TV Blackbox reviews the award-winning ABC show Utopia to see if the office satire still ticks all the boxes.
Since beginning in 2014, ABC’s Utopia is back for Season 5. The cast – Rob Sitch, Anthony ‘Lehmo’ Lehmann, Celia Pacquola, Dave Lawson, Kitty Flanagan, Nina Oyama, and Dilruk Jayasinha – all now have as hectic schedules as their office characters. It’s both a miracle and a delight to see the cast reunite since season 4, which came out back in 2019.
First of all, considering season 4 was filmed before the word ‘COVID’ was even invented, it was pleasing to see the premiere episode make no mention of the last few years. After spending the past couple of years in one of the world’s most locked-down cities, the pandemic jokes are wearing thin in a lot of other shows.
Not much has changed since the previous season. NBA Boss Tony (Rob Sitch) is trying to get to the bottom of why an eighteen-month freeway construction has blown out to seven years. He just wants a fridge that keeps milk cold while his staff fuss around waiting for the fridge to meet optimum temperature.
Meanwhile, Nat (Celia Pacquola) is trying to wrangle with a constantly disappearing minister assisting the minister – who may or may not have been demoted.
Not even a legally censored employee farewell card can get past this lot with HR Fun-policing it.
Just when you thought there were only so many office jokes to make, season 5 of Utopia continues to both make its working-class audience laugh and groan in frustration at the zealous office antics cleverly calling out Australian politics.
Australians love Utopia for its dynamic cast and relatable storylines. If you like seasons 1-4 of Utopia, season 5 is business as usual for the NBA team without relying on COVID humour or celebrity cameos to boost ratings.
Does Australia really need another version of The Office? We already have Utopia, but we’ll find out soon enough.
UTOPIA – season 5 airs Wednesdays 8.00pm on ABC and iview.
