We all witnessed the emergence of that parody of Ke$ha’s ‘Tik Tok’ back in 2009. Never did I think that this small three piece gimmick-rap band from South East London would make their own TV programme for E4. Made up of Stefan Abingdon, Dru Wakely and Ashley Horne, The Midnight Beast have made the rare transition from online phenomenon to television series seamlessly well. For those of you rolling your eyes at the silliness of this concept, I beg you to simply give it a chance, leave your pre-conceived judgements locked away and allow yourself to be won over by their boyish charm.
Earlier in the week they performed live on E4 to promote the show and ended up wearing nothing but a rugby sock over their ‘man-parts’. This was just a taster of things to come for the series. It showcased their ability to perform live as well as showing the people who are unfamiliar with the band the sort of things to look forward to in the show.
In all honesty the plot of the first episode lacks any intellectual substance; but I doubt anyone watching the show wants something challenging to digest. The series is set in a run-down flat where the band are just starting out, making music off their own backs instead of succumbing to the attraction and fame that comes with signing to a major record label claiming ‘[they’re] unsigned because corporations suck’ (a rather apt topic in the current music industry). Despite poverty in this dead-end flat (Ashley resorts to eating cat food at one point in the show) The Midnight Beast’s main priority is making music and entertaining people along the way. The cast includes CBBC’s Horrible Histories Simon Farnaby as the hilariously strange next door neighbour. With the script put together by the people who write The Mitchell and Webb Look (Jason Hazeley) and 10 O’clock Live (Joel Morris), the jokes were quick and witty and thoroughly entertaining.
The show is like Glee minus the cheese and ten times as funny. If you’re a fan of Skins or The Inbetweeners, you’ll love this new show; the loveable characters and E4 style humour are bound to tickle your fancy. The songs seamlessly fit into the narrative with their hilariously rude lyrics and perfected dance routines, they work just as well on TV as they do online (you can see the popularity through the millions of views). The high production value of the TV series shows just how far The Midnight Beast have come from the make-shift videos back in ’09. The juxtaposition between the dirty lyrics and the boys’ often sweet and naive personalities is very witty as they sing about their pulling abilities (‘when the world ends your gonna be begging me for sex!’). The show includes three songs, two of which are new, ‘Kicked a Shark in the Face’ and ‘Begging’ along with ‘Ninjas’ (released on YouTube in 2010), which can all be downloaded on iTunes.
‘The Midnight Beast’ is on Thursdays at 10pm on E4.
