in – at least to this American. And this adds to that overall comfort.

So it’s 8 hours of, content-wise, a pretty weak show. It won’t hit the heartstrings; you’ll roll your eyes more than you chuckle, unless you’re perhaps in the sweet spot demographic for the show. But even if you aren’t, it remains more watchable than series that have maybe more singular high points or better concepts, and has a very low barrier-to-entry for any given episode. Whether or not that’s worth your time…?