New BBC2 comedy has been described as Wolf of Wall Street meets The Inbetweeners...
James Buckley will be teaming up with his Inbetweeners co-star Joe Thomas and the show’s writer Damon Beesley for brand new BBC2 comedy White Gold this week.
Set in 1980s Essex, the new series follows the exploits of three double glazing salesmen, in a tale of ambition, greed, sex and drugs.
James and Joe will be playing money-hungry young men who’ll do anything to make a sale, with Gossip Girl star Ed Westwick completing the trio of salesmen.
With so many alumni from the hit comedy working on this new project, James has hinted that while their fans may well enjoy White Gold, The Inbetweeners won’t be returning any time soon.
“It won’t be a million miles away from The Inbetweeners because there’s too many of us from the show involved,” says James, who played sex-crazed Jay in the hit Chanel 4 show, which also spawned two movies.
“I’d like to hope there’s enough of The Inbetweener influence to please fans that want to see more, so I'm sure they'll enjoy it. But I can say now that there won’t be any more Inbetweeners, so I hope this will be a compromise for them!”
While we’re disappointed to hear The Inbetweeners will never return, from what we hear this new series should be one to watch.
“I've heard it described as a bit like The Wolf of Wall Street,” explained James. “But it’s closer to the Inbetweeners than the Wolf of Wall Street. It has Joe and I in it, it’s written by Damon, it will inevitably have the whiff of The Inbetweeners to it. Puerile jokes and things like that, but it’s still very different because there’s sex and drugs in it!”
Featuring a soundtrack bursting with 80s hits, some very wide shouldered suits and plenty of questionable haircuts, White Gold pays homage to an era in which greed was not a dirty word.
"The 1980s were very hard times for a lot of people," said James. "But for stockbrokers, City boys and salesmen, it was a time to come from nothing and make a lot of money in questionable ways. But this isn’t a spoof or a pastiche, it’s trying to be an genuine refection of an era that some people will remember very well."
With much of the filming taking place in a real shop on Basildon High Street, Damon and the production team have gone to great lengths to make the comedy feel as genuine as possible, yet the boys’ sales showroom was a little too realistic on some occasions.
"We had a guy walk in and try and sell some glass to us," said Ed Westwick, who plays Vincent. "It was a strange moment. When I told him it was a film set he wanted to speak to the director about some lights he had for sale. It was like meeting my character!"
White Gold premieres on BBC2 on Wednesday, May 24
