Utopia
- TV Series
- 2014–
- 27m
Comedy set inside the offices of the "Nation Building Authority", a newly created government organization responsible for overseeing major infrastructure projects.Comedy set inside the offices of the "Nation Building Authority", a newly created government organization responsible for overseeing major infrastructure projects.Comedy set inside the offices of the "Nation Building Authority", a newly created government organization responsible for overseeing major infrastructure projects.
- Awards
- 7 wins & 14 nominations total
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Featured reviews
What a beaut series. The grotesque day to day idiocy of office life set against the biggest stuff we dare to dream or connive. A wincing joy to watch. Thanks
Welcome to the Nation Building Authority, an Australian government organisation set up to plan and oversee major infrastructure projects. While the staff are capable and enthusiastic, in true government fashion, red tape, politics and inefficiency will always have the last laugh.
Great series, parodying the inefficiency of government departments. "Parody" might not be the right word - "mirroring" would be more accurate. Shows well how the best intentions of staff always take a back seat to political machinations, unnecessary red tape and the usual government inefficiency.
Quite funny in the way it explores these themes though sometimes so accurate it is more sad than funny.
Great series, parodying the inefficiency of government departments. "Parody" might not be the right word - "mirroring" would be more accurate. Shows well how the best intentions of staff always take a back seat to political machinations, unnecessary red tape and the usual government inefficiency.
Quite funny in the way it explores these themes though sometimes so accurate it is more sad than funny.
This is yet another masterpiece from the team of Santo (Snatto), Gliesner and Sitch, the people who brought you the brilliant political satire "The Hollowmen".
Those who don't work within the Public Service of Australia will likely look at this and wonder what is going on, but for those of us on the "inside", the humour can be found.
The basic premise revolves around a Government office (Nat. Building Authority), with its incompetent low-grade staff, it's time-wasting managers, pushy marketing department, and the piles of red tape our "hero" (Sitch) has to wade through to get even the most simple things done.
Like 'Hollowmen', the humour here is very dry, and while there are still the sight gags and silliness we expected from a show like that, there's a lot of subtlety that will be lost on those not familiar with what it's like working in the APS.
To those who enjoyed 'Hollowmen', I would highly recommend this show. It's not quite as good as that show in my opinion, as the 'lead' characters aren't as fully developed (Tony, Nat and Hugh are marvellous though), and at times some of the characters irritate me to no end (Rhonda, oh how I hate you). Although thinking about it, that's probably the whole idea, because aside from the moronic PA, these people would not seem out of place at all in any government department.
The acting (c'mon, it's a small Aussie show, we're not expecting A-listers) for the most part is very good. Sitch, Pacquola, McGregor, Wilson and yes, even Kitty Flanagan do a wonderful job of portraying "Pubes". The small-part characters are also quite memorable, particularly the guy from the iSelect ads. Sadly, some like Lawson, Truslove and even Lehman, just seem to be phoning it in (Lawson's character Scott also feels entirely pointless).
Kudos to these guys for producing yet another Australian gem. The first episode is a little slow (and seemed like it needed an "Intro"), but by episode 2, everything was looking great. Except Rhonda...
Those who don't work within the Public Service of Australia will likely look at this and wonder what is going on, but for those of us on the "inside", the humour can be found.
The basic premise revolves around a Government office (Nat. Building Authority), with its incompetent low-grade staff, it's time-wasting managers, pushy marketing department, and the piles of red tape our "hero" (Sitch) has to wade through to get even the most simple things done.
Like 'Hollowmen', the humour here is very dry, and while there are still the sight gags and silliness we expected from a show like that, there's a lot of subtlety that will be lost on those not familiar with what it's like working in the APS.
To those who enjoyed 'Hollowmen', I would highly recommend this show. It's not quite as good as that show in my opinion, as the 'lead' characters aren't as fully developed (Tony, Nat and Hugh are marvellous though), and at times some of the characters irritate me to no end (Rhonda, oh how I hate you). Although thinking about it, that's probably the whole idea, because aside from the moronic PA, these people would not seem out of place at all in any government department.
The acting (c'mon, it's a small Aussie show, we're not expecting A-listers) for the most part is very good. Sitch, Pacquola, McGregor, Wilson and yes, even Kitty Flanagan do a wonderful job of portraying "Pubes". The small-part characters are also quite memorable, particularly the guy from the iSelect ads. Sadly, some like Lawson, Truslove and even Lehman, just seem to be phoning it in (Lawson's character Scott also feels entirely pointless).
Kudos to these guys for producing yet another Australian gem. The first episode is a little slow (and seemed like it needed an "Intro"), but by episode 2, everything was looking great. Except Rhonda...
After working in a government department for 15 years I can say utopia is closer to the truth than non public servants think! Had me in tears i couldnt stop laughing.
Quite a few people, while they are highly amused by this series, seem to assume that there is a degree of "poetic license" involved, and that the episodes of bureaucratic ineptitude have been "enhanced for dramatic effect."
Having worked for a very large Australian retail chain who have recently fallen on difficult times, (you know who they are :-) I can assure them that the level of HR dingbat-ery, IT ineptitude and over-the-top Political Correctness used as a ploy to mask the incompetence of lower- echelon staff, are actually very close to the mark.
I would love to be on their writing team; I could probably provide them with enough fresh material to keep them going for years!
Having worked for a very large Australian retail chain who have recently fallen on difficult times, (you know who they are :-) I can assure them that the level of HR dingbat-ery, IT ineptitude and over-the-top Political Correctness used as a ploy to mask the incompetence of lower- echelon staff, are actually very close to the mark.
I would love to be on their writing team; I could probably provide them with enough fresh material to keep them going for years!
Did you know
- TriviaAs of February 2018, the first two seasons are available on Netflix US under the title "Dreamland" but is no longer available as of September 2024.
- ConnectionsReferenced in I Be Geniusen Stuff: Dreamland S1 (Utopia) (2015)
- How many seasons does Utopia have?Powered by Alexa
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