Breeders S3, Now TV
It seems strange that a comedy series made by Chris Addison and starring Martin Freeman isn’t talked about more, and if Breeders has passed you by until now, it’s worth a watch. Comedy drama is a tricky genre, with few creators able to strike the balance between funny and serious – but it’s a tightrope that Breeders walks well.
The third season, written by Addison, Freeman and Simon Blackwell (The Thick of It) is very funny – with moments that inspire out loud laughs as well as approving smirks. You feel in completely safe hands with the comedy in Breeders and get the sense that the funnies are being crafted by people whose sense of humour is more adept and inclusively nuanced than your own. Martin Freeman is unequivocally back home in this sitcom setting and throughout will remind you of the comedy chops that lay the groundwork for his stardom.
As well as the funny, there are also serious moments in Breeders. Season 3 continues to interrogate family dynamics and the perils of parenting in a way that is sometimes interesting, but admittedly, sometimes isn’t. One moment of true merit though, that could only be achieved in the comedy drama format, occurs in the middle of the series when central character Ally (Daisy Haggard) confronts death in the most sardonic way imaginable. The third season is worth a watch for this unique take on death alone.
Like all of Sky’s offerings, Breeders is a lavish, glossy and visually ambitious piece of TV. It can make for a nice experience, but is also sometimes jarring and unrealistic. For example, a lot of the family turmoil that we are expected to relate to takes place in a 2-million-pound pad in London that wouldn’t look out of place on MTV Cribs. It’s not the vision of domestic chaos that most are used to.
Owing to its examination of said domestic chaos, Breeders draws obvious parallels with Catastrophe. The two shows tread the same ground about families and the idea that the essence of parenthood is underlying and ever-present trauma. Breeders is on a number of levels the more sophisticated and nuanced of the two shows, but having said all of that, is maybe not more charming for being so. Regardless, it is an extremely comedically competent series that can be palatably binged in a weekend or two.
