Don’t Overlook … Clique

Clique | TVNZ 2, 11.45 Wednesday

➢ “This glossy six-parter, another smart commission from the bold types at BBC3 (Thirteen is nominated for all the awards this season), features a beauteous cast of demographically appealing youngsters, going about their financially uninhibited university social lives, taking drugs, smoking and drinking till they’re sick … It’s part teen fantasy, part meditation on youth, and all horribly, horribly moreish …  Clique is a madly seductive thriller that, once you get past the glare of all that young, perfect skin, will hook you whatever age-box you happen to tick.” — The Guardian.

➢ “At last, it’s been captured on film: Edinburgh’s seamy underbelly of drug use, sex, betrayal, violence and self-harm. No, this isn’t Trainspotting. This is the flip side of Edinburgh hedonism: the side that comes with expensive dresses, essays written on brand-new laptops, and shining hair, nails, and teeth.  I’m not sure how happy the Edinburgh University authorities will be with new BBC3 drama Clique, but it certainly adds to the image of the city’s students as some of the most infamous in the land.” — The Telegraph.

➢ “It’s created by Jess Brittain who was on the Skins writing team (her brother Jamie Brittain and father Bryan Elsley co-created the teen series), and is set at the University of Edinburgh. Brittain spent a lot of time in the city growing up and her show will follow two freshers who get involved with a group of ‘alpha girls’ and are introduced to ‘a seductive world of lavish parties, populated by Edinburgh’s highest-powered business men and women.'” — The Independent.

➢ “Like Skins, Clique isn’t afraid of sex, drugs or tricky subject matter. It touches on competition, class and status, on exploitation and the pressure to succeed, and on the financial hardships faced by students. It’s a dark and unsettling thriller. And I can’t tell you anything more about it, but there’s one hell of an ending to episode one.” — Time Out.

➢ “The great draw seems to be parties featuring sex and cocaine. Hardly a door opened in the first two episodes that did not reveal a nubile couple at it or snorting it. Unfortunately, the University of Edinburgh freshers are mostly unsympathetic, and Holly (Synnove Karlsen) is not enough of an exception. Glossily filmed, Clique has a great sense of place. Unfortunately, that place is Berkeley, California, not Edinburgh.” — The Times.