ANIMATION SERIES REVIEW: Three further episodes of 'The Bruvs'.

I’m sure the creators of animated YouTube series 'The Bruvs' are sick of reading parallels between their main characters, cockney hard-nut brothers Doug and Den, and the infamous Mitchell brothers. However, it’s just too easy to draw references between the pairs of brothers, with Doug and Den being more of an adult parody of the EastEnders siblings. Blending witty humour with obscure (and sometimes, frankly, disturbing) animation, The Bruvs mini-sodes make for fun lockdown viewing.

'Talking With Dinosaurs'

Opening with a parody of an Attenborough-esque documentary, this episode sees Doug and Den sharing an evening in front of the telly with Doug’s girlfriend, Chanterelle. It’s not long before our preconceptions of the pretty dim Chanterelle, who in previous episodes even struggled to apply her own fake tan, are subverted by her extensive knowledge of prehistoric life. Asked by the bruvs how she became so expert, the punchline to episode is a witty pay-off that gives a little more insight into what Chanterelle has to put up with.

'The Dentist'

The blending of animation and real-life images in this episode is pretty grim and not for the easily squeamish. Den and Doug are at the dentist, and the ambient sound of drilling mixed with the photographs of horrendous teeth is quite cringe-inducing. But that’s the same feeling that Doug, as he explains in his calm, Caine-esque manner, is also experiencing, as he hates the dentist. Luckily, bruvver Den has a solution. Cue a baseball bat, plenty of blood and a load of missing teeth. Although the dim-witted pair’s solution is utterly ridiculous, this episode highlights just how important they are to each other and that, regardless of violence and agony, ‘it’s faaamily what matters’.

'Family Fallout'

Den and Doug want to do something for their dad’s birthday. He’s 80 and wheelchair-bound, so naturally they organise a parachute jump. This proves to be pretty pricey, so they call on a favour from their ‘mate, who runs his own private and independent pharmaceutical import and export business’. The bruvs are a classic stereotype of cockney thugs. Brutish, spewing out slang and not all that bright. The stereotypes don’t stop with the siblings, as Doug’s fake-tanned, bleach-blonde girlfriend Chanterelle gives her opinion on a sky-dive, which in Doug’s view translates as ‘blah blah blah’. Of course, the parachute job ends in disaster for poor Dad, but the bruvs have an idea to cheer him up at his residential home, which leads to more carnage. This episode is infused with the familiar dark comedy, obscure animation and stereotypical characters that we are used to seeing from the online series.

Reviewer - Gavin Hayes
on - 25/4/20