And you thought Utopia and Humans had weird scores... Chris Morris may be best known for baiting the media in Brass Eye and mocking perceptions of terrorism in Four Lions, but he is also responsible for one of the most abstract television series ever created. Jam, an adaptation of his avant-ambient Radio 1 postmodern comedy series Blue Jam, is a sketch show. Of sorts. Basically, Morris wanted to create an avant-garde sketch show, in which everything is slowed right down, the humour is replaced with pitch black occurrences, post-production renders every sequence completely surreal, and jokes like "Doctor, Doctor" are deconstructed beyond recognition. It's more like a horror than a comedy, really, but it is stunningly original television. One of its strongest elements is its brilliant soundtrack, which draws principally on ambient music. Morris includes tracks from Aphex Twin, Brian Eno, Transglobal Underground, Amon Tobin, Massive Attack and many more, but uses them primarily for setting moods rather than celebrating the original music. It works brilliantly. The entire show is akin to being at the most terrifying rave imaginable... If that rave was being held several thousand metres underwater.
