Belle View Pilot: Absurd Sitcom Full of Laughs

Fred Wood attended the pilot of student-created sit-com Belle View and gives his thoughts on the series’ first episode.

On the evening of the 11th March, third-year students Connor Swanson and Reuben Edels hosted the premiere for the pilot of Belle View, their independently-made sitcom, in the Michael Sadler building. 

After meeting as students in school and becoming friends in 2022, the pair repeatedly threw the idea of creating a web series around. The release of the Leeds Student Television short film Free Your Skin (in which Swanson plays the character of Simmons) gave them what Edels described as the ‘kick up the arse’ to get Belle View into production after so many years. Writing finished in the spring of 2025, with filming wrapping in October, 2025. Editing ended just over a week prior to the screening; the pilot, ‘Brian Gets Pepper Sprayed’, took roughly a month to edit. Leeds Student Television had advertised the premier for a while, convincing me to attend.

I arrived at the Rupert Beckett Lecture Theatre at around half 7pm, an early start so I could hopefully talk to the creators before the doors closed – an early start to net me an opportunity to speak with the creators. We had a short chat before doors officially opened, and they briefly told me of their friendship, history together, and desire to make a sitcom.

As a preface to the screening, Swanson & Edels showed a presentation detailing their background and the production of Belle View, citing the £231.53 they spent on props; the entirety of the crowd, including myself, was shocked by the total cost.

One slide had promised gifts including bottles of wine and production equipment, though none of the seats in the room had anything. I found it hard to believe they had enough money to place a gift under each seat of the front row, nevermind the entire theatre. However, I still checked. Of course, none were there, but all for good fun. Meanwhile, Edels sneakily drank from a bottle of prosecco, joking that he drank all of the promised wine – he must be a heavyweight. The creators also gave an honourable mention to multiple women in their ‘Shawties to thank’ section, including Beyonce (for some reason). A minute’s silence was also held for their friend Harvey Eaton. Thankfully he was not dead, the ceremony was held to mourn his lack of attendance due to the premiere date coinciding with his birthday.

Finally, the pilot started playing. Throughout the runtime, there were many giggles and cackles from the audience, with a couple periods of roaring laughter. When the episode ended, the attendees gave a round of cheering and applause to the cast and crew, as well as the pilot episode.

Personally, I loved ‘Brian Gets Pepper Sprayed’. Student-made media has a certain charm to it, seeing what young minds create with very scarce resources is always appealing to me. The surrealist humour earned my laughter, with Swanson & Edels citing It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Smiling Friends as two of many inspirations for their style of comedy. The in-universe advertisement for Sensei Ian’s Black Pepper Spray had the entirety of the audience laughing hysterically throughout the segment, myself included. 

The solid performances of the actors brought the witty script to life and only enhanced its comedy. I was especially fond of Sacha Wood’s performance as Paul McCartney (not the musician). The pilot creates a rather awkward atmosphere at times, reminiscent of Peep Show (which was also listed as an inspiration for the creators) — the cast’s line delivery was especially great during these embarrassing scenes.

Neglecting to watch ‘Brian Gets Pepper Sprayed’ would be a disservice to yourself.

Words by Fred Wood.

The first episode of Belle View is available to watch here.