Coming Of Age. Image shows from L to R: Jas (Hannah Job), Ollie (Ceri Phillips), DK (Joe Tracini), Matt (Tony Bignell), Chloe (Anabel Barnston). Copyright: BBC
Coming Of Age

Coming Of Age

  • TV sitcom
  • BBC Three
  • 2007 - 2011
  • 23 episodes (3 series)

A bawdy, loud teen sitcom from writer Tim Dawson about a group of friends at college together in Abingdon. Also features Anabel Barnston, Tony Bignell, Hannah Job, Ceri Phillips, Joe Tracini and more.

Press clippings Page 2

Joe Tracini's Coming of Age Diary 3

"Well, since the last time I wrote anything, we've filmed two episodes, and we've started shooting them out of order, so we've finished Episode Two and Episode Five! Both went very well."

Joe Tracini, BBC Comedy, 11th August 2009

Joe Tracini's Coming of Age Diary 2

It's been a glorious few weeks on the Coming of Age set! We went on location in the metropolis that is Watford for a week, which is always fun.

Joe Tracini, BBC Comedy, 4th August 2009

Joe Tracini's Coming of Age Diary

Joe Tracini, who plays DK in the BBC Three sitcom Coming of Age, is writing a blog to keep people informed of what's happening as they rehearse and film series 2.

Joe Tracini, BBC Blogs, 21st July 2009

I'm sorry. I'm so very, very sorry. The BBC have commissioned another series of tawdry pusfest Coming of Age. That means, somewhere in the world, Jas, Ollie, Matt, Chloe and DK will be proffering lame jokes about gobbles on the sofa and erections over inanimate objects. If you haven't seen it and like putting yourself through absolute torture, then it's worth catching it. Honestly, it makes White Chicks look like a Hitchcock thriller.

Mof Gimmers, TV Scoop, 12th June 2009

Review of the joint Comic Relief Special with Two Pints and Grownups: Having crammed the casts of all three programmes onto one small set, leaving them with little to do except stand awkwardly around like infants at a Christmas concert, the show proceeded to unleash a barrage of the lamest jokes ever be to inflicted in the name of charity. In a good cause? Certainly. Terrible? Definitely. But then my opinion is poisoned by an abiding aversion to Coming Of Age. Working to combat poverty, suffering and injustice is all well and good, but if Comic Relief promised to eradicate Coming Of Age I would really put my hand in my pocket.

Harry Venning, The Stage, 17th March 2009

By a light year, this was the worst show of 2008. So bad was it that I briefly considered jacking my job in as a TV critic... no lies. Imagine the most tawdry, lazy, vapid, vacuous show you've ever seen and then multiply by a million. If you can imagine that, then you're about a third of the way to understand just how dismal this show is. Without doubt, Coming of Age is the worst thing ever broadcast in television history. There isn't a word invented to tell you how bad it is.

mofgimmers, TV Scoop, 19th December 2008

When I wrote my original review for this show, I noted that although I thought it was pretty naff, I didn't mind it. Since that first episode, however, my ability to put up with endless knob gags from a bunch of unreal teenage characters has declined rapidly. There's just no getting away from it. This is an absolute pile of shit. The BBC should be ashamed.

Cool Blue Shed, 18th October 2008

Richmond College student stars in BBC sitcom

An article about Anabel Barnston, who plays Chloe in Coming Of Age.

Melissa Hills, Richmond and Twickenham Times, 13th October 2008

The Stage Review

I sat through Coming Of Age with the will to live seeping from my every pore, leaving me drenched in a puddle of despair. Apparently writer Tim Dawson was 19 when he wrote it, which is about six years older than I would have guessed.

Harry Venning, The Stage, 13th October 2008

Coming Of Age is one of those shows that, patently, you either love or loathe. One thing was for certain - BBC Three was obviously aiming at its new, laser-like precision demographic. I was intrigued and was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. I strapped myself in... and was amazed.

So, the first joke. Drama teacher: Chloe, your character hasn't seen Dick since the war broke out. And Matt, your character is desperate... for Fanny. Oh dear. That was just the tip of the double entendre iceberg in that scene. The very first scene in the show. It was like watching TV from the 1970s. But with teenagers delivering the lines and not Richard O'Sullivan. It was weird.

The rest of the episode was a blur. Not necessarily a blur, but more of a smear. It was just one long smear of a knob joke. Every single line was peppered with both single and double entendres - it was like a teenage Carry On film. Without the finesse.

Honestly, after the first 10 minutes I realised I had never felt such rancour towards a television programme. It's just so insulting to the viewer. E4's The Inbetweeners proved you can do a teen gross-out comedy with style, but this missed the mark like a blind archer.

Paul Hirons, TV Scoop, 8th October 2008

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