crownofsprats The first thing I will say is that I wish I could give this a higher rating. But the truth is that like all sketch variety shows, some bits are going to be way funnier than others, and the un-funny ones drag down the rating by subverting the high expectations that the funny ones set up. Also, the repetitive nature of the sketches leaves a lot to be desired for the binge-watchers among us, who would much rather just cut all that time-wasting fat away and get to the real meat.But all that aside, if you are a thinking, feeling person ambling your way through the 21st century, then you will want your comedy to be as bleak and dark as possible. Otherwise...you know what you get otherwise. In this regard, the show gets full marks: the show is not just "edgy" or "distasteful" or any of the other stock adjectives you use when you want to hype comedy, but so soaked through to the core with a particularly virulent strain of pessimism that it threatens to implode under the weight of its own melancholy into something unpleasant. It never does - it just sags at times in its comedic delivery - but like..you will want to avoid this if you are the sensitive type. The show is most savage towards the media and the government, obviously, but it never lets individuals off the hook for anything, correctly interpreting the massive ills caused by those aforementioned institutions to be the byproduct of thousands of bad people making bad decisions. It's also quite violent, and depicts lots of cruel and gory things like animal experimentation, medieval executions (courtesy of the Pedofinder General, of course), and generally all sorts of men, women, children, and animals being senselessly hurt or killed.The show also gets high marks for their use of downbeat songs throughout the series, which often act as bridges between segments. It's chilling to learn that one of the show's creators died of cancer - it really comes through in the later seasons, and there is a lot of rumination on hospitals, doctors, and things of that nature. In a way, some of that ends up being a man's attempt to grapple with mortality, stapled forever to its humble corner in the tapestry of our civilization's creative output.In any case, a great dark gem to be discovered by all the clever little thinkers out there who spend their days depressed by the reality around them...

tobersmit For all those with a smile when things annoy you - here is Monkey Dust. I originally saw this programme on TV, purely by accident and wow, was this not what i was expecting...There is a tendency for a certain group of people to express a wry smile when things don't go your way - a sort of "Oh well" expression. This is the best way to sum up this programme. British animation has been somewhat lacking to my recollection, but this show makes up perfectly. With a wide range of animators, every scene has a different feel whilst at the same time, the producer/editor has managed to keep the overall feel of the programme as one. There have been many descriptions of this show, many commented on already by people on this site; it's funny, it's hard hitting, it's "south park with a twist of little Britain", but i think the most accurate is that it's true. You watch it and you cant help feel a taint - you've done this, or you've thought like that - it's the magic, and the truth, of Monkey Dust

jpt27 'Monkey Dust' contains the most ****ed up humour you will ever see broadcast on terrestrial television. It's one of those rare moments where you wonder if the grey-faced executives who OK'd the show's production knew quite what they were letting themselves in for. At least South Park was barefacedly crude.Monkey Dust could have easily been great art, although luckily for us audiences, the creators have used their undeniable artistic flair and creative verve to sacrifice the art and wring the carcass until comedy comes splitting out the sides. This is comedy so messed up, so deeply deeply wrong, that most of the laughs come without the need for punchlines. It's very rare for a show to create situations which are just inherently funny. Monkey Dust has them like pearls on a string.The show, half an hour long, comprises a series of interlinked sketches, with returning characters competing with one-off spectaculars. I like shows like this; they have an ongoing sense of when the comedy has been fully developed. The animation is done in a kind of new-wave, post - computer graphics style, a good blend of hand drawn and computer animation. Different studios worked on different sketches, and so there's a lot of variety in the half hour.And now for the content. Monkey Dust has been described as Little Britain's older, edgier, criminally insane brother, and that's not such a bad way of summarising it. Both shows deal with everyday situations going on around the British Isles, and however mental the comedy may be, we're really laughing at the fact that what's being shown is not so very different from reality. Three flagship characters include a nameless elderly paedophile and his attempts to groom young girls on internet chat rooms; Steve the First-Time Cottager, whose attempts to lead a flamboyant homosexual lifestyle are hopelessly at odds with his modesty and shyness (the first time we see him he is reading a self-help book called Yes! I Can Gobble Off A Complete Stranger;) and my personal favourite, Ivan Dobsky the Meat Safe Murderer. Ivan was an friendly, innocent Liverpool lad before he was locked up 27 years ago for a crime he did not commit. Campaigning celebs have finally got him acquitted, unaware that police and prison brutality have turned him into an utter, utter psychopath. "Hullo I'm Ivan Dobsky the meat safe murderer, only I never done it, I only said I done it so the police men would take the rat out of me anus." Monkey Dust works so well because not only have they found comedy in the most unlikely of places, but because they even went looking for it in the first place. Occasionally the humour hits hard when a sketch begins with picturesque domestic bliss, because you know that in about thirty seconds time the rug is going to be pulled - hard. It also runs the risk of alienation when it makes fun of characters who closely resemble you and your friends. But the show never goes for a cheap gag, and that's admirable in a post- 'Friends' world.If you're after some dark comedy which is going to stay with you for a unconsensually long time, then Monkey Dust might just be the gimp suit that fits.

cactusx Monkey Dust is a weird show. It must be said. The show's producers will do ANYTHING to get a laugh out of the audience. Sketches involving drug use, suicide, paedophilia may not be everyone's cup of tea and you need a strong stomach to sit through an episode. If you are a parent, don't let your kid watch it. If you are a kid, don't watch it in front of your parents (they'll have you back watching CITV before the end credits.) But aside from the various course swearwords and disturbing scenes there is a clever parody of British and London culture going on. The show's writers love mocking reality TV (Big Brother, I'm a celebrity, etc) and one frequent joke involves Monkey Dust's own reality TV show, People on the Toilet. There are funny sketches involving such popular tabloids as The Sun and the Daily Mail and their attitudes towards asylum seekers and paedophiles (eg the Paedo Finder General.) So watch Monkey Dust on BBC3-if you dare...