If Bottom, Shameless and Lock, Stock got together to produce a love child, then you’d get Scumbags. Set in a rough part of Basildon, in deepest darkest Essex, this promises to be the complete anti-christ to The Only Way Is Essex. For the show’s 4 main characters; the only way is in and out of Trouble!

The show centres on 4 main characters Deano, Wibble, Frosty and JJ (3 men and one woman) who have known each other since school. All four get involved in petty crime and do favours for the ‘criminal big wigs’ in town in order to get by. With Candice, Macca, Marius and Gnat Bite as recurring characters. These shows are typically quite macho, so to take off the macho edge, and broaden its appeal, there will be two dominant female characters: JJ and Candice. The aim is also to do no more than 4 series, with possibly a movie after the 4th series. As the show’s writer, I even appeared on BBC Radio Essex to discuss the show and respond to some of the criticism in wake of the YouTube pilot https://audioboom.com/posts/2444886-scumbags-controversial-sitcom-set-in-basildon JJ, is a tough no nonsense girl who isn’t afraid to speak her mind. She is very short tempered and often gets into fights. Think of her as Jade Goody meets Joy Turner. As a child she was a playground bully and was expelled from 2 different schools before meeting the other 3 characters. She does however get her comeuppance throughout the series (bad things DO happen to bad people) and the friction between her and Candice (her arch nemesis) provides the audience with entertaining conflicts. There are 3 celebrities that JJ hates the most Fearne Cotton, Paloma Faith and Alex Jones! Candice on the other hand is the complete opposite of JJ, think of her as a Daddy’s girl, whereas JJ is the girl that Daddy kicked out! She is a wannabe Amy Childs (Essex Glamour model) and was picked on (occasionally) by JJ at school. What irritates JJ the most is that someone who she bullied as a child ends up being richer than her. JJ comes out on top usually in fights but as the series progresses Candice will develop a backbone (as well as karate skills) and have her revenge! Kane Frost ‘Frosty’ is the stud of the group, whether you see him as a black Alfie or black Charlie Sheen this man can charm the ladies. He works as a plasterer during the day and a nightclub DJ at weekends. Growing up as one of the few black kids in his year at school, he earned respect by being a Casanova. His character is integral as his romantic adventures often create good storylines and get him into hot water. He dates a different woman every week, each one with her own idiosyncrasies. He’s very good at getting women but not good at keeping them. His main problem is he gets bored too easily; often he’s bedazzled by their appearance but overlooks their personality. Call it shallow? However, he gets tired of being a player later on and decides that he wants to follow Dean’s lead and settle down. But how easy will it be to shake off his old habits? Dean Tucker (a.k.a. Deano): a 32 year old white male, Basildon born and breed, who’s always been involved with petty crime right from a young age. Didn’t get many qualifications at school and generally doesn’t play by society’s rules – his disregard for parking tickets being a prime example. He looks up to Frosty and wishes he could be as successful with women as he is. Dean didn’t see much of his father either as he walked out on him and his mother from a young age. He is however very loyal to his mum, who is frustrated by her son’s choices in life. Secretly she wishes he could stop trying to be a wannabe gangster but gave up trying to convince him years ago. In later series Dean meets Melanie, a woman who he falls in love with and she convinces him to take up a proper job, and leave behind his wheeler/dealer lifestyle (something his mum failed to convince him to do for years). Wibble: Dean’s best mate from school and is also Basildon born and breed. The two are practically like brothers, Wibble (Danny Ryan) is unfortunately often the whipping boy of the group, Frosty and Deano ridicule him a lot whereas JJ sees him as an irritant. However he is probably one of the more likeable characters. He has a goofy laugh and is an uninformed patriot, bit like Al Murray but without the brains. He believes that Britain practically invented everything and in one episode he lists all the things which he believes Britain invented, with JJ correcting him on almost everything he lists.