Big Boys: 14 Pop Culture References In The Channel 4 Sitcom That Had Us Laughing Out Loud

Daytime icon Alison Hammond is just one of the many famous names who pop up in Jack Rooke's hilarious script.
Dylan Llewellyn and Jon Pointing as Jack and Danny in Big Boys
Dylan Llewellyn and Jon Pointing as Jack and Danny in Big Boys
Channel 4

One of the many reasons why Big Boys has fast become our favourite new sitcom is in no small part due to how it is stuffed with pop culture references.

Writer Jack Rooke has included nods to everyone from daytime TV icon Alison Hammond to former X Factor contestant Gamu Nhengu in the Channel 4 comedy, which is based on his time at university.

Here are just some of the one-liners that had us laughing out loud.

On his This Morning favourites...

Narrator Jack: “Ever since we’d found out dad was ill, me and Peggy had stuck together like Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, but deep down we were sad, like Eamonn and Ruth.”

Nanny Bingo playing the most controversial Goldenballs move...

Nanny Bingo: “Shannon, my son’s just dropped dead of cancer. If I wanna steal £20k, I’ll steal £20k, ok?”

Jack naming his goldfish after a true TV icon...

Narrator Jack: “To cheer us up, my mum got me a fish named after my favourite journalist [Alison Hammond]…”

Alison Hammond
Alison Hammond
S Meddle/ITV/Shutterstock

On being rehoused in temporary accommodation after a problem with his uni halls...

Narrator Jack: “On the scale of injustice, this felt like when Gamu didn’t get through to the live shows on X Factor.”

Gamu Nhengu on The X Factor in 2010
Gamu Nhengu on The X Factor in 2010
Ken McKay/Talkback Thames/Shutterstock

Peggy’s life lesson from Paul O’Grady and his pooches...

Narrator Jack: “We decided to decorate this ex-classroom exactly like my room at home. Mum had got the idea off Paul O’Grady’s Love Of Dogs, ’cos Battersea recommend it for any newly-housed pet going through trauma.”

The reason why Jack never cries...

Narrator Jack: “I’d often try not to cry out loud – not because I wanted to be macho, but because my cry sounds like Jimmy Carr’s laugh.”

Peggy’s thirsting after Danny...

Peggy: “Get to know that Danny lad. Seems nice.”

Jack: “He looks like a Take Me Out contestant.”

Peggy: “Well, I’d keep my light on for him.”

On the importance of properly caring for Alison...

Peggy: “Don’t forget to change the fishbowl water. I’d hate for Alison Hammond to die in a pool of her own shit.”

Jack and Danny’s living situation earning them an unfortunate nickname...

Jules: “Well if it ain’t Dick and Dom in Da Bungalow.”

Dick (left) and Dom
Dick (left) and Dom
John Stillwell - PA Images via Getty Images

Danny on being an LGBTQ+ ally...

Danny: “I’ll basically watch anything with Rylan in it, so I’m a flipping ally lama.”

Jack still coming to terms with the demise of his favourite pop band...

Jack: “I can’t believe we’ve still got my S Club 7 bauble.”

Peggy: “S Club 6, hun. You stamped all over poor Paul, remember?”

Jack: “Well, he left the band right at their peak.”

On the chances of Nigella Lawson popping in for Christmas...

Danny: “Are you excited for a Nigella Lawson Christmas?”

Nan: “Ooh, is she coming?”

Danny: “No, Nan. I mean…”

Nan: “I know, you silly sod. I might have Alzheimer’s but I know Nigella would never lower herself to these parts.”

Nigella Lawson
Nigella Lawson
Neilson Barnard via Getty Images

Yemi’s unusual song choice for Alison’s funeral...

Jules: “Right, it’s now time for our song of remembrance.”

Corrine: “No, no, no, no, that’s quite enough. Come on. Can we please go and get our grades, Jules? And remember we’re here in the hope of pursuing fulfilling careers, and not burying Alison!”

Yemi: “One, two, three, four… [Starts singing] In a perfect world, in a perfect world…

Corrine: “Oh my god, is this not the Gogglebox theme tune?”

On blagging their way through a journalism assignment...

Jack: “Do you think Tim is going to know we’ve just written up a Judge Rinder case rather than going to court?”

All episodes of Big Boys are streaming now on All4.

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