Bluestone 42

Image c BBC

Bluestone 42
2 / 5

Channel: BBC Three
Series: Two, with the Third having been announced in March
Aired: 2013 - 2014
Cast: Oliver Chris, Matthew Lewis, Kelly Adams, Tony Gardner, Katie Lyons et al

Bluestone 42 is a comedy based in Afghanistan concerning the trials and tribulations of a bomb disposal squad in the current war. It's a fairly rounded cast with some familiar faces, including one Matthew Lewis who played Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter film series (not shown in above image). The storylines vary from antics happening in the base to true-to-life scares whilst out on the job.

The comedy is, as one would expect, very careful and never strays from the tried-and-tested methods of picking on people as opposed to their situations, and for good reason. They are extremely good at not being callous about anything and, in my view, comedy is one of the best ways-if not the best way-of dealing with all situations, including war and death.

It's not laugh out loud funny, but I have enjoyed viewing it. Again, I'd label it as being pleasant, though the story-lines are often far from it. It has adult humour (a term which I detest though one which I know is widely known), which basically means the themes of comedy are along the lines of sex and a fair bit of swearing. Whilst I'm not against swearing, some comedies overuse it tremendously, though I'd say given the situation the characters find themselves in, I'd say it was definitely warranted.

I'd say it was definitely the kind of comedy for BBC Three, with the view that it's not good enough for BBC Two considering the amazingness that has come before it on that channel. The BBC were strongly considering removing BBC Three from televisions completely and replacing it with an online-only platform, though I believe that idea has now been scrapped due to the power of the people. Whilst I don't think Bluestone 42 should be shown on BBC Two, I do think that online-only comedies have nothing going for them and everything should be given a chance on the television, even if it is on some obscure channel no one really knows the number for (163 for Virgin Media in HD if you're interested).