‘Big Boys isn’t about gay men – it’s about women’

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

Up Next

Previous Page Next Page

Over a decade after Jack Rooke debuted Big Boys at Edinburgh Fringe, the third and final season of his Channel 4 adaptation is ending with a poignant flourish.

‘I feel really lucky that we got to end the story on our terms,’ Jack tells Metro ahead of the season three premiere.

The final six-episode run, starring Dylan Llewellyn and Jon Pointing as our mismatched friends Danny and Jack, comes out at a turbulent time in the TV landscape with shows (often with LGBTQ+ leads) getting cancelled left, right and centre.

He continued: ‘I think it’s really difficult to [end a show] in scripted comedy in particular. It’s a very challenging time for that genre at the moment.

‘The fact that we’ve been able to say exactly the story we’ve wanted, and we all (it’s really cliche), really loved working with each other, it’s really ending, actually, in the loveliest way.’

But amid his gratitude at this rare honour, he also offers a stark warning.

Big Boys is coming to an end after a decade-long journey for Jack Rooke (Picture: Channel 4 / Patch Dolan)

The 31-year-old comic explained: ‘It’s a very tricky time for television right now. Post-Covid, there was that huge boom of people watching TV and discovering new stuff. The industry had a bit of a golden patch.

‘It’s slowly declining again and stuff’s been really difficult. There are a lot of people out of work and really struggling within the film and TV industry. So I’m really conscious that a lot of my peers aren’t having the greatest time.

‘This show has been a bit of a battle to get made in the first place. I feel very, very grateful that we’ve been able to end this story properly.’

And he points to the heady heights that a show can reach if given the ‘time to grow’ and proper investment, like Gavin and Stacey.

‘Season one had a very small cult following. Season two started to really pick up and now they just had a Christmas special watched by over 20 million people. Nothing gets watched like that apart from government lockdown speeches,’ he joked.

Big Boys has a unique hook, charting the friendship between uni freshers Jack (a closeted gay teen mourning his dad) and Danny (a straight lad’s lad with a heart of gold) throughout their undergraduate degree.

And it is this subverted premise that remains the number one thing people approach The Sweetpea star about.

Jon Pointing says Jack and Danny’s friendship as a gay and straight guy is still the main thing fans approach him about (Picture: Channel 4 / Christopher Harris)

‘[It’s] a very common experience for a lot of people and they’ve just not seen it on TV. I do think that will be something it’s remembered for, definitely,’ he shares, later adding that this role is ‘the most significant job I’ve done in every way’.

For Jack, he notes with pride that although the Bafta-winning series features a gay lead, the show is rarely about his identity exclusively.

‘I also want to celebrate the fact that it was a show about a gay guy and a straight guy being best mates, and how chill and normal and almost boring that can be at times. How much of a non-point it is,’ he says.

In fact, he wants the final season – which continues the focus on Danny’s mental health -to champion all the women who have supported the struggling men in their lives, something his eyes were opened to when he was 18 and volunteering for the mental health organisation Calm.

‘When I arrived in their office in 2014, the male suicide prevention charity was being run exclusively by women. I was shocked.

‘Their whole ethos was like “well, if we sought out why so many men are struggling, then we make a better life for everyone”.

‘On the office phone, the majority of people who rang were wives, mothers, girlfriends, sisters, all worried about a certain man in their life. At the heart of this series are characters like Corinne [Izuka Hoyle] and Jules [Katy Wix].

Characters like Corinne and Jules are at the heart of this series, Jack says (Picture: Channel 4)

‘It’s about women who put a lot of their own lives and aspirations and dreams on hold because they love a man who’s struggling.

‘I’m just trying to pay tribute to the women who have actually made the mental health conversation a more liberated place in the last 10 years,’ he explained.

And the way the show tackles the conclusion to Jack and Danny’s story is certainly unique, as Jon teases.

‘The ending – I don’t know if anything’s really been done like that. Especially about this subject matter. I don’t think I’ve seen anything like that [on screen] before,’ he says.

But before we mourn the show’s ending, there’s plenty to look forward to across the final six episodes including star-studded cameos from the likes of British TV icons like Rylan.

‘Rylan was one of the best guest actors we have ever had in the history of Big Boys,’ Jack gushed.

‘He showed up fresh off Eurovision or something like that, I knocked on his dressing room to see how he was doing, and he was not in costume.

Jon says this is the ‘most significant role’ and his last scenes with Dylan felt like ‘saying goodbye to a best friend’ (Picture: Channel 4)

‘Then honestly, within two minutes, he was fully changed, dressed, on set, knew every single line, every single beat, he was perfect. I really think he is someone who’s grafted and worked so hard.

‘There are so many TV and pop culture references throughout all three seasons and who better to celebrate that most than him? He was so funny, he smashed it.’

And, of course, the tougher scenes, that Jon found particularly emotional to film opposite Dylan.

‘I really felt like I was saying goodbye to my best friend in that moment,’ he reflected about the experience of those final days of filming.

But if there’s one thing that gets you clicking on the final season, it should be Jack’s awe-filled praise of Jon who made the character his own from the start to the very end.

‘Some of my favourite moments are not the bits I’ve penned. Jon has always added a layer of intricacy and authenticity like sometimes [Danny] calls himself an idiot and hits his forehead.

‘It’s such a tiny laddie observation, but to me completely and utterly resembles Danny as this character who never takes out any of his s**t on anyone else.’

He later added: ‘Jon in episodes five and six is a perfect performance. I watched those final two episodes of series three, and there’s not a single thing I would change anything.’

Jack says the ‘legacy’ of the show is the importance of chosen family (Picture: Channel 4 / Darrin Zammit Lupi)

As the cast and crew take a final bow, Jack leaves us with what he hopes will be the lasting impression of this series.

‘It isn’t just about Danny being this victim where everything’s happening to him. By the end it’s a big rumination on love.

‘It’s not rewriting the rule book – there’s been plenty of shows about chosen family but I really feel this is about how crucial that is.

‘When people who aren’t your family step up to love you unconditionally. I want the legacy of this show to be about that, absolutely.’

Big Boys airs tonight at 10pm on Channel 4 with all episodes available to stream online.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.