Introducing Limbo
Limbo follows a gang of self-centred twenty-something private tutors who never learn their lesson. This sitcom shows that education can be a noble calling... just not for characters Alice (Ellie White), Francis (Alastair Roberts) and Neck (Bekka Bowling). The over-educated blaggers have no idea what to do with their lives and are more concerned with getting through
tutorial sessions without vomiting, swearing and exposing their own profound ignorance than actually teaching.
It's a pretty depressing job but there is an upside - by milking money out of anxious parents, they remain responsibility-free and have endless time. They tell themselves they're on the cusp of great things but in reality they're trapped - spending far too much of their time with annoying kids and often becoming weirdly embroiled in their employers' private lives - cue character Paul, played by Sanjeev Bhaskar.
Sanjeev says: "I had great fun working on Limbo and especially trying to keep up and in with all the upcoming talent both on and behind the camera. Director Tom George and writers Joe Parham and Lucien Young created an inclusive and creative environment for the cast."
Our tutors are hapless millennials, whose legitimate complaints about cuts and a terrible job market are counterbalanced by the fact they're also selfish, irresponsible bastards. "It struck us that tutoring is symbolic of the times we live in" comments writer Lucien Young, himself a former tutor between graduating and joining the writing teams of programmes like Fried.
"People our age graduated in the midst of a global recession and, after relentlessly being told to aim high and pursue our dreams, suddenly found that the goalposts had shifted. So you turn to that age-old source of revenue - helping the wealthy give their children yet more advantages. You're broke, but spend most of your time in vast houses, trying to make spoiled rich kids concentrate on Foundation Maths. It's easy to feel jealous and resentful - both funny emotions to portray."
Co-writer Joe Parham adds: "But this show is about more than tutoring - it's about being in your twenties, a strange hinterland where you're scrambling to figure out who to be". Almost literally trapped between childhood and the adult world, Joe insists that Alice, Francis and Neck's experiences - though unprofessional - are not entirely unbelievable. He continues: "That sense of prolonged adolescence is a major frustration for our generation and something we wanted to explore."