It was going to happen eventually. With Idris Elba and Netflix both seemingly on their own set of winning streaks, it was only a matter of time before something would stop them both.
Who knew it would be a can’t-go-wrong-joint venture like Turn Up Charlie?
In the new series, Idris plays Charlie, a down on his luck DJ living with his aunt and remembering the ‘good old days’ of the time he had a semi-successful hit in the mid-90s.
Keen to get back on track, he agrees to a mutually beneficial deal with his famous actor best mate, David (JJ Feild). Charlie looks after David’s brat of a daughter Gabby, and in exchange he gets access to David’s wife’s studio in order to lay down some new material.
The premise is simple and nice enough sounding, but unfortunately that seems to be where the good stops and the troubles begin.
First things first – no one is actually that likeable, including Charlie. His relationship with Gabby (Frankie Hervey) is meant to come across as strained but they grow to help each other, like an About The Boy with a girl and some DJ decks.
What we get is a bratty kid doing nothing but cause trouble for no other reason other than she thinks she knows best, and in the four out of eight episodes available before air date, there was not a single moment of growth.
Despite having a smaller role, the person with the most sense of actual character is Piper Perabo, who plays famous DJ/Gabby’s mom/David’s long-suffering wife, Sara. That is solely down to Piper’s performance though, and not the writing.
It makes us feel guilty to not want to give a higher grade to a group of actors who clearly have the chops for this show to work, but not the material. That’s what it boils down to.
Frankie Hervey is a great little actress, but if you’re given the role of insufferable 12-year-old with no personal growth in any way, there’s very little you can do about that.
On top of it all, it’s just not funny. Idris does give the whole ‘I can do family comedy’ thing a pretty good try, but he’s an action man. There’s no shame in that, some people just have their niche. Comedy drama is just not his.
As viewers, we don’t champion any of the characters at all, because there is very little of them to root for. Charlie wants to be a DJ but refuses to adapt to modern technology, then throws his toys out the pram when people move on without him.
Gabby wants her parents to pay attention to her, but has little to nothing to encourage that apart from get in the way, cause trouble that has them send her away, or act like she’s superior despite the fact she’s pre-teen.
Turn Up Charlie gets two stars because it’s watchable in a ‘stick it on in the background’ capacity, and because the actors efforts were at the very least there. It’s a shame the rest of the stuff around it wasn’t quite up to scratch.
Turn Up Charlie is out on Netflix from Friday.
If you've got a story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk Entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page - we'd love to hear from you.
Got a showbiz story?
MORE: The most eyebrow-raising moments from Netflix’s Flat Earthers documentary Behind The Curve
MORE: The Babysitters’ Club is getting a Netflix reboot – you’re welcome, 90s kids