Psychoville: Series Two – Dork Preview

Surreal horror-sitcom Psychoville returns, after becoming a cult hit in its first run. I loved it, and I don’t even have enough grounding in horror cinema to get half the references to horror movies. Ratings were not necessarily amazing, but pleasingly the BBC has given Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton a new series anyway.

So is it just as good? Is this the year that Psychoville slays the masses?

Clowns And Silent Singers

We had that Halloween Special to tide us over in October, which danced around the ongoing storylines, so it’s nice to finally get stuck in properly. More clowns, more serial-killing mother-and-son teams and even a new character, the Silent Singer, who looks pretty strange even by Psychoville’s high standards. Well, I say “character”. You’ll have to watch it and see.

As well as the scenarios, the humour itself shows no sign of becoming normal, which is obviously a very good thing. There’s an X Factor audition-styled sequence in the first episode which left me unsure whether to laugh or stare blankly, so I alternated between them.

In short, they’re back in fine style, and anyone who likes their humour on the strange and macabre side should give it a go.

iPlayers and Wikipedias

As implied above, this is an oddly timed “preview”, as episode one already aired last week. But that does mean rather than having to wait until it’s available, you can rush over to iPlayer and start watching it now.

And if you can get hold of the series one DVD first, all the better, as I admit the continuity might be a little tight at times. I had to check Wikipedia once whilst watching the first episode, and I’ve watched everything to date. It’d have been nice if the Beeb had seen fit to air a repeat run before the new ones started.

Still, it’s a decent introduction to the new storylines, and Psychoville remains a great show. Future generations will watch it on DVD, cock their heads and say “Wow, that was brilliant, if a little depraved”. Check it out.

Nick Bryan

Nick learned to read and write at an early age. This has developed into an unhealthy need to either write stories or consume them for later dissection. He reviews film and TV on Dork Adore and The Digital Fix, lives in London and enjoys a nice white beer.

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