Full English (TV series)

Background

Full English is set in the heart of British suburbia.

Edgar, a put upon wage slave, works for his self-obsessed, borderline-evil father-in-law Ken Lavender. Married to houseproud wife Wendy, they are parents to three very different children, man-child Dusty, amiable and dimwitted Jason and 'Emo' Eve.

Created, produced and written by brothers Harry & Jack Williams, the show is made using hand-drawn animation, with all the characters and sets created by the artist Alex Scarfe - each frame is individually drawn before being scanned into a computer, which gives it a realistic depth. This work is done by Rough Draft Studios (the company behind Futurama and The Simpsons Movie).

Edgar Johnson

Voiced by : Richard Ayoade

Edgar Johnson is the patriarch of the Johnson family, husband to Wendy and father to Dusty, Jason and Eve. He is a nerdy, bespectacled man in his late-40's who is a coward and runs away in the first signs of conflict or danger. He is shy and often sexually frustrated. Edgar is employed by his father-in-law, Ken, at his confectionery company Sweet Lavender, even though Ken believes his daughter, Wendy, is too good for him.

Wendy Johnson

Voiced by : Rosie Cavaliero

Wendy Johnson is the wife of Edgar and the mother of Dusty, Jason and Eve, a housewife in her mid-40's who tires of minding after her family, as she is often the only one capable of doing so. She's not unhappy with her homelife, it just leaves her feeling unfulfilled. Wendy is the apple of her father, Ken's, eye.

Dusty Johnson

Voiced by : Kayvan Novak

Dusty is the eldest son of the family, a lazy, obese manchild who still lives at home with his parents, to their despair. He is imaginative and not unintelligent but dimwitted, lisping and overly optimistic about his own ideas. The rest of the family is content to leave him to his own fantasy world. In episode 4 it was revealed Dusty is 30 years old, despite his age being stated as 28 on the channel four website as well as shown on episode 3.

Jason Johnson

Voiced by : Kayvan Novak

Jason, the 17-year-old middle child, is an amiable, jockular lad, generally kind but stupid. In episode 2, it was hinted that he could be gay.

Eve Johnson

Voiced by : Daisy Haggard

Evelyn "Eve" Johnson is the youngest of the Johnson children. She is 14 years old, fat and an emo (or a Goth, it's unclear) who struggles with her diet and social life. She is moody, surly and monosyllabic towards her family, but shows a fanciful and romantic side in other contexts. She is also the lead vocalist of a punk band, Bloodmonkey.

Ken Lavender

Voiced by : Oliver Maltman

Kenton "Ken" Lavender is the egotistical ageing lothario and self-made millionaire owner of Sweet Lavender confectionery company, as well as the father of Wendy Johnson. He's lived a full and exciting life and doesn't care who he 'screws over' on his way to the top. He loves his daughter dearly but despises her hapless husband, Edgar.

Squidge

Voiced by : Kayvan Novak

Squidge is a huge, green balloon-like creature, and purely a figment of Ken's imagination. His squeaking voice masks a wildly amoral nature, and he often eggs Ken on to do terrible things; the official website suggests that Squidge could be a manifestation of Ken's evil side.

Series 1 (2012)

Each episode begins with the following message: This programme is a humorous work of fiction and the characters and events portrayed in it, even those based on real people, are also entirely fictitious.

Full English adventure game

A free Flash adventure game was released to promote the show. Developed by Leamington Spa digital agency fish in a bottle, it is a multi-chapter game that is meant to introduce the characters, and features the full voice cast from the show.

The game received positive reviews, with Mike Rose of review site Gamezebo stating, "Full English may be a simply point-and-clicker, but it's good fun and the parodies are often delicious."

Reception

Full English was almost universally panned by critics, most pointing out the show's poor attempt to emulate American animated shows, notably the uncanny character resemblances to Family Guy, as well as the poor art designs of the characters in general. Ian Hyland of The Daily Mail wrote: "it's rather apt that they've called it Full English. Because Family Guy and American Dad! would have it for breakfast.", while on the character designs, Harry Venning of The Stage wrote: "The animation is flat and uninteresting, while the characters' faces are ugly and unappealing."

More positive reviews came from Sam Wollaston of The Guardian, who wrote "I think it's hilarious." and The Metro describing Full English as: "It's rough around the edges but it does have the requisite dysfunctional family at its filthy heart".