Gogglebox Brexit special: why Channel 4’s show is best when it gets political

The TV recap series is always entertaining – but it’s also become a national barometer of opinion
Diverse opinions: Gogglebox brings us a range of voices from across the nation
Channel 4 / Jude Edginton
Ben Travis3 August 2016

Over the past few years, Gogglebox has become a Friday night favourite – a recap of the week’s best and worst telly with hilarious commentary, best accompanied by a takeaway and a bottle of wine.

But while the show is supremely watchable light entertainment, it becomes something altogether more interesting when it engages with current affairs and politics.

Channel 4’s reality entertainment series sees a group of real families and friends across the UK watch and comment on that week’s small-screen entertainment – anything from Game of Thrones to nature documentaries and the Antiques Roadshow.

But some more recent series have seen Gogglebox enter the political arena by sticking its sofa-dwellers in front of the news.

Series 5, which aired from February 2015, followed the run-up to the General Election – a race which saw the media hone in on David Cameron’s fight for re-election, Ed Miliband’s oddness, and Nigel Farage’s Cheshire cat omnipresence.

The run of Gogglebox brought comments from the cast on Channel 4’s ‘what if?’ documentary UKIP: The First 100 Days, segments from the BBC and ITV news, party election broadcasts, and the leaders’ debate – and proved compelling viewing every week.

The ‘shock’ Brexit result was an indication not just of a nation divided, but one that perhaps doesn’t take the time to listen to each other

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The show suddenly turned from a surprisingly entertaining reality format to a political barometer of the nation, offering up an array of voices from different socioeconomic backgrounds, spanning the length and breadth of the country from north to south, cities to countryside.

Now we have a Brexit special that’s set to be more revealing than ever before – bringing the contributors’ reflections on the referendum result and the political pile-up that followed.

As ever, it’s a witty hour of TV – try not to crack up as Hull-based Jenny warns with real sincerity that post-Brexit Britain will “have to have bent bananas and bent cucumbers, funny-shaped carrots” without EU regulations.

But it’s also a chance to stop and say, where are we now? The ‘shock’ election result was an indication not just of a nation divided, but one that perhaps doesn’t take the time to listen to each other. Gogglebox never takes itself too seriously, but it’s hugely informative as an opportunity to hear non-politicians talk honestly and openly about politics.

The Brexit special sees all of the regulars discuss the broken election promises, Cameron’s resignation, the Labour crisis, Theresa May’s appointment, and everything in between. It’s a conversation that desperately needs to happen on a national scale, and seeing it take place on a programme as accessible and entertaining as Gogglebox is a brilliant thing.

Gogglebox: The families

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There are some hugely interesting dynamics in the families on the show – take the Michaels from Brighton, who offer cross-generational conversations between parents and children in their twenties, or the Siddiquis, with dad Sid who immigrated from Pakistan when he was 16.

That diversity breeds an array of political views, and while every viewer will likely find some comment to shake their head at, that too is important – recognising that there are people in this country who have wildly different opinions, or aren’t as engaged in political issues, or are uninformed about what’s going on. If burned Remainers learned anything from the Brexit result, it’s that the assumption that everyone in the country thinks the same way is a dangerous one.

And yet, Gogglebox shows us all of this alongside thoughts on Theresa May being “quite sassy”, Angela Eagle’s propensity for whispering, and the state of Boris Johnson’s hair. Whatever your political beliefs, Gogglebox is the talk show that Britain really needs right now.

Channel 4, 9pm

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