Nathan Barley is Chris Morris & Charlie Brooker’s under-appreciated, scarily prophetic satire comedy which only aired for one 6 episode run on Channel 4 in 2005. The show follows an idiotic, pretentious vlogging media figure living in East London called Nathan Barley (Nicolas Burns); He is the very type of person that Sugar Ape magazine writer Dan Ashcroft (Julian Barratt) depicts in his article ‘The Rise of the Idiots’ that leads him to ironically becoming an icon for the idiots, questioning himself if he is indeed, one of the idiots too.
Released 10 years ago ago, Nathan Barley is on point with its unintentional predictions on modern music, fashion, journalism and the internet. Charlie Brooker & Chris Morris gave us an hilarious satire that resonates with today’s click-bait, hipster, web based culture all performed by an all-star cast at the start of their careers including Benedict Cumberbatch, Ben Whishaw, Noel Fielding, Richard Ayoade and more.