Bubble UK Review: Warren United Ep 4: “There’s Only 1 Warren Kingsley”

Is ITV4’s latest signing, Warren United, soaring like and eagle or is it still limping along like a backward pigeon? Find out after the break.

 

As I boarded a train to town this week I was unfortunate enough to be squashed among a heaving mass of Brighton and Hove Albion supporters on their way to the mid-week home game. This first wave of supporters were the ones eager to get to their seats with the minimum amount of fuss, the supporters who were happy to miss out on the pre-match pint because these guys were the family men. All I could think of as I looked around a sea of happy dads with their excited children and inquisitive wives, was Warren Kingsley. I wondered how many of these family groups, their chatter buzzing with stats and talk of new signings, tuned in on a Tuesday to watch Warren United. A different me, a braver me, shouted to the train carriage “who’s watching this new ITV4 cartoon then?” but sadly that braver me only exists in my head so I never got an answer. I wish I had.

This little outing for me summed up Warren United perfectly, these proud dads who share the weekends and mid-weeks with their sons and daughters, these wives who find this time to share a common interest with her husband’s friends was for me the very heart of this show that is trying it’s damn-est to win us over. It seems that after four weeks the UK’s latest foray into the world of adult animation has found its niche and it is not as a programme dedicated to sports fanaticism but as a rather cheery critique of modern family life, via the world of football. Football is the common thread by which the Kingsley family communicate and it is with the extended family, including Warren’s best friend and work-mate Dilip, and Warren’s Mother, that the show ends each week, with the clan sat in the terraces instead of being sat round the dinner table.

This week, in “There’s Only One Warren Kingsley”, our titular hero views his life by way of a fun house mirror when the Meringues 50 million pound signing (Brainsford’s owners, the Luxor Brothers own a faulty calculator that was missing a few zeros) comes to town. Not only does the exotic striker share a name with Warren, his family all bear the same names as the “real” Kingsley clan too, his children are called Charlie and Harrison and his blonde wife is called Ingrid. What are the chances of that? Surely Warren can share in some of the good fortune this new player will bring to the club when the spotlight gets shone his way? Will the chants of “There’s Only One Warren Kingsley” be a boon or a nightmare? Hmmm..what do you think?

This  tale of Brainsford’s latest recruit seemed like a last minute replacement for a bigger story that has yet to be written and took a back seat thanks to the health of Warren’s Mum, whose latest move into her own flat seemingly brings on a bout of dementia. Mrs Kingsley senior’s ( still don’t know her name) move seemed very sudden and you may well have thought you’d missed an episode as much of the events being discussed happened off screen.  It shouldn’t have mattered, it was the decision to let Mum move back in that the majority of the episode hung on, but I did feel as though I had missed something this week. When the set up for most of the action is something that has happened prior to the episode viewers are likely going to be scratching their heads at what they have missed. It was what you didn’t see that episode four hinged on and sadly it gave the whole half hour a rushed and unfinished feel. The whole “two Warren’s” storyline in particular felt a bit empty and forced, the episode could have easily done without it, but then there’s be no football and supposedly that’s the theme of the show.

It’s not, it doesn’t take  an idiot to see that family is the true star of this show and whether Warren will do right by his lies at the heart of each episode. It’s not a question, of course Warren will make the right choice but it is arriving at the decisions Warren makes, and seeing him become wistful about the “what ifs” and “could have beens”,  that make up the crux of the show. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough of that this week, it was obvious from the start that Warren would make the right choice for his Mum and the opportunities that might have been explored, with the bizarro, rich and talented Warren, were swept under the carpet. This was a shame, I has hoped to learn more about the other Warren Kingsley and see the differences in the experiences of the men who, on the surface, share a life. Everything we did see this week was fine and a few laughs were had, but for everything we didn’t see, for all the action I felt was happening off screen, Warren United took a step back. Episode four only get’s a five and half. There’s another story somewhere, maybe lying on the cutting room floor or being acted out on the storyboards that is deserving of an 8, we’re not going to see it though and that is a shame.

Warren is still doing an excellent job at keeping an online presence and you can read his latest blog post at Warren United.net or follow along on Twitter and YouTube for regular updates.