HIM AND HER

The American sit-com Seinfeld was famously publicised as ‘The Show About Nothing’ . Writer Stefan Golaszewski obviously took that as a challenge and produced his own show about nothing, Him and Her.

 I will freely admit that I never saw the point of Seinfeld and was bemused by the collective euphoria that hailed it as the best sit-come ever, but Him and Her is an absolute gem, hidden away in the depths of BBC 3 and is one of the best sit-coms currently showing on British TV whether home grown or imported. So, what’s it about, you ask? Well…nothing really. You see, there’s this couple who live in this grotty flat. They have no jobs, no ambition and a lack of hygiene that is frankly scary. They just sit about all day and get visited by various friends and relations. That’s it. But it’s hilarious.

You would have to go all the way back to Steptoe and Son and Hancocks Half Hour to find a better, one room sit-com that puts human relationships under such an intense microscope. There are no elaborate plots, no huge punch-lines, just an embarrassingly intense scrutiny of the minutiae of daily life.

Russell Tovey as Steve and Sarah Solemani as Becky have perfected the art of looking both vacant and bemused at the same time to such an extent that it is impossible to imagine anyone else playing those parts. Whilst they and their scruffy flat are the focal point it is the constant parade of grotesques that comprise their family and friends who steal the show and do their utmost to disrupt the pair’s lacklustre existence.

Next door neighbour, Dan, (Joe Wilkinson) is a walking text book of personality disorders and Shelly, (Camille Coduri) has so little self-esteem she may as well have ‘doormat’ tattooed across her forehead. The burgeoning romance between these two sensitive and damaged souls is both touching and a little bit creepy! At the other end of the spectrum, Becky’s soon to be brother in law, Paul, (Ricky Champ) is a seething mass of barely repressed violence, which makes him the perfect foil for the shows real scene stealer, Becky’s vicious, self-absorbed, self-deluded sister Laura, (Kerry Howard).  This is an outrageous, jaw dropping, gem of a role that Howard plays to perfection and to the possible detriment of her future career. Who on earth would want to be typecast as Laura for the rest of their lives? On the other hand, who could resist playing such a joyously unlikeable character?

The main credit for all this must go to the creator and writer, Stefan Golaszewski whose wonderfully nuances script keeps spinning gold out of thin air. The episode where Steve finally plucks up the courage to propose to Becky and Shelly finally gives Laura the telling off she richly deserves, only to have it fall on predictably deaf ears must rate as one of the top ten sit-com episodes ever.

It may never achieve the iconic status of a Blackadder or a Porridge but it’s now on its third season with no apparent reduction in the (lack of) plot devices. Long may it continue.