Series synopsis
Fresh Meat is a British comedy drama television series that premiered on Channel 4 on September 21, 2011. It ended on March 28, 2016. It was created by Sam Bain, Jesse Armstrong. It stars Zawe Ashton, Charlotte Ritchie, Kimberley Nixon and Joe Thomas.
Six students — Vod Nordstrom, Oregon Shawcross, Josie Jones, Kingsley Owen, JP Pembersley, and Howard McGregor — are freshmen (save for second year Howard) at Manchester Medlock University. Having applied late to accommodation, they live in a shared, off-campus house in Whalley Range rather than the halls of residence.
Premise
Six students — Vod Nordstrom, Oregon Shawcross, Josie Jones, Kingsley Owen, JP Pembersley, and Howard McGregor — are freshmen (save for second year Howard) at Manchester Medlock University. Having applied late to accommodation, they live in a shared, off-campus house in Whalley Range rather than the halls of residence.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Zawe Ashton as Violet 'Vod' Nordstrom
- Charlotte Ritchie as Melissa 'Oregon' Shawcross
- Kimberley Nixon as Josephine 'Josie' Jones
- Joe Thomas as Kingsley Owen
- Jack Whitehall as Jonathan 'JP' Pembersley
- Greg McHugh as Howard McGregor
- Jelka van Houten as Sabine
- Sophie Wu as Heather
Supporting cast
- Faye Marsay as Candice Pelling
Guest cast
- Tony Gardner as Professor Tony Shales
- Hannah Britland as Sam
- Jack Fox as Ralph
- Robert Webb as Dan
- Ayda Field as Rosa
- Sara Stewart as Professor Jean Shales
- Ronan Raftery as Dylan Shales
- Adam Gillen as Brian
- James Musgrave as Toby
- Richard Goulding as Tomothy Pembersley
- Gemma Chan as Ruth
- Peter Gadiot as Javier
Episodes
This series spans 5 seasons with 31 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 0 | 1 | ||
| Season 1 | 8 | September 21, 2011 | November 16, 2011 |
| Season 2 | 8 | October 9, 2012 | November 27, 2012 |
| Season 3 | 8 | November 4, 2013 | December 23, 2013 |
| Season 4 | 6 | February 22, 2016 | March 28, 2016 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Behind the Scenes of Fresh Meat |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Episode 1 Public schoolboy JP, insecure Kingsley, wide-eyed Josie, socially awkward know-it-all Howard, hard-living Vod and desperate-to-be-cool Oregon embark on the most exciting period of their lives so far. |
September 21, 2011 |
| 2 |
Episode 2 The housemates are in social Siberia so they decide to throw a party, spearheaded by Josie in the hope that she and Kingsley will get together, but her plans are scuppered by her boyfriend! |
September 28, 2011 |
| 3 |
Episode 3 Oregon and Prof Shales's flirtation reaches bizarre new levels when he pays her to clean his oven. And enticed by Ruth the alluring drama queen, Kingsley rashly switches courses to drama. |
October 5, 2011 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Episode 1 It's a new term. Kingsley has a new image. Josie turns over a new leaf. JP's friend Giles has transferred from Exeter. Vod's skint and it's time to find a replacement for invisible flatmate Paul Lamb. |
October 9, 2012 |
| 2 |
Episode 2 A spate of muggings on campus leave the gang concerned about their safety, while JP is confined to his bed with mumps. Kingsley makes an announcement that leaves Josie reeling. |
October 16, 2012 |
| 3 |
Episode 3 A geology careers fair sets the boys against each other as they battle for lucrative internships. Oregon is thrown together with Tony again, as she attempts to secure funding for her new magazine. |
October 23, 2012 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Episode 1 Howard and JP try to coax some female freshers to join their dry-slope skiing society, while Vod's summer fling turns up unexpectedly. And the gang go to visit Josie in Southampton where she's now studying. But her traffic-light party creates a few problems for Kingsley. |
November 4, 2013 |
| 2 |
Episode 2 Vod comes up with a plan to get rid of her holiday romance. Howard likes a girl but JP thinks she's out of his league, so he tries to poach her in order to restore the natural order of things. |
November 11, 2013 |
| 3 |
Episode 3 Realising how serious Javier has become since their wedding, Vod tries to dump him, but it's not that simple... |
November 18, 2013 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Episode 1 The housemates are nearing the end of their university lives, but before they face some hard-core studying, JP plans one last big blowout. |
February 22, 2016 |
| 2 |
Episode 2 Vod gets a job in a pub, and the others expect her to give them free drinks. Oregon creates a poetry prize in her own honour, and Kingsley discovers Rosa has an 18-year-old son. |
February 29, 2016 |
| 3 |
Episode 3 It's dissertation time, and while Vod is having a last-minute wobble about her abilities, Oregon has other 'presidency' things on her mind and Josie is having an identity crisis. |
March 7, 2016 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | Channel 4 |
|---|---|
| First aired | September 21, 2011 |
| Last aired | March 28, 2016 |
| Runtime | 40 minutes |
| Status | Ended |
| Schedule | Monday at 22:00:00 |