While Coel’s statuesque skills have been lent to more serious thespian pursuits recently (2018’s Black Earth Rising), her self-penned series Chewing Gum was a landmark.
With PJDN now over, the group seem to have the comedy world at their feet, with a film and a US version on its way. Over five series, the group nailed subcultural satire by drawing on their experiences in the world of garage MCing, making for a show that was authentic and absurd. Asim Chaudhry, Allan “Seapa” Mustafa, Steve Stamp and Hugo Chegwin gave the mockumentary a millennial spin with a web series that caught the eye of Office producers Roughcut. Their Brentford-set series followed a group of loserish friends, but its creators are anything but. But what’s consistent through both incarnations and into her recent show about motherhood is a personality that fizzes with fun and – Tories be damned! – an indomitable love of life. She has gone on to become one of comedy’s most articulate chronicler of the left’s beleaguered decade.
Then, just as the coalition government came into power, the girl from Orpington pivoted towards outraged political comedy. The queen of indie comedy announced herself as a sweet-natured woman-child, making not so much shows as scrapbooks of the things that made her big heart burst.
