OK, so admittedly my experience of Australian cinema and television is probably limited to the only things that I can remember when put under pressure - Mad Max (which probably isn't Australian, I don't know) Home and Away, Eden, Neighbours.. and Sons and Daughters. Really bad as I am a self certificated movie and TV buff lulz You may also see my experiences stem from the 1980's so it's been a while!
I came into this show after finding it by accident on MXQ. We don't seem to have access to Australian media in any other practical way over here :P - so in other words I was completely blind to the characters, the setting, and the actors. I have never seen any of them before, in anything.
...soooo from an ignorant Brit, here is my short review - this is the FUNNIEST sitcom I have seen in a long time. I have found every episode laugh out loud and up to now I have watched each available episode now five times, including ep5 which I saw last night. I cannot wait for the next and hope this continues into a second season.
Andrew Dugdale was running a country the size of Australia? Jeepers! His character is very similar to Alan Partridge in a number of ways, although Alan Partridge is more of a cartoon character in that there is probably only a handful of people who are even remotely as disgusting as him - Andrew Dugdale is funny without thinking he is being so, and very straight played - and very believable as a normal guy even as a comedy character and I have met a number of people like him throughout my life. He is educated but only in a specific area, so the basic things normal people might take for granted he is a little ignorant of. He cannot cook, he cannot do his own tie without looking at a Youtube video, his ability to communicate with and listen to people are limited - he is self centered, ignorant, not all that arrogant although he does seem to think he knows his place even though he's probably a little lower than he thinks! There are a very small number of main characters in this show who I will not go into, who all provide Andrew with his situations and gaffes. All very funny, especially his driver, Curtis Curtis Curtis lulz, with slight brain damage and metal plate in his head whose role in life is to keep Andrew's car egg free.
I must add, that the incident which prompted me to actually put a review on here was from Episode 4 - when Neil Blanchard his old arch enemy in politics is having a 'snooze' on an inflatable li-lo in Andrew's pool. Andrew's conversation with him where he tells him some light home truths followed by a greeting card he presents to him then reads to him, in which he tries to right some wrongs from the past is very moving and changes Andrew's character for a moment into a normal human being. Best part of the whole series so far - it doesn't matter that before, throughout and shortly after the entire swimming pool scene, Andrew is completely unaware his poor nemesis isn't actually asleep and is quite dead! Very well written comedy with brilliant characters and I know I will be watching this for years to come.
I've actually read a few reviews for this show across the web, all from Australians most of which seem to be a bit mediocre so I thought I'd give a foreigners perspective on it. Certainly I'd recommend everyone give this a run. Despite being about an ex prime minister, its not a particularly political show and can probably be enjoyed by everyone, young and old. My only gripe with it is the episodes are far too short at about 25 minutes. I'd prefer far more input during each chapter! 8/10