Ja'mie: Private School Girl

Development

Lilley announced that he was working on a new show on his Facebook page. The ABC confirmed that Lilley's six-part half-hour comedy series would screen in 2013. On 8 September 2013, Lilley revealed the title of the show and that the returning character to the series is Ja'mie King.

Production

Melbourne-based production company Princess Pictures and Chris Lilley produced the series with Australian Broadcasting Corporation and HBO. The show was shot at Firbank Grammar Melbourne.

Broadcast and reception

Private School Girl debuted on ABC1 in Australia on 23 October 2013, and on HBO in North America on 24 November 2013. BBC Three began broadcasting the series in the UK on 6 February 2014 at 10pm.

Viewing figures on ABC were initially high at 924,000 viewers, but had dropped to 575,000 by the fourth episode. The series was, however, a success on ABC iview, beating earlier records set by Doctor Who.

Critical reaction has been mixed for the series. Laurence Barber of The Guardian blamed a lack of character development for its drop in popularity in Australia, believing "Lilley has made it almost impossible for us to care." Reviewing the shows broadcast on HBO, Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter criticised the transition from sketch to series saying "You'd have to be the biggest of Ja'mie fans to want to watch her talking nonstop for 30 minutes." After the show's premiere in the United Kingdom, Rebecca Smith of The Daily Telegraph praised the comedy of the first episode as well as Lilley's performance, yet believed it was "in danger of becoming one-dimensional."

Ja'mie King

Ja'mie King, portrayed by Chris Lilley, is the main character of the show. She was also a main character in two of Lilley's previous shows, We Can Be Heroes and Summer Heights High. Ja'mie: Private School Girl follows Ja'mie in her final year of school, having left Summer Heights High and returned to Hillford Girls Grammar School.

Mitchell

Mitchell Ward, portrayed by Lester Ellis, Jr., is Ja'mie's love interest. A new year ten student on a rugby scholarship who Ja'mie calls totally quiche at the all boys school Kelton Boys Grammar down the road. In episode 4 he breaks up with Ja'mie and begins dating her friend Madison which angers the Prefects. In episode 5 he sends Ja'mie a photo of his penis which she shows to Madison. Madison states that she is going to dump him. Ja'mie and Mitchell reunite at the end of episode 6 as Ja'mie chose him over Kwami due to the fact that he is white. In the 6-month skip, she mentions that she broke up with him because he kept grinding on her and sending her photos of his genitals.

The Prefects

The Prefects are Ja'mie's friend group at school and the head girls of Hilford. They are self-described as the quichest girls at the school, "quiche" being a term made up by Ja'mie herself, meaning "a step above hot". All the girls are expelled at the end of episode 6 after they give a raunchy performance at the Hilford Presentation evening. They all enroll with Ja'mie at Blaxland College, shown in the 6-month skip.

Courtney

Courtney, portrayed by Madelyn Warrell, is Ja'mie's younger sister who also attends Hilford. She is the subject of a lot of Ja'mie's abuse, particularly over her singing in the school choir. She and her friend Selena (Thi Reynolds) film Ja'mie's risque dance performance with Mitchell.

Cody

Cody Bomhoff, portrayed by Alex Cooper, is Ja'mie's "GBF" (Gay Best Friend). He attends Kelton Boys Grammar and is the first to inform Ja'mie about the arrival of Mitchell. He takes dance class at Hilford with Ja'mie due to Kelton not having a class. He is responsible for Ja'mie's rebel makeover in episode 5 and he also accompanies her to visit Kwami for the last time.

Other characters