‘Like an episode of Utopia’: Why are Australian workplace comedies so good?

May 28, 2026 — 3:45pm

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There’s a moment in the second episode of the ABC’s new comedy, Bad Company, that sums up one of the most common tensions in the workplace. “How do you think your role helps the company strategically meet KPIs?” asks corporate boss Julia McNamara, played by a deadpan Kitty Flanagan.

It’s a version of a question that’s familiar to most Australian workers, and it sets up a dramatic response by the theatrical Margie Argyle, a creation of the hilarious Anne Edmonds. “KPI, KPI, KPI!” she screams. “Key Performance Indicator! But an indication of what? Love? The suffering of my fellow workers? Are we not more than human resources?”

The exaggerated back-and-forth sums up the conflict at the centre of the show, set in an inner-city theatre company but recognisable everywhere: loose versus rigid, free-range versus rule makers,........

© The Sydney Morning Herald