Dropperz

Dropperz the Pilot - TV Review

Overall it was just short on laughs and dramatic interest.

Hapless grime collective Dropperz aren't exactly at the top of their game as they struggle to get it together this one-off comedy mockumentary pilot. It's their last chance to film their video and find the fame they deserve, but with a dead rabbit and a guilty dog on their hands, it looks like they're about to be dropped from their record label. Promising fun with a talented and witty cast including Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Guz Khan, Letitia Hector and Alexis Caley.

This mockumentary about a struggling grime group is in the same ballpark as BBC Three's underrated People Just Do Nothing, in both tone and setting: a hapless gang of young chancers trying to make it big in entertainment despite their stupidity.

Dropperz are a British grime group played by Adam Deacon, Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Guz Khan, plus Letitia Hector as Kelly, a hanger-on always gazing into her phone taking selfies, self-obsession being the extent of her character. Running the risk of being a one-hit wonder; they are placed into an easy-to-grasp peril: they are given the run of heir manager's pristine home for three hours to shoot an edgy video - 'else Dropperz really will be dropped' - without causing any damage.

There are some gaggy lines and funny visual gags - not least the guns they eventually bring to the shoot. Meanwhile the glimpses we get of their music effectively parodies some of the genre's more vacuous lyrics, and the whole attitude mocks the 'thug life' the music's supposed to celebrate.

The main disappointment is that the episode's big punchline will be familiar to anyone who knows shaggy-dog pub jokes. So while Dropperz isn't People Just Do Nothing quality yet - but it's promising. Probably the best of the bunch.