Pls Like. Liam (Liam Williams). Copyright: Left Bank Pictures
Pls Like

Pls Like

  • TV sitcom
  • BBC Three
  • 2017 - 2021
  • 18 episodes (3 series)

Mockumentary starring Liam Williams as a man learning how to become a YouTube star. Also features Tim Key, Emma Sidi, Jon Pointing, Arnab Chanda, Tom Stourton and more.

Episode menu

Series 1, Episode 1 - Welcome To YouTube

A search for the next megastar vlogger finds an unlikely victor in struggling comedian, Liam, who must undertake a series of challenges in order to win a £10,000 prize. First up, he has to create a 'welcome' video for his channel.

Broadcast details

Date
Saturday 11th February 2017
Time
9am
Channel
BBC Three
Length
15 minutes, 4 seconds

Cast & crew

Cast
Liam Williams Liam
Tim Key James Wirm
Emma Sidi Millipede
Jon Pointing (as Jonathan Pointing) Charlie South
Guest cast
Edward Richards YouTuber
Anjana Vasan Competition Vlogger
Libby Carradice Competition Vlogger
Verity Richards Competition Vlogger
Isabelle Keenan Competition Vlogger
Bobby Archer Competition Vlogger
Writing team
Liam Williams Writer
Production team
Tom Kingsley Director
Rupert Majendie Producer
Jenna Jones Executive Producer
Marigo Kehoe Executive Producer
Olly Cambridge Associate Producer
Tom Kingsley Editor
Maxwell Fine Production Designer
Will Hanke Director of Photography
Lucy Williams Costume Designer
Nicola Schuller Make-up Designer
Tom Kingsley Graphics
Alex Moody Commissioning Editor
Tilusha Ghelani Commissioning Editor

Press

Pls Like is a wonderful find. No matter that vloggers, with their kickably infuriating perfect lives and immaculate optimism and terribly healthy sponsorship deals, are overripe for ridicule: the real discovery is Liam Williams. The young comedian, who describes himself winningly as "a 51-year-old grumpy technophobe in the body of a 28-year-old grumpy technophobe", likes to mock all matters relating to video-logging and its absurdly perky proponents, until he gets the chance to win £10,000 by successfully passing vlogging "challenges" - the beauty tips, the fitness, the "pranks" - oh God, the pranks. Cue much ill-willed raising of Liam's eyebrow as he must undergo mentoring in the art of solipsistic indulgence by soft minds with hard bodies and too many followers. My favourite exchange, in the "health and beauty" episode:

Peppy vlogger Millipede and bestie Chloe: "Can you take a selfie of us?"

(Liam tries awkwardly to get into shot)

"No, can you? Take a selfie? Of us?"

Liam, after tired pause: "You mean... a photo."

But in truth, every passage fizzes with real wit. Over the series minds are changed, and not just those of the characters. It's subtle, bright and hilarious, which makes it all the more astonishing it's being hidden, although This Country, their mockumentary anthem to doomed Cotswold youth also showcases the digital channel's new gift for brilliance.

Euan Ferguson, The Observer, 19th February 2017

Review: Pls Like, BBC Three, YouTube, Episode One

The show balances a subtle undoing of the phenomenon with unabashed digs in the narration and cuts to acerbic 'facts' about vlogging. In asking some important questions as we enter a new dawn of television-slash-content consumption, Pls Like is a pretty good starting point.

Beyond The Joke, 18th February 2017

Pls Like: a brutal new mockumentary satirising YouTube

With comedian Liam Williams at the helm, this short series skewers the sinister product placements and creepy insincerity of the world of vlogging.

Stuart Heritage, The Guardian, 10th February 2017

Share this page