#Party animals perhaps series#

Cassidy does a fantastic job playing a woman struggling to balance her roles as mother/wife and politician, and often failing. I couldn’t figure it out for the longest time and it was driving me INSANE). Jo is played by Raquel Cassidy (who you may recognize as Cleaves from Doctor Who‘s “Rebel Flesh”-arc – you’re welcome. Scott makes some extremely poor choices – including one that genuinely hurts Danny – but perhaps the most unlikable character is Labour MP Jo, Danny’s mentor and boss. The best thing about this show is, while at-times heartwarming, it still manages to let its character do some truly unlikeable things. The two are at their best when they are in a scene together, thoroughly convincing as siblings who love and depend on each other, even as they are very different people who have made very different life choices. The character has perhaps the most interesting character arc as he struggles to decide what kind of brother, partner, and person he wants to be. He is very young and charmingly awkward as the idealistic researcher who genuinely believes in the policies he helps to create, as well as in the good nature of the people he loves – even when they are not, in fact, acting good-naturedly.īuchan adds a rough sincerity to the morally-conflicted and at times unforgivable Scott in what is a difficult role to make likeable. It is fun to see Smith play such a naïvely earnest character in comparison to the savvy omniscience of the Doctor.

The program is grounded by the relationship between two brothers: Danny (played by Smith), a young, dedicated researcher to a Labor MP and Scott (played by Andrew Buchan), a lobbyist conflicted by the nature of his job. Regardless, the political climate is about setting more than substance, and it is the characters who live in that climate that I really care about! Party Animals populates its world with a host of clever, diverse, and flawed characters to choose from – including a few powerful women. The show may lean a little leftward, but I find my radar has been thrown off after watching so much Aaron Sorkin over the years so I can’t really tell. It is also refreshing to see a show that seems to have more of a balance when it comes to political diversity, with a host of complex Labour and Tory characters represented.

#Party animals perhaps series#

This may not be the case for British viewers of the series who are probably not as easily challenged figuring out the basic organization of their own political system. As an America viewer, there is a certain novelty to it and enough political depth to keep me interested. The characters are well written the plot moves forward at a quick, but developed pace and the setting in and around Westminster is fun. Party Animals only lasted one season of eight episodes, but it is still well worth the watch. I have no shame in admitting that Netflix’s eventual victory had more to do with Doctor Who’s Matt Smith gracing the digital “cover” than it did the show’s premise, but it was more than just Smith’s stellar performance that kept me coming back for more.

In this case, that show was Party Animals, an unfortunately-titled 2007 BBC Two drama that follows fictional researchers, lobbyists, and MPs behind-the-scenes of the British Parliament. As mentioned in a previous post on CW’s Nikita, Netflix sometimes wears me down, catches me off guard, and convinces me to watch a show they have been peddling at me for months.