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Entertainment

05th Aug 2018

HBO’s new series from the makers of The Big Short and Peep Show looks absolutely brilliant

Rory Cashin

Best of all, the entire series is available to watch right now

From the writer of The Thick Of It and Peep Show.

The director of The Big Short and Anchorman.

Producers of The Night Of, The Deuce and… also produced by Will Ferrell?

But it is still a prestige HBO show that is getting comparisons to the Trump family, the Murdoch Dynasty, and King Lear.

You would be forgiven for being a little confused by Succession, but once you watch the first episode, you’ll understand entirely.

The darkly funny dramatic thriller features Brian Cox (X-Men 2, Braveheart) as the head of an incredibly rich and powerful family business (not unlike, say, Trump. Or Rupert Murdoch).

His family believe he is about to announce his retirement and who he will choose to take up the head of the business after him, including his kids played Sarah Snook (Steve Jobs), Kieran Culkin (Scott Pilgrim VS The World), Alan Ruck (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), and extended family members played by Matthew Macfadyen (Sense & Sensibility) and Nicholas Braun (How To Be Single).

All blinded by their want for money and power, they begin to question their patriarch’s decision-making abilities, especially once he announces that he actually intends to remain in control for the foreseeable future.

The show kind of went under the radar for the summer, lost in the background noise behind Westworld, Sharp Objects and the latest season of Orange Is The New Black, but now that it has been made available for viewers on this side of the point, there is no reason to let is pass you by, as these reviews will testify to:

“As you might imagine from one of the creators of Peep Show and The Thick of It, the writing is savage, the dialogue sharp and foul-mouthed. Although funny in places, it is also scary, as any drama peopled by monsters ought to be.” – The Guardian

“An intoxicating mix of wicked comedy and “Lear”-like tragedy. … There’s nothing all that likable about the Roys. They are a vain, petty and avaricious lot. But they are incredibly fascinating, thanks to the riveting performances and the razor-sharp writing.” – Cleveland Dealer

“So rather than wish for something to be cut down and fit into an old box, delight in watching this witty drama or black comedy grow into something new.” – Indiewire

“Succession is a funny, incisive portrait of the dynamics within a well-off family, but it’s also a cautionary tale about how dicey and unethical it is to employ too many relatives.” – New York Magazine

All episodes of Succession are available to watch on Sky Atlantic and Now TV.

Clip via HBO