Rack off, Drazic! The streaming gods have spent some time rifling around in the nostalgia bin again, and this time they pulled out old Australian teen drama Heartbreak High (Netflix). The series, which defined post-teatime television for a generation of 90s kids, has been re-suited and rebooted for the digital age. We’re back at Hartley High, only this time the teenagers have active sex lives, smartphones and the freedom to swear with impunity.
Heartbreak High was always grittier than its soapy fellow countrymen, such as Neighbours and Home and Away, and while this update doesn’t shy away from the tougher issues, it has a much more ironic tone, and a generous sense of humour. Whether that humour will land with all viewers remains to be seen; I imagine some of it will succeed or fail along generational lines. But this Heartbreak High is big-hearted, and its teenagers are not entirely insufferable – an achievement in the difficult world of contemporary teen TV. Plus, someone reads out a fictional news story from the Guardian at least twice, which is a certain marker of good taste.
