Television series

People Just Do Nothing

A mockumentary about a chronically unsuccessful pirate radio station run out of a Brentford tower block by MCs who are certain fame is one set away. It's cringe comedy played dead straight — awkward silences, garage nostalgia, and characters so deluded you end up loving them anyway. For fans of slow-burn, character-driven comedy over joke-a-minute stuff.

TVMaze rating8.0

If you liked this

This Country2017

Same deadpan mockumentary rhythm and the same gift for finding tenderness in delusion, just swapping garage culture for rural boredom. If you loved watching Grindah scheme, you'll love watching Kerry scheme.

But Even drier and more meandering pacing — if you need jokes landing fast, it can feel like a lot of nothing happening.

This Country poster

Trailer Park Boys2001

Another crew of hopeless schemers convinced their next plan is finally the big one, filmed documentary-style with real warmth under the chaos.

But Cruder and more slapstick, leaning into crime-caper plots rather than the subtler character comedy you're used to.

Trailer Park Boys poster

Peep Show2003

Same era, same low-level London scheming energy, but delivered through two flatmates' toxic inner monologues instead of a documentary crew watching from outside.

But No mockumentary framing at all — if that structural trick is what hooked you, this won't give it to you.

Peep Show poster

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

This Is Spinal Tap1984

This is the literal blueprint being riffed on — deluded musicians, straight-faced interviews, doomed comeback energy — just an ocean and forty years away.

The mockumentary's founding text — a fake rock doc about a band clinging to relevance decades before Kurupt FM ever touched a mixing desk.

But It's parodying 80s metal excess specifically, so some jokes land differently if you have no context for that world.

This Is Spinal Tap poster
More like this (7)

Summer Heights High2007

Chris Lilley's mockumentary shares the same knack for making self-deluded people strangely lovable, transplanted into Australian high school politics.

But One performer plays every major role, which can read as a technical stunt rather than a real ensemble.

Summer Heights High poster

What We Do in the Shadows2019

Proof the mockumentary format bends to any genre — here it's vampires instead of MCs, but the same deadpan interviews and doomed ambition.

But Supernatural comedy is a big tonal leap if you specifically wanted grounded, scuzzy realism.

What We Do in the Shadows poster

Flight of the Conchords2007

A gentle comedy about a band who are never quite as good as they believe, built on the same affectionate, character-first humour.

But Musical numbers replace the mockumentary structure entirely, so the comic engine works differently underneath.

Flight of the Conchords poster

Parks and Recreation2009

Warmer and sunnier, but still a mockumentary ensemble of small-time dreamers convinced they're bigger than their circumstances.

But Far more optimistic and polished, missing the shabby DIY scuzz that makes Kurupt FM feel lived-in.

Parks and Recreation poster

Come Fly with Me2010no page yet

From adjacent British sketch DNA, this mockumentary sends up an airport instead of a radio station, with the same love of absurd side characters.

But More sketch-based than character-driven, so it never builds the same slow attachment to its cast.

Northern Soul: Living for the Weekend2014no page yet

Same world, same pirate-radio scene being lovingly parodied — watching this reveals how little of the 'joke' was actually exaggerated.

A real documentary on the UK garage scene, packed with genuine pirate radio history and characters just as colourful as the fictional Kurupt FM crew.

But It's a straight documentary — no jokes, no irony, just the culture on its own terms.

Human Traffic1999no page yet

Same devotion to a specific UK music scene and its self-mythologising characters, but played completely straight instead of for comedy.

A sincere, chatty love letter to UK club and rave culture just before garage took over, funny and melancholic about chasing a scene you love.

But No ironic distance, no mockumentary trick — it wants you to feel the music, not laugh at the people chasing it.

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Recommended by

W1A, Twenty Twelve, Look Around You, This Country, Top Boy, Summer Heights High