Quickfire round: Loaded

Four life-long friends become millionaires overnight as the closing money comes in from the sale of their gaming business. Unable to handle their new found wealth, and facing pressure from their new US mega-corp owners to make a soulless sequel of their hit game Cat Factory, hilarity (and woe) ensues.

Leon coaxes the group onto his privet yacht to get them to concentrate on their new game

This show was cancelled in 2017 after one season and, if you check the cast’s biographies online, it’s hardly mentioned as one of their top appearances. I can’t think why, as I really enjoyed it. Don’t be mistaken – it’s nothing like Mythic Quest, which sees day to day game development issues and is surprisingly good insight into the industry. The actual game development process takes a back seat in this show and instead we see how the four characters handle their wealth and relationships with family, friends, their new boss and, ultimately, each other.

There’s Ewan, a posh, gay programmer whom most people don’t know is a co-founder at the developer, Idyl Hands, because he’s always asked not to appear in photo shoots by Leon, who technically doesn’t do any work as he’s not a coder or an artist, but more a product evangelist. Watto, a recovering alcoholic and artist, appears perhaps least deserving of the £9.2 million each co-founder received in the deal (plus £26m in stock options). Finally there’s Josh, a nervous, nagging, woke guy who is obsessive and jealous about his girlfriend.

They each handle the money differently and their friendships are tested when they get pushed to produce another hit game. Watto becomes addicted to collecting things. Ewan decides to give an employee a £20k bonus to prove to her that he IS a co-founder, resulting in him having to do the same for this entire team after they find out. Leon, eager to show his teachers he amounted to something, buys a helicopter. And Josh… well, he’s open to trying some of the more expensive wines on the menu.

I had fun watching this, but the episodes (with an average 43 minute runtime) did seem a bit long for this type of comedy. If you like the sound of it and enjoy watching some classic British comedy, you won’t be disappointed.

375w