As Rob Sitch says, "We don't research our scripts, we just observe".The episodes which involve HR are classics. Scarier still, Utopia and similar predecessors (like 'The Hollowmen'), have sometimes anticipated real events. The stadium in Hobart is one of them. It's up there with 'Yes Minister'; and demonstrates that the one huge advantage of the Australian political system is that nobody with any sense could possibly take it seriously.
Rob Sitch is a brilliant satire writer. He is the reason I stopped watching shows like Current Affair back in the 90s; his character in Frontline. Hilarious stuff.
Utopia is a brilliant series. I've worked at a management level in a government department and the cleverness of the parody here is perfect. It's really a show about bureaucratic incompetence and how the Government's image is more important to them than any issues. Fisk is another great Australian comedy series.
Tassie doesn't need a new Stadium. This episode was from years ago... Now we're getting a stadium... they foretold the future If you can get ABC iView overseas, then all the seasons are on it. It's a brilliant show.
Utopia is one of the only shows I watch regularly on free to air tv. The cast are all brilliant. I used to work for a government department and even the most mundane aspects of the show are so accurate. It just came back for a new season after a break of a few years, a lot of the cast are more famous and busy now than when they started the show but apparently they all jumped at the chance again.
The Tasmanian stadium one is hilarious. This episode aired in 2014. Here we are in 2023 with Tasmanian residents being told this year by the AFL that we have to build a new stadium on our historic Hobart waterfront if we want to be awarded a license for a Tasmanian AFL team. It's incredibly divisive. There are definitely supporters of the stadium, but there are also many like me that want the Tassie team but don't want to be dictated to by the AFL to build a new stadium. Estimated costs are already $714 million to build a stadium and guaranteed this will blow out. There is literally a stadium across the river, 6.5km away as the crow flies. Utopia is renowned for segments like this which have predicted future events.
It's well over a billion dollars now. They did such a good job, they filmed it like a real life town hall and all the issues raised were absolutely on point (and still are) and now we're getting a stadium it'd be funny if a hospital hadn't closed the day they announced it...🙄🤦
LIES LIES LIES!!! The nearest stadium is the TCA, 700 METRES from the proposed site. Then there's North Hobart oval, 1.5 km max. So four stadiums within 8 km. Our "NEW" hospital is buckling under the strain (K Block is a nightmare, great for the architecture, not so for the staff). Social housing , education or the health system would be better use of the money WE can't afford.
@@nickabbott6278 Who is lying? You are correct and I am in agreement. I was obviously referring to Blundstone Arena at Bellerive where cricket is presently played. It should stay there in my view.
My favourite episode involved a work experience school boy who started with menial jobs like paper shredding and getting lunches, but eventually prepared reports and presentations for the Prime Minister, while the regular employees got his lunch.
My favourite is the one where Nat is called on to advise on a gov gateway website (suspiciously similar to early mygov, which is noe very useable) I think it is series 3, ep 3. But they are all good
The three writers- Rob Sitch, Tom Gleisner and Santo Cilauro - and Jane Kennedy, have been at the forefront of Aussie comedy for probably forty years. They had a sketch show called D Generation, wrote and produced The Castle (filmed by Santo on a basic budget, still an iconic favourite). This was followed by another film The Dish about Australia's involvement in the first moon landing. As mentioned below they wrote and produced The Hollowmen, and Frontline which is an all-time classic send up of current affairs, starring Rob Sitch and Jane Kennedy with Santo playing a hapless weatherman. Tom Gleisner is the man behind the Russell Coight series with Glenn Robbins, writing and producing. He also hosts Have You Been Paying Attention and the first iteration of Thank God You're Here. Working Dog Productions are responsible for generations of guffaws and belly laughs as well as providing some precise snipes at the way government and society works in Oz.
@@heathergarnham9555 the best fishing series ever. "We just passed a sign that said 4WD access only that's ok we have the next best thing a hire car" . 😂😂
The woman in the red in the last clip is Celia Pacquola, quite a successful comedian in recent years. She did a show with the red headed guy (he has a most bizarre style) set in Tasmania as two real estate agents. Celia actually grew up in the same small Victorian as I did.
😂 thanks for reading 👍. Yes!! I've seen,"The thick of it", and yes, Utopia is the Aussie version. A+ to you for mentioning. ... Cheerio from Down Under 🌺 😂😂
The guy with the shaved head is Rob Sitch, a co-founder of Working Dog Productions and an aussie comedy legend going back many years. Pretty much anything he's involved in (which includes a couple of movies) is guaranteed to be very funny and very satirical.
Working Dog Productions are, in my opinion, the premiere TV and film producers. Such great shows of very clever, on-point satire like Utopia - you might like The Hollowmen as well. And, the much earlier Frontline for behind the scenes of the TV news industry. And Australia's favourite "The Castle" movie. Enjoy watching all of these - they are seriously flmao! 🤣
Working Dog Productions are absolute legends. The Hollowmen is also an Australian political comedy by them that came out in the 2000s. They also made Thank God You're Here, Frontline and Russel Coight. Extremely Australian stuff but extremely funny.
Utopia was an excellent show on ALL levels.. with a fantastic script and cast every episode over 3 seasons :) Well worth sourcing and watching them all
This is a very funny yet sometimes frustrating as so close to actual office politics. One of the funniest was when they called in a team building consultant. Hilarious.
Utopia is set in a fictional government department called the Nation Building Authority (NBA). The central character played by Rob Sitch is Tony Woodford, the CEO. Jim, the guy you thought was a politician works for the Minister of Infrastructure. The first woman you saw keen on the Tasmanian Stadium is Rhonda who is more about PR than anything else. Her role seems to be to stop the organisation doing any real work and instead ‘rebranding’, changing the logo, and “engaging with the public on social media”. The second woman in orange is Nat, basically second in charge and the only other one who is competent. The other people work in the office and basically just go along with anything that comes down from on high, more concerned with being agreeable and not bucking the system. Other characters to look out for in other clips are Beverly from HR who has a habit of sticking her nose in where it is not wanted and messing things up. Classic quote from Tony - “Oh my god! Have I let HR in the building?” “What are you going to do?” someone asks. “Ten to fifteen for manslaughter.” Also, Rhonda’s consultant Kirsten, someone who can waste hours just presenting a new logo. Parallel to a major project that is core to each episode is one of those silly office programs or technology nuisances that happens all the time such as ‘healthy eating week’ or a new environmentally friendly fridge that keeps freezing Tony’s lunch rock hard. My favourite episode is when the security guard’s nephew joins the organisation for a week of work experience. They give him a report on blockchain technology to keep him occupied and to explain it because no one can understand and he ends up writing a speech delivered by the Prime Minister to an international conference. I love this show. My wife dislikes it for the same reason. We both used to work in the corporate world and the show is a very accurate reminder of that. I’ve had to deal with way too many Rhonda’s and Beverlys in my time.
Thank you so much for showing these sketches. I love satire and these guys do it fantastic. Haven't seen them for years. Cheers Elizabeth p.s. I love your Scottish accent.
I live in Canberra. Not a public servant (Government employee), but my neighbours are. Anyway, I asked my neighbour how he liked Utopia. He said he couldn't watch it because it was "too close to the bone". Says it all, really.
Fav episode is when the gov ran a program to get older persons back into the work force. Frank was old school but found a way to save millions. I wont spoil the ending though... Same thing was going on in the office I was working when that episode was screened. Management didnt accept any of our cost saving ideas and our team was left scratching our head. So sad it happens globally and keeps on happening over time. Love your reaction!
These folks (Working Dog Productions) have written some of the greatest TV over the last 20 years.. They started as a comedy group from Uni, doing an ABC skit comedy show. And they made the movies "The Castle" and "The Dish", both AWESOME movies.. (You would love both) They have done TV series about the Sydney Olympic Games (The Games), Government (The Hollowmen) and one about the "Australian Building Comission", (Utopia).. baahaa And Tasmania doesnt even have an AFL Team yet, they probably need a team before a stadium! 10:10 yes, he is from "The Minister's office".. And this is the "National Building Authority", so public servants..
The guy with the red hair is actually a Tasmanian Luke McGregor. The stadium is a highly contentious issue here, I'm against, but everyone I know is for it, but that's probably because I'm zero sports minded 😅🤷🏼♀️
My favourite bit was from an earlier episode when they were trying to push a building project that had stagnated for years, so as a PR stunt they decided to push Stage 2. Then there was a whole media thing about Stage 2 without any indication as to what it might be.
Another series from the same group who produced Utopia was 'Frontline'. It was a tongue in cheek look behind the scenes of a current affairs program which were very popular in Australia at the time. I'm sure you'd enjoy it. Cheers, from Salisbury East in South Australia.
Glad you checked this out. I was one of the recommenders. Whereas Yes Minister has the public service frustrating the politicians, Utopia has political interests thwarting the public service. I hope you do more of these.
That’s true. I wonder how strong the civil service in the UK is these days? But I doubt there has been much kick back from our public service for a good while since Howard privatised heads of departments that had always been appointed in house on merit and then begun to shrink the service in favour of multinational corporates who did exactly what they were told. For anyone who looks at the news, this show is often irrelevant. It’s also misleading as we’re not sure which party is in power. Everyone here votes, but very few are paying attention.
As a proud Australian myself who's watched all 5 seasons of Utopia, it's quite scary how realistic it is to the point where people who work for the government refuse to watch the show as it hits too close for home for them. Rob Sitch and his team at Working Dog Productions have created some of the greatest satirical TV shows to ever grace the small screen (Frontline, Hollowmen & Utopia being the crown jewels to their fairly extensive TV catalogue), the only shows that can rival them in my opinion are Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister and The Thick of It respectively. Fun Fact: Rob Sitch (the showrunner for Utopia) and his team with him as writer and director created the 1997 Australian comedy film The Castle, which is rightfully revered by Australians as the greatest Australian comedy film since Crocodile Dundee.
Armando Iannucci and the people behind Working Dog Productions are comedic Manna from Heaven. The thing I'll miss most when I die is my favourite music, and their comedies.
Frontline was another comedy series by the same team - A send up of Current Affairs shows When A Zoo Interview Goes Horribly Wrong | Frontline th-cam.com/video/3OYa2RmX0eE/w-d-xo.html How The Media Covers A Hostage Situation | Frontline th-cam.com/video/ZC44l0xOzys/w-d-xo.html
To make matters worse, some unscrupulous local councils started 'acquisition' of land before the announcement, or getting their family to purchase it for personal profit at a later date.
Glad you enjoy it. For more, look for anything made by 'Working Dog' production company. This show is set in the federal Nation Building Authority, set up to build major projects funded by federal government. The proposals are all coming from the political operatives, trying to make big projects that make the federal Cabinet Ministers (politicians) look good. That is the only criteria for the projects - big public announcements. The public servants have to ward off these nonsense ideas, coming from essentially their bosses.
That was hilarious 😂 was a great show, you should listen to Paul Hogan from back in the day! You’ll crack up at (Leo Wanker) The Drunk, tennis doing John McEnroe, Arthur Donger as the cop,when he plays a guy on the beach trying 2 pick up chicks, & when Delvene Dalany plays the hot chick riding a bike in yellow shorts making all the guys that see her fully stuff up it’s soo funny you’d like it I think 😂 it was called (The Paul Hogan Show)
@@phillipwylie7327 Thanks for that!!! I just checked iView and I have already watched all 5 series...No idea why I thought is was just 3 series but I shall blame old age 🙂
Tasmania is one of the earliest settlements so it has a very historic feel, which brings in the tourists. But instead of preserving the historic--ness they have a habit demolishing the historic buildings and replacing them with fake historic buildings. Strahan on the west coast is a prime example of how tourism investors have buggered the place up. Regarding defence, Aus wants to buy old US nuclear -powered subs whilst it builds its own submarine building site which won't be ready for 30 years. A trillion dollars for 6 subs to protect us from China and India. Keeping the Americans happy is the real objective. The AFL has agreed to add a 19th team in Tasmania. Hobart has a ground already but it's a little bit too short for the AFL. So instead of remediating they have agreed to build a new ground. There is a suitable ground already in Launceston but it's 2.5 hours away. Hobart is picturesque and historic and a genuine fear is that it is going to wreck the joint.The stadiums nickname is The Berlin Wall as it is several stories higher than the surrounding 2 story colonial buildings. Pictures on the web. Politicians have really wrecked Australia.
I can't tell you my favourite character but I can tell you the one that I love to hate and that is Rhonda, she is so aggressive and self serving . I feel totally sorry for Tony and Nat who are the only sane people in the office.
A very witty show exposing the ridiculous folly of our politicians. It isn't laugh out loud comedy as it moves along pretty quickly and you don't want to miss anything but it is clever and the weird thing is you see poking fun content in Utopia appearing as serious news stories.
'Utopia' - or 'Dreamland' as Netflix would have it - together with 'The Hollowmen', is such a perfect political/social satire. I'd stack it favorably against 'Yes, Prime Minister' in how scary close it is to real life. Also watch 'The Games' with Clarke and Dawe to complete the three-piece set. The part about the Silver Emu should ring eerily true to people in the UK and in California.
Tassie has a stadium. The AFL won’t let them have a team unless the build a new one they can’t really afford. So Ofc the local government wants it to happen because they think it will buy them votes.
Depressingly, Utopia is barely satire to members of the public service. This is like 'the thick of it', but a Malcolm Tucker probably wouldn't last long in the modern APS - he's just way too brutal. Now there are too many cameras everywhere and people being promoted by complaints to HR. Even the least woke politician couldn't afford a Malcolm.
I could be wrong but the clip about a Tasmanian stadium looks a few years old. And you’ll never guess what topic has become a sizeable political football this year…
Yeah I'd say Utopia is a similar thing to The Thick Of It except for the viewpoint. Utopia is from the viewpoint of Rob Sitch's character who is the "straight man" - the only normal person in the room, whereas The Thick Of It is from the viewpoint of Peter Capaldi's character who is a primary corrupting force / demonstrating what's wrong with politics. I'd also compare it to Yes Minister.
As Rob Sitch says, "We don't research our scripts, we just observe".The episodes which involve HR are classics. Scarier still, Utopia and similar predecessors (like 'The Hollowmen'), have sometimes anticipated real events. The stadium in Hobart is one of them.
It's up there with 'Yes Minister'; and demonstrates that the one huge advantage of the Australian political system is that nobody with any sense could possibly take it seriously.
Rob Sitch is a brilliant satire writer. He is the reason I stopped watching shows like Current Affair back in the 90s; his character in Frontline. Hilarious stuff.
Frontline was brilliant.
Utopia is a brilliant series. I've worked at a management level in a government department and the cleverness of the parody here is perfect. It's really a show about bureaucratic incompetence and how the Government's image is more important to them than any issues. Fisk is another great Australian comedy series.
I love Utopia. As a former Australian public servant for 15 years, it is scary how accurate it can be sometimes!
Tassie doesn't need a new Stadium. This episode was from years ago...
Now we're getting a stadium... they foretold the future
If you can get ABC iView overseas, then all the seasons are on it. It's a brilliant show.
Utopia is one of the only shows I watch regularly on free to air tv. The cast are all brilliant. I used to work for a government department and even the most mundane aspects of the show are so accurate. It just came back for a new season after a break of a few years, a lot of the cast are more famous and busy now than when they started the show but apparently they all jumped at the chance again.
The Tasmanian stadium one is hilarious. This episode aired in 2014. Here we are in 2023 with Tasmanian residents being told this year by the AFL that we have to build a new stadium on our historic Hobart waterfront if we want to be awarded a license for a Tasmanian AFL team. It's incredibly divisive. There are definitely supporters of the stadium, but there are also many like me that want the Tassie team but don't want to be dictated to by the AFL to build a new stadium. Estimated costs are already $714 million to build a stadium and guaranteed this will blow out. There is literally a stadium across the river, 6.5km away as the crow flies. Utopia is renowned for segments like this which have predicted future events.
It's well over a billion dollars now. They did such a good job, they filmed it like a real life town hall and all the issues raised were absolutely on point (and still are) and now we're getting a stadium it'd be funny if a hospital hadn't closed the day they announced it...🙄🤦
Also, don't forget the High Speed Rail Authority (HSRA) created a couple of months ago.
@@CleggsLights true!
LIES LIES LIES!!! The nearest stadium is the TCA, 700 METRES from the proposed site. Then there's North Hobart oval, 1.5 km max. So four stadiums within 8 km. Our "NEW" hospital is buckling under the strain (K Block is a nightmare, great for the architecture, not so for the staff). Social housing , education or the health system would be better use of the money WE can't afford.
@@nickabbott6278 Who is lying? You are correct and I am in agreement. I was obviously referring to Blundstone Arena at Bellerive where cricket is presently played. It should stay there in my view.
My favourite episode involved a work experience school boy who started with menial jobs like paper shredding and getting lunches, but eventually prepared reports and presentations for the Prime Minister, while the regular employees got his lunch.
Yes! He was explaining the blockchain 😂
I like the one with the return to work bloke, who fixes the problem with the, I think highway costs, and saves the government billions, he gets fired
My favourite is the one where Nat is called on to advise on a gov gateway website (suspiciously similar to early mygov, which is noe very useable) I think it is series 3, ep 3. But they are all good
OMG, I'm from Tassie and this clip was done years ago but this is just really happening in TasmaniaThey are prophets of satire!
The three writers- Rob Sitch, Tom Gleisner and Santo Cilauro - and Jane Kennedy, have been at the forefront of Aussie comedy for probably forty years. They had a sketch show called D Generation, wrote and produced The Castle (filmed by Santo on a basic budget, still an iconic favourite). This was followed by another film The Dish about Australia's involvement in the first moon landing. As mentioned below they wrote and produced The Hollowmen, and Frontline which is an all-time classic send up of current affairs, starring Rob Sitch and Jane Kennedy with Santo playing a hapless weatherman. Tom Gleisner is the man behind the Russell Coight series with Glenn Robbins, writing and producing. He also hosts Have You Been Paying Attention and the first iteration of Thank God You're Here. Working Dog Productions are responsible for generations of guffaws and belly laughs as well as providing some precise snipes at the way government and society works in Oz.
ANd of couyrse Rob Sitch and Jane Kennedy have been married over 20 years and have 4 kids!
Tom and Rob are in A River Somewhere
@@heathergarnham9555 the best fishing series ever. "We just passed a sign that said 4WD access only that's ok we have the next best thing a hire car" . 😂😂
I loved this show but my ex wouldn’t watch it. When I asked her why, she said “It just reminds me of work”. She worked for the State Government.
The woman in the red in the last clip is Celia Pacquola, quite a successful comedian in recent years. She did a show with the red headed guy (he has a most bizarre style) set in Tasmania as two real estate agents.
Celia actually grew up in the same small Victorian as I did.
Rosehaven - an introduction to Tassie for all Aus🙂sies
I'm Tasmanian. We don't want a new stadium :)
😂 thanks for reading 👍. Yes!! I've seen,"The thick of it", and yes, Utopia is the Aussie version. A+ to you for mentioning. ... Cheerio from Down Under 🌺 😂😂
The guy with the shaved head is Rob Sitch, a co-founder of Working Dog Productions and an aussie comedy legend going back many years. Pretty much anything he's involved in (which includes a couple of movies) is guaranteed to be very funny and very satirical.
Working Dog Productions are, in my opinion, the premiere TV and film producers. Such great shows of very clever, on-point satire like Utopia - you might like The Hollowmen as well. And, the much earlier Frontline for behind the scenes of the TV news industry. And Australia's favourite "The Castle" movie. Enjoy watching all of these - they are seriously flmao! 🤣
Working Dog Productions are absolute legends. The Hollowmen is also an Australian political comedy by them that came out in the 2000s. They also made Thank God You're Here, Frontline and Russel Coight. Extremely Australian stuff but extremely funny.
As a public servant, watching Utopia feels too much like going to work!
Utopia was an excellent show on ALL levels.. with a fantastic script and cast every episode over 3 seasons :) Well worth sourcing and watching them all
Season 5 is currently airing on the ABC
Beverley from 'Human Resources' ('H.R') is a an absolutely classic character in 'Utopia.'
This is a very funny yet sometimes frustrating as so close to actual office politics. One of the funniest was when they called in a team building consultant. Hilarious.
My favourite quote from the thick of it is Malcolm’s response to a knock at his office door “come the fuck in or fuck the fuck off” 😂
I'm impressed you work out the dynamics behind the episodes very quickly!
Utopia is set in a fictional government department called the Nation Building Authority (NBA). The central character played by Rob Sitch is Tony Woodford, the CEO. Jim, the guy you thought was a politician works for the Minister of Infrastructure. The first woman you saw keen on the Tasmanian Stadium is Rhonda who is more about PR than anything else. Her role seems to be to stop the organisation doing any real work and instead ‘rebranding’, changing the logo, and “engaging with the public on social media”. The second woman in orange is Nat, basically second in charge and the only other one who is competent. The other people work in the office and basically just go along with anything that comes down from on high, more concerned with being agreeable and not bucking the system.
Other characters to look out for in other clips are Beverly from HR who has a habit of sticking her nose in where it is not wanted and messing things up. Classic quote from Tony - “Oh my god! Have I let HR in the building?” “What are you going to do?” someone asks. “Ten to fifteen for manslaughter.” Also, Rhonda’s consultant Kirsten, someone who can waste hours just presenting a new logo.
Parallel to a major project that is core to each episode is one of those silly office programs or technology nuisances that happens all the time such as ‘healthy eating week’ or a new environmentally friendly fridge that keeps freezing Tony’s lunch rock hard.
My favourite episode is when the security guard’s nephew joins the organisation for a week of work experience. They give him a report on blockchain technology to keep him occupied and to explain it because no one can understand and he ends up writing a speech delivered by the Prime Minister to an international conference.
I love this show. My wife dislikes it for the same reason. We both used to work in the corporate world and the show is a very accurate reminder of that. I’ve had to deal with way too many Rhonda’s and Beverlys in my time.
Thank you so much for showing these sketches. I love satire and these guys do it fantastic. Haven't seen them for years. Cheers Elizabeth p.s. I love your Scottish accent.
The overseas name for it is Dreamland, it's usually on Netflix both locally and internationally
I live in Canberra. Not a public servant (Government employee), but my neighbours are. Anyway, I asked my neighbour how he liked Utopia. He said he couldn't watch it because it was "too close to the bone". Says it all, really.
Fav episode is when the gov ran a program to get older persons back into the work force. Frank was old school but found a way to save millions. I wont spoil the ending though... Same thing was going on in the office I was working when that episode was screened. Management didnt accept any of our cost saving ideas and our team was left scratching our head. So sad it happens globally and keeps on happening over time. Love your reaction!
The Rozelle interchange in Sydney and the Snowy 2.0 boring machine breakdown are real-life debacles that could have come from the show Utopia.
These folks (Working Dog Productions) have written some of the greatest TV over the last 20 years.. They started as a comedy group from Uni, doing an ABC skit comedy show. And they made the movies "The Castle" and "The Dish", both AWESOME movies.. (You would love both)
They have done TV series about the Sydney Olympic Games (The Games), Government (The Hollowmen) and one about the "Australian Building Comission", (Utopia).. baahaa
And Tasmania doesnt even have an AFL Team yet, they probably need a team before a stadium!
10:10 yes, he is from "The Minister's office".. And this is the "National Building Authority", so public servants..
The guy with the red hair is actually a Tasmanian Luke McGregor. The stadium is a highly contentious issue here, I'm against, but everyone I know is for it, but that's probably because I'm zero sports minded 😅🤷🏼♀️
For ex office workers, watching this causes ptsd 🤪
The Hollowmen, Utopia. Great shows
Highly recommend Frontline made by the same production company. A flawless TV show.
My favourite bit was from an earlier episode when they were trying to push a building project that had stagnated for years, so as a PR stunt they decided to push Stage 2. Then there was a whole media thing about Stage 2 without any indication as to what it might be.
After a whole you realise it's not a comedy, it's a documentary....
Another series from the same group who produced Utopia was 'Frontline'. It was a tongue in cheek look behind the scenes of a current affairs program which were very popular in Australia at the time.
I'm sure you'd enjoy it.
Cheers, from Salisbury East in South Australia.
Glad you checked this out. I was one of the recommenders. Whereas Yes Minister has the public service frustrating the politicians, Utopia has political interests thwarting the public service. I hope you do more of these.
That’s true. I wonder how strong the civil service in the UK is these days? But I doubt there has been much kick back from our public service for a good while since Howard privatised heads of departments that had always been appointed in house on merit and then begun to shrink the service in favour of multinational corporates who did exactly what they were told. For anyone who looks at the news, this show is often irrelevant. It’s also misleading as we’re not sure which party is in power. Everyone here votes, but very few are paying attention.
I love this show, but my parents actually had to stop watching it cause it was TOO realistic, they kept getting triggered lmaoo
Good reaction!
One of the best Aussie shows ever......................BRILLIANT 🙂
As a proud Australian myself who's watched all 5 seasons of Utopia, it's quite scary how realistic it is to the point where people who work for the government refuse to watch the show as it hits too close for home for them.
Rob Sitch and his team at Working Dog Productions have created some of the greatest satirical TV shows to ever grace the small screen (Frontline, Hollowmen & Utopia being the crown jewels to their fairly extensive TV catalogue), the only shows that can rival them in my opinion are Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister and The Thick of It respectively.
Fun Fact: Rob Sitch (the showrunner for Utopia) and his team with him as writer and director created the 1997 Australian comedy film The Castle, which is rightfully revered by Australians as the greatest Australian comedy film since Crocodile Dundee.
It's like an Australian version of Yes Minister.
You worked it out 👍 the sad thing is it’s fictional comedy which actually mirrors reality.
It's actually a documentary.
Where do you think they get the incomprehensible material from...
Love anything by Working Dog.
Stu. Melbourne.
Your comments after the stadium skit is spot on .pretty much sums up the show. Very good satire.
The one about the fridge is hilarious too 😂
I guess this is similar to "Yes Minister" but a bit more modern with modern sensibilities.
A classic Aussie show. Very similar humour to Yes Minister, on of my fav UK political satire shows.
I love your reactions and your accent adds so much.
Simultaneously hilarious and enervating at the same time.
Armando Iannucci and the people behind Working Dog Productions are comedic Manna from Heaven. The thing I'll miss most when I die is my favourite music, and their comedies.
I love the thick of it - so many gem quotes ❤
The Hollowmen is closer to the Thick of it, same crew did that show
Favourite episode? Almost impossible to pick just one.
Two that come to mind are the logo rebranding; and the work experience kid.
Utopia is a quietly brilliant show, love it ❤
Frontline was another comedy series by the same team - A send up of Current Affairs shows
When A Zoo Interview Goes Horribly Wrong | Frontline
th-cam.com/video/3OYa2RmX0eE/w-d-xo.html
How The Media Covers A Hostage Situation | Frontline
th-cam.com/video/ZC44l0xOzys/w-d-xo.html
To make matters worse, some unscrupulous local councils started 'acquisition' of land before the announcement, or getting their family to purchase it for personal profit at a later date.
Speaking of work clichés. One of my managers used to say"There is no I in team" We would all look at each other and roll our eyes 😂
Rob Sitch for P.M.
This was our Yes Minister … and just like that British classic, this remains very contemporary.
Anything by WORKING GOG has always been worth a watch.
Glad you enjoy it. For more, look for anything made by 'Working Dog' production company. This show is set in the federal Nation Building Authority, set up to build major projects funded by federal government. The proposals are all coming from the political operatives, trying to make big projects that make the federal Cabinet Ministers (politicians) look good. That is the only criteria for the projects - big public announcements. The public servants have to ward off these nonsense ideas, coming from essentially their bosses.
This is the Thick of It without the Swearing, gotta love doctor who in the thick of it.
The work experience boy and the team building consultant... my go to top 2.
It is called Utopia in Australia, but I believe in America it is called Dream Land.
Such a funny show 😂
I've only seen one episode. It was hilarious!
Never heard of the Thick of It. I’ll have to check that out.
Another Australian show to check out is "Bush Mechanics" / "Black As"
I work in a local government development department. I can’t watch utopia cause it’s too close to reality 😂
Noone actually loses their minds like they do in The Thick of It.
That was hilarious 😂 was a great show, you should listen to Paul Hogan from back in the day! You’ll crack up at (Leo Wanker) The Drunk, tennis doing John McEnroe, Arthur Donger as the cop,when he plays a guy on the beach trying 2 pick up chicks, & when Delvene Dalany plays the hot chick riding a bike in yellow shorts making all the guys that see her fully stuff up it’s soo funny you’d like it I think 😂 it was called (The Paul Hogan Show)
G'day Mate! I have watched all 3 series of this brilliant show which has only one downside...Each series is only 6 or 7 episodes!!! Cheers!
Good news, there is 5 series now, the most recent one has eight episodes.
@@phillipwylie7327 Thanks for that!!! I just checked iView and I have already watched all 5 series...No idea why I thought is was just 3 series but I shall blame old age 🙂
Yes you need to watch this.
Tasmania is one of the earliest settlements so it has a very historic feel, which brings in the tourists. But instead of preserving the historic--ness they have a habit demolishing the historic buildings and replacing them with fake historic buildings. Strahan on the west coast is a prime example of how tourism investors have buggered the place up. Regarding defence, Aus wants to buy old US nuclear -powered subs whilst it builds its own submarine building site which won't be ready for 30 years. A trillion dollars for 6 subs to protect us from China and India. Keeping the Americans happy is the real objective. The AFL has agreed to add a 19th team in Tasmania. Hobart has a ground already but it's a little bit too short for the AFL. So instead of remediating they have agreed to build a new ground. There is a suitable ground already in Launceston but it's 2.5 hours away. Hobart is picturesque and historic and a genuine fear is that it is going to wreck the joint.The stadiums nickname is The Berlin Wall as it is several stories higher than the surrounding 2 story colonial buildings. Pictures on the web. Politicians have really wrecked Australia.
G'day Matt. For your own gratification, see if you can did up the latest Back to Basics, The Kimberly's. You will be agog mate.
The program Utopia usually has a duration of about 26 minutes .
I mean, the fact that they forget the community voters dont buy it but they think people vote based on this stuff....
I can't tell you my favourite character but I can tell you the one that I love to hate and that is Rhonda, she is so aggressive and self serving . I feel totally sorry for Tony and Nat who are the only sane people in the office.
Rob and Celia battling the frustrating Kitty and Lehmo.
Katie was pretty sane working with the others have sent her a bit nutty
Ron Sitch has said this isnt satire, it's observation...
Scary true how Governments and Public Servants waste MONEY and increase TAXES.
A very witty show exposing the ridiculous folly of our politicians. It isn't laugh out loud comedy as it moves along pretty quickly and you don't want to miss anything but it is clever and the weird thing is you see poking fun content in Utopia appearing as serious news stories.
Anything with Rob Sitch is worth watching
great series. it is so so true
First of all there is NO WAY Navy LEUT there when there are SNR Army Officers there
'Utopia' - or 'Dreamland' as Netflix would have it - together with 'The Hollowmen', is such a perfect political/social satire. I'd stack it favorably against 'Yes, Prime Minister' in how scary close it is to real life.
Also watch 'The Games' with Clarke and Dawe to complete the three-piece set.
The part about the Silver Emu should ring eerily true to people in the UK and in California.
You'll love anything made by 'Working Dog's Mat👍
Just finished their latest series. The sad thing is - it's too true to real bureaucracy....
Best show ever
I live it. Reminds me of working with govt
have a look at the Electric Train episode
Been going for 7 season my niece's is in that show
Tassie has a stadium. The AFL won’t let them have a team unless the build a new one they can’t really afford. So Ofc the local government wants it to happen because they think it will buy them votes.
Depressingly, Utopia is barely satire to members of the public service. This is like 'the thick of it', but a Malcolm Tucker probably wouldn't last long in the modern APS - he's just way too brutal. Now there are too many cameras everywhere and people being promoted by complaints to HR. Even the least woke politician couldn't afford a Malcolm.
I could be wrong but the clip about a Tasmanian stadium looks a few years old. And you’ll never guess what topic has become a sizeable political football this year…
Brilliant snapshot of illogical Govt policy
It's funny because isn't that the guy from the funny ad about The Great Wall of China.
it's a good show...it's no "Yes, Minister" but it is good.
Exactly like the Thick of It with exception to the absence of the completely psychotic Malcolm Tucker.
Yeah I'd say Utopia is a similar thing to The Thick Of It except for the viewpoint. Utopia is from the viewpoint of Rob Sitch's character who is the "straight man" - the only normal person in the room, whereas The Thick Of It is from the viewpoint of Peter Capaldi's character who is a primary corrupting force / demonstrating what's wrong with politics. I'd also compare it to Yes Minister.