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People Just Do Nothing

'People Just Do Nothing' - BBC Three

‘People Just Do Nothing’ is a BBC Three programme based on a pirate radio station called ‘Kurupt FM’; it follows a group of lads who are trying to make it into the grime music scene. The target audience for this show is for “millennials mostly” (Newall, 2016) so young people aged around 18-25, mainly due to the tone of the piece being about the grime music scene which has a large following of younger listeners.

As close to appointment-TV as it’s possible to get in the Netflix age … Decoy, Steves, Grindah and Beats in People Just Do Nothing.
Google Images

The choice of content within this programme appeals directly to the target audience because it includes characters that are relatable because they are the stereotypical chav that everyone knows. All of the characters use colloquial language giving the audience something to relate to since they will use that language in their everyday lives and if they don’t it gives an inside look into another life, perhaps for escapism. 

Due to BBC Three being only available "on digital platforms" (BBC, 2013), this narrows down the audience to a niche of young people since watching online has become "increasingly popular" (Sweney, 2017) as found by an Ofcom report. Therefore due to the programme being online only it appeals to the audience because of the ease of access and similar tone of the show to other shows, such as 'The Office', which can be found on the online streaming service, 'Netflix'.

'People Just Do Nothing' is filmed in a mockumentary style and "is structured like the British version of "The Office" (Ali, 2017). This style of programme gives the viewer the impression of an authentic view of the pirate radio station through the style of a documentary.

The comedy aspect of the show is mainly brought through the characters. The characters have blatant stupidity written on their faces and show this through their actions. For example, in the first episode of series 3, the lads go to the studio and Steves spins on a chair and then falls on the floor. Perfect slapstick comedy. This is followed by a serious getting up off the floor by Steves and carrying on with the studio work. Since all of the characters are based on the stereotypical chav, they have their similarities with Vicky Pollard from 'Little Britain' because Vicky is the "typical chav roaming the streets of the UK" (Babbage, 2015). The boys in 'People Just Do Nothing' wear similar clothing and have the street presence that Vicky has throughout 'Little Britain'.


References

Newall, S. (2016). How a resolutely British show about pirate DJs has garnered international attention. Retrieved 4 October, 2017, from, http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/people-just-do-nothing-series-three-bbc-3-ash-atalla-series-2-a7195231.html 

 BBC. (2013). BBC Three. Retrieved 4 October, 2017, from, http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/regulatory_framework/service_licences/tv/2013/bbc_three.pdf[Accessed 4 Oct. 2017].

 Sweney, M. (2017). Ofcom: young people watch a third less TV on sets as they move online. Retrieved 4 October, 2017, from,  https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/jul/07/ofcom-young-people-watch-a-third-less-broadcast-tv-as-they-move-online 

 Ali, L. (2017). Music-focused British series 'People Just Do Nothing' celebrates the 'idiots everywhere'. Retrieved 4 October, 2017, from, http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-people-just-do-nothing-netflix-bbc-20170526-story.html 

 Babbage, R. (2015). Matt Lucas explains where Vicky Pollard came from. Retrieved 4 October, 2017, from, http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/news/a772910/matt-lucas-explains-where-vicky-pollard-came-from/ 
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