With the stars of Peep Show and one of the writers of Peep Show (and the Thick of It) the word Peep Show is never far from your mind here but it's a very different beast - a sort of malevolent dramatic sitcom but with cosy drone shots of rural Gloucestershire and endlessly intrusive quirky incidental music like a Waitrose ad that's taken a bad turn. The witty dialogue is the biggest draw here really and the MVP of the ensemble (as in the far more consistent Semi-Detached) is far-and-away UK comedy legend Geoff McGivern who barks gloriously throughout.
Otherwise - it's a bit of a drab muddle, the plot lurching one way then the other and taking huge tonal leaps into maudlin drama as scheming step-brother Webb cuckoos his way into into David Mitchell's life. No one in it beyond McGivern is particularly likable and it often runs out of steam very quickly. The set-pieces can be great but it doesn't really cling together outside of them. The second series, hugely belated due to circumstances beyond anyone's control, feels like an odd throwback sitcom and has such a whiplash-inducing forced cliffhanger that it almost feels they came up with it on the day of shooting.
So yes - hugely inconsistent but fans of good UK comedy will certainly find something diverting in all the awkward glossy mess it's just sadly burdened by the weight of the talent involved.
Otherwise - it's a bit of a drab muddle, the plot lurching one way then the other and taking huge tonal leaps into maudlin drama as scheming step-brother Webb cuckoos his way into into David Mitchell's life. No one in it beyond McGivern is particularly likable and it often runs out of steam very quickly. The set-pieces can be great but it doesn't really cling together outside of them. The second series, hugely belated due to circumstances beyond anyone's control, feels like an odd throwback sitcom and has such a whiplash-inducing forced cliffhanger that it almost feels they came up with it on the day of shooting.
So yes - hugely inconsistent but fans of good UK comedy will certainly find something diverting in all the awkward glossy mess it's just sadly burdened by the weight of the talent involved.