Deep Heat

The premise looked a good one for a sitcom - I really liked the retro show Glow on Netflix about female wrestling and was hoping for a comedic British spin on that - but it wasn't to be.

Setup was clunky and it was poorly directed but main problems were with the the script - a predictable dull storyline with hardly any laughs. Cast performances were pretty mixed with no stand-outs, too many characters really and the wrestling was unimpressive.

Surprised it went straight to a series as it obviously hasn't found its legs yet and not sure if it ever will. Disappointing.

Credit to all the cast members & writer's you have all done yourself proud, great showing of both a funny side & serious side to the story, Excellent watch from start to finish highly recommend a watch you won't be disappointed.

I'm going to review this as 'Season one' even though I think that a second season is unlikely, given the lack of buzz that circulated around the show. It piqued my interest though, because I am a fan of pro-Wrestling and, whilst I'd prefer to see something a bit more like "Heelz" representing a more realistic look at the UK independent scene, there's enough recognisable elements that kept me watching.

Holly (Jahannah James) is the daughter of Pam (Pippa Haywood) a former wrestler turned promotor for BOSS pro Wrestling. Though her brother, Nick (Richard Fleeshman) is the champion star performer, Holly isn't allowed to participate despite her natural aptitude. When Pam is incapacitated, Nick steals the talent and starts his own company, so Holly vows to keep BOSS operating on their road to the big end of tour show.

I can't lie, "Deep Heat" isn't great. As a sitcom I can best describe it as sporadically amusing, rather than actively funny. The characters are very broad, but generally likable enough. Writers Ivan Gonzalez and Max Olesker appear and Olesker shows enough skill in the ring to convince as a performer. There are a couple of reliable old hands, in Pippa Haywood and Alistair Petrie. As well as occasional guest stars like John Thomson and Matt Lucas, the cast is populated by some recognisable faces from the UK indie circuit, with Mariah May and "Drilla " Dan Moloney there to populate some of the wrestling scenes with some real action.

I don't think I can, in all honesty, recommend the series to anyone who doesn't at least have a passing interest in Wrestling, it's just not funny enough to stand as a sitcom on its own merit. I didn't hate every minute of it, but I doubt I'll remember the show at all in six months.

I tried with this series but gave up way sooner than I expected. Unlikeable characters with overexaggerated/overacted reactions and interactions is a huge distraction when making any attempt to resonate or connect with the characters. Poor writing leaving me with a huge desire to REALLY want the next thing to come out of a characters mouth to be funny - unfortunately...it never is.

Another large problem about the show is that the budget really shows. I've seen plenty of low-budget shows in the past that have been fantastic (e.g. Misfits, The Inbetweeners, Red Dwarf, Skins), but whilst they've pulled it off, Deep Heat REALLY shows its low budget, often looking extremely cheap all over.

And Episode 3 - 'The Panther', is quite possibly the worst episode of any TV show I've seen EVER. Despite the fact that John Thomson's character 'Enrique' has the most obvious use of faux facial hair in television, the plot of the episode is practically non-existant, and as a whole, mind-numbingly boring.

I'm actually a fan of Alistair Petrie (Clifford), from his excellent performance as the struggling headmaster in 'Sex Education', yet even he couldn't save this show.

It'll be a much better use of your time to just give this a miss as opposed to even attempting with it, trust me.

I think some people go a bit to deep into every show, some shows are just silly fun! Sure some jokes don't land and there are issues, I enjoyed it. Thought the lead girl was genuinely amusing, it's an 7.5/10 show but put 10 as it definitely doesn't deserve a 1. Sadly doubt it'll get a second series but hope it does! Could be really good with some tweaks but people would rather batter it into the ground.