Kookyburra

Three episodes in and so far this is a well written and likable sitcom. Don't be put off by the trailer which didn't really do it justice or the fact that it's screening on the home to some of the worst crimes against TV comedy in recent years, BBC3.

The basic premise is a down on his luck uncle, recently split from his girlfriend and feeling suicidal, saved at the last minute by a call from his sister asking him to look after his nephew. Cue initial hostility followed by gradually thawing / odd couple relationship and some quite moving moments for a sitcom.

It's funny but not really laugh out loud funny that often but somehow that seems to suit its gentle, at times almost Wes Andersonesque, style.

Overall, best new sitcom I've seen in a while and well worth checking out.

Firstly let's get the Mike Leigh / Nuts In May comparison out of the way. Yes, Ben Wheatley is clearly inspired by that film but there is no real similarity.

Mike Leigh creates intense characters who, however unpleasant or unlikable, can be funny and compelling due to their roots in reality and the depth of the investment of the actors. There is nothing remotely believable about any of the characters in Sightseers. It's like watching a sketch show where everything is about setting up the next comedy moment and the characters are just two dimensional props. Or like an adult carry on film where we're trying to guess the next outrageous thing the characters will do or say.

There is no attempt to understand what lies behind the deranged pair's murderous spree which oddly begins with an accidental killing of someone who seems to have been set up as a deserving victim and then abandoned to a cheap punchline. There's no emotional truth here, just a laboured attempt at clever or shock humour, most of which doesn't work very well because the characters are so poorly sketched and it's so heavy handed. I'm a fan of this style of humour when it's done well. A sitcom like Peep Show gets it right because the characters are so very well drawn that when they get put into ridiculous or surreal situations, the pay off laugh is earned. In Sightseers it all feels shallow and manipulative.

I imagine younger viewers will like this. It seems to be aimed at the adolescent male market who love ultra violence coupled with quotable one liners. It will almost certainly become a cult classic among sixth- formers. To me it just felt tired and juvenile.

Maybe I'm getting too old for this sort of thing but was drawn in by the 4 & 5 star reviews which all now seem so surprising. I'll have to take a closer look at the poster to check they weren't taken from Nuts, Zoo, The Sun etc.

Went into this with mixed feelings, thought it might be a bit self indulgent or full of in jokes and while at times it was probably both of those things, for the most part it was just extremely funny.

Kind of like watching a really long episode of your favourite sitcom. The true talent of the script was to very quickly set up the characters (exaggerated versions of themselves or playing up to / against their public personas) and then just give them lots of space to riff off of each other, make loads of alternating self deprecating / aggressive comments.

The humour is vicious at times but there's also a real warmth in the relationships. So it's both really funny and with that feel-good feeling you get from truly great comedies. Maybe at times it wanders to far into the realm of fantasy and it would have been nice to have the pre apocalypse scenes extended a little. I'm hoping that the Blu-Ray will have lots of deleted scenes.

So yeah, I liked it. And I went in with no expectations so I'd recommend this one to anyone. Best comedy I've seen in a long time.