Fresh Meat is a British comedy-drama television series created by Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, who also created Peep Show.
The first episode, directed by David Kerr, was broadcast on Channel 4 on 21 September 2011, and the show aired on Wednesdays at 10 pm. The second series started airing on 9 October 2012 and consists of 8 episodes.Channel 4 – TV Listings – Tuesday 9 October 2012 30 October 2012 On 22 November 2012, a third series was commissioned and began broadcasting on 4 November 2013. Bain said ideas were being developed for a potential film adaptation, following the runaway success of 2011's The Inbetweeners Movie. Instead, a fourth series followed, filmed in 2015 and aired in February 2016 as a conclusion to the series.
Plot The stories revolve around the lives of six students; Vod, Oregon, Josie, Kingsley, JP, and Howard – who are freshers (with the exception of Howard) at the fictional Manchester Medlock University (loosely based on Manchester Metropolitan University). Due to having applied late to accommodation, they live in a shared house off-campus in Whalley Range, Manchester rather than university halls of residence.
Main themes include: Oregon's insecurity and failed relationship with her English literature lecturer, Tony Shales; Vod's hedonistic, carefree lifestyle; Josie and Kingsley's tortured relationship; upper-class JP's attempts at popularity and impressing girls, and Howard's numerous eccentricities. On a larger scale, the series covers such student-related issues as financial issues, work pressures, grades, expulsion, partying, and internship competition. The final series involves job seeking, final exam pressure, and the value of degrees.
Episodes
Characters Main Zawe Ashton as Violet "Vod" Nordstrom: A literature student and military brat, she is studying at the university on an RAF Officer Bursary. Vod appears streetwise, forthright, completely care-free and alludes to having anti-establishment views. She is the life and soul of any party, often drinks too much (a middle aged writer died from consuming the same amount as her) and takes hard drugs. Her university grades are poor and she regularly talks Oregon into allowing her to plagiarize her work. Despite her beliefs, she is fond of Oregon, who is from a privileged background, and helps her through some of her most difficult phases. While she is the first to shirk her workload in favour of a party, we occasionally see her become deeply distressed at the prospect of her work being evaluated, and it is implied that a large part of her apparent ambivalence towards her course can be attributed to a fear of failure coupled with her awareness that she has not received the same level of secondary education as her peers. In the pilot she tells Josie that she didn't study A-levels, and in one of the final episodes she responds to criticism of her ostensibly lackadaisical approach to her studies by pointing out that she had to work extremely hard to be accepted to university, juggling a factory job and an Access course in the evenings. This insecurity is further complicated by her abusive alcoholic mother, Chris, who refers to her as "the millstone around my neck". In the fourth series, it is revealed that she has amassed more than £70,000 of debt over the course of her degree, and her career prospects and ambitions are non-existent. This, however, proves to be the wake-up call she needs, and she puts in extra effort for her final exams, ultimately finishing with upper second-class honours (a "2:1"), a much higher grade than she was expecting. She later agrees to accompany Oregon to Laos. Greg McHugh as Howard McGregor: A Scottish geology student who is older than the others, having previously done a year in Philosophy but changed courses after disagreements with professors. Howard is eccentric, socially inept and has many strange mannerisms. He is also the only non-freshman in the house, and the only housemate who does not demonstrate even the remotest interest in politics. With the exception of his housemates, he has few friends, but is usually friendly and well mannered. The housemates tend to approach him with caution, and his behaviour has occasionally cost them popularity. He does not socially interact very often, but has had a sexual fling with former housemate Sabine, and took a liking to Sam in the early parts of the third series. In the fifth episode of the third series, he is shown to be somewhat attracted to Candice, and they later form a relationship. His surname changes twice through the series: in series 1, it is Rowbottom; in series 2, it is MacCallum; and in series 3 and 4, it is McGregor. This is due to wanting to remain as anonymous and off the grid as possible, noting that he redacts his middle name from his Ordnance Survey job application, and has wiped his date of birth from the internet – ultimately, it is confirmed in series 4 that Howard's real surname is McGregor. In the fourth series Howard's reclusion worsens, becoming obsessed with studying for his final exams and partly due to breaking up with Candice. He eventually manages to secure a position at Ordnance Survey, despite his fears of living in London. In keeping with his superior intellect to the rest of the group, he is the highest achieving of all, finishing the year with first-class honours ("a one" or "a first"), and being the only one to leave with secure employment. It is revealed in the last episode of the series that he does not actually live in Scotland as he had led everyone to believe, but rather a few streets down from the house where the gang have been living for three years, and he had neglected to tell anyone because his parents embarrassed him. In a deleted scene, it's revealed that Howard later moves in with JP and Kingsley in Chelsea. Kimberley Nixon as Josephine "Josie" Jones: A pharmacology student from Aberbeeg, who previously took dentistry and afterwards zoology. While initially coming across as sensible, shy, and sweet natured (Oregon describes her as "perfect wife material") Josie soon turns out to be quite stubborn, foul-mouthed, short-tempered, and selfish. Furthermore, she is something of an alcoholic, although she later tries to turn over a new leaf in series 3 when it lands her in trouble. Her personality problems are most often seen in her interactions with Kingsley, with whom she has a complicated and tortured relationship, a result of their mutual attraction. While the two started off on amiable terms, the sexual tension between them grew as a result of numerous heart-to-heart conversations through the paper-thin wall separating their rooms, which was complicated by her failing relationship with boyfriend and later fiancé Dave. In the second series, this becomes even further fraught when Kingsley forms a relationship with her new friend, Heather. Josie moves to Southampton to study zoology at the end of the second series, having been kicked off her dentistry course (due to drilling through someone's cheek while hungover during a dentistry practical). By the third series, they are able to finally form a relationship, and Josie returns to Manchester to take pharmacology. However, numerous attempts at making their relationship work, including a bonding trip, a "relationship amnesty" and exploring an open relationship, only led to further emotional pain for both. The two reluctantly decided to take a break from each other at the end of the third series to ensure that they did not damage their friendship as well. She takes beta blockers,Fresh Meat, series 2, episode 6. implying she suffers from anxiety or stress. She does not demonstrate much interest in politics, although she often makes sarcastic comments about contentious political issues. In the fourth series, both she and Kingsley's feelings for each other have completely gone, although it is clear that she still feels sadness at its failure. She attempts to remedy this by having meaningless sex with JP, all the while scared of the looming prospect of spending the final year of her degree without her friends. In the latter part of the series, she struggles to come to terms with the fact that she may like JP, and her efforts to do so only hurt his feelings. Eventually, he forces her to acknowledge them publicly to the group, and they agree to form a relationship long-distance. The series ultimately closes with Josie doing a final round of her now-empty house, her sadness at bidding goodbye to her friends, and the prospect of an entire year alone in it plain on her face as she leaves for the station. Charlotte Ritchie as Melissa "Oregon" Shawcross: Oregon is a literature student and, like JP, from a privileged background. An idealist, Oregon is paranoid about how she is perceived by her peers, and believes that her privileged upbringing will negatively affect this. When she first arrives at university, she gives herself the nickname "Oregon", makes a clear effort to hide her background and immediately befriends Vod, the most outgoing and party-loving of the housemates. She attempts to emulate Vod in as many ways as possible, enthusiastically agreeing with every anti-establishment or anti-elitist view Vod expresses, even if she is guilty of what Vod is criticising. Despite discovering the truth about Oregon, Vod remains genuinely fond of her, and the two are close friends. She embarks on an affair with her lecturer, Tony Shales, and later unknowingly forms a relationship with his son, Dylan. The relationships end at the end of the second series. Oregon fancies herself as a political activist, but often displays a lack of understanding of contentious issues. After spending most of the third series running for Student Union presidency, she discovers the difficulty of the post, and spends the early part of the fourth series trying to enjoy the power of the job, despite the obvious lack of respect she commands, and budgetary problems. Eventually, her arrogance and unwillingness to admit her own mistakes lead to her being impeached from the post, and rejected from the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship in the USA. Her horrific final year is capped when she is awarded lower second-class honours (a "2:2"), far lower than her parents expected of her, and when she attempts to apply for a master's degree, she is given a place on Tony Shales's course purely because of his desire to get back together with her. Vod ultimately stands up for her to her overbearing mother, and the series ends with Oregon moving to Laos to write a novel, with Vod accompanying her.