‘Netflix has nothing on it!’ gush fans of BBC’s latest hit comedy show as they brand it ’10/10 quality TV’
BBC’s latest hit comedy has thrown fans into a frenzy after they dubbed it a ‘masterpiece’’ and demanded the broadcaster to commission a second season immediately.
The six-part series tells the hilarious but eye-opening story of a group of London-based black teens who are selected to attend an elite private boarding school after receiving scholarships.
The BBC’s new coming-of-age drama Boarders, which was released last month, follows Jahiem (Josh Tedeku), Leah (Jodie Campbell), Omar (Myles Kamwendo), Toby (Sekou Diaby), and Femi (Aruna Jalloh) as they start studying at one of the country’s oldest and most elite schools, St Gilbert’s.
At the start the group learn that they have only been picked to join the school so that they can help improve the school’s image following a problematic online scandal.
The official synopsis for the shop reads: “Comedy drama following five underprivileged black students from inner-city London who win scholarships to an elite boarding school, stepping out of the urban metropolis and into a world they can only describe as something out of Harry Potter.”
Since its release, fans have been going wild on social media about how good the show is.
Taking to X one user tweeted: “Watching #Boarders on BBC and honestly it’s a masterpiece.”
Another added: “#boarders is so good this should’ve been on Netflix so more people could know about it.
“All the characters are so good, and they have four black boys, so different. You know ain’t no one but a black person write these characters, they so good and not ur stereotypical s*** on Netflix.”
A third chimed: “Boarders gives me the same level of happiness four o’clock club did. Just more explicit and real, which I loved! #boarders.”
“I really hope they bring #Boarders back for S2! So tired of 10/10 black British series being prematurely cancelled,” said someone else.
A fifth typed: “I just finished #Boarders and absolutely loved it. Need a season two ASAP!.”
Ahead of the series, Daniel Lawrence Taylor, writer of Boarders and the BAFTA-nominated series Timewasters spoke about his experiences at university, which led him to create the hit show.
He said: “It was predominantly white, predominantly middle class, and it was like a proper culture shock to me.”
“It was the kind of thing that you’d imagine – the kind of microaggressions and incidents – but the main one was code-switching and learning how to survive in that environment.”
“I think there’ll be a universal appeal to the show because we all have to code switch in some way, shape or form to survive in life.”
Code-switching is a term widely used to describe when somebody changes their accent, tone of voice, and mannerisms to fit into their environment.
Speaking about Boarders, actor Josh, who plays Jaheim, says he related to his character quite a lot due to his own real-life experiences, including attending schools where he “was the minority and the majority was white.”
He told BBC Newsbeat: “I feel like the first half of my school years, I was trying to fit in.
“Finding yourself in general is [tough]. But doing it in a place where you’re a minority is even worse. So I just drew from that experience and brought it to Jaheim.”
He added: “It [felt] like stepping into a different world, it felt a bit like Hogwarts.”
Actor Sekou said: “Giving people from different backgrounds an opportunity is always a positive thing for both sides.”
Jodie, meanwhile, expressed: “I think [Boarders] does open up that conversation about giving more children of different backgrounds opportunities, and I think [that] is important.
“But as with the show, it’s all well and good getting that opportunity. But are you creating a safe environment for them to really take advantage and use that opportunity to be better off?”
BBC fans seem to be in for another treat very soon as the broadcaster recently announced that the beloved detective series Father Brown, will be returning to screens 11 years after the first episode aired.
Boarders is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.