Review of Catherine Tate's new Netflix prison comedy

The most generous thing to be said about Catherine Tate’s first sitcom is that it shows her ability to completely inhabit a range of characters – include the progressive yet ineffectual prison governor Laura, blokey guard Marco and nervous new remand inmate  Ange. But they are in service to a script – by Tate, Niky Wardly and Alex Carter – that’s tired, crude and directionless.

Hard Cell seems to be from another time. The dated mockmentary format feels like one of Chris Lilley’s lesser works – and his Summer Heights High heyday was 15 years ago. Meanwhile, the sidewise glances to camera and constant comments about an EastEnders star struggling to escape the shadow of the soap are direct lifts from The Office and Extras respectively. Tate even played another out-of-her-depth manager in two seasons of the US version of The Office, so you might think she would have spotted the parallels.

There’s lots of juvenile lavatorial humour – a running gag is Laura’s deputy Dean (Christian Brassington) getting her to say ‘No2’ on camera – and some truly terrible gags like: ‘She's from Wales - the country to the West of England, not the mammal.’ Meanwhile the constant crude language seems a desperate way to punch up a largely flaccid script.

Also, Hard Cell can’t decided if it’s a comedy about prison life or just a bunch of misfits putting on a musical with the aid of Cheryl Fergison (Albert Square’s Heather).

Either way, the plot is thin and the inmates are generally one-note, such as a sentimental Irishwoman obsessed with her mammy or the psychotic Big Viv. Scenes in which the fragile Ange tries to cope with this extreme new environment are among the few moments when Hard Cell seems to find a purpose.

A couple more of the inmates – tellingly the ones that are not played by Tate – also have potential, such as pregnant Charlee (Jola Olajide) or the ‘gay for the stay’ duo of Cal (Lorna Brown) and Sal (Caroline Harding) who find a genuine relationship behind bars. But enduring the other caricature to find their story feels like a cruel and unusual; punishment.

• All episodes of Hard Cell are on Netflix now.

Review date: 13 Apr 2022
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett