Is that horse reiki?

Continuing my trip down The Guardian's Top 50 TV Shows of 2023 

#14 : Colin From Accounts

Imelda Staunton, David Tennant and Jason Isaacs were among the celebrities who lavished praise on the real-life husband-and-wife duo who wrote and starred in this joyful Australian sitcom. From the cute, injured dog on wheels and absurdly novel way of introducing the romantic leads (nipple-based car accident, anyone?) to its infectious dry humour, this series was hugely charming. No wonder it ended up becoming the sleeper hit of the summer.

I'd heard this was good so I started watching the first episode and enjoyed it but got distracted twenty minutes in and never went back to it - so let's start again, shall we?

It does indeed have an absurdly novel way of introducing the romantic leads - girl flashes boob at boy, boy runs over a random dog and given the choice between having him put down and taking on a massive debt and having to look after a dog (who now has wheels), they obviously pick the latter.  And they name the "Colin From Accounts Payable Who's Working On The Big Merger" - as you do.

And basically, they just run with it!  All over the place!  And there's a surprising amount of humour to be found in accidental dick pics, a dying grandmother, cystoscopies (don't Google it!), changing a camera film and various other random activities that you might not expect to find humour in.  Except for episode 7 which is a real downer, but we got through it!  And you've gotta love a sitcom that ends the season with the following dialogue

"We are going to make that little girl cry though"
"Good!"

The boy and girl in question are Gordon (Patrick Brammall) and Ashley (Harriet Dyer) and they just have really great chemistry - which is a good job really because they are, as The Guardian tells us, married in real life.  They also do a good job of acting like real, believable people - yes, they are in ridiculous situations (plenty of them) but they also do things that you can imagine yourself doing (and cringing at afterwards).  And yes, the acting is a good part of it but they also deserve great credit for the writing - I was reminded of Starstruck on that front.  

Ashley's mum is a fine character - she's a great sitcom mum with all the worst lines.  Michael Logo and Genevieve Hegley are also amusing as Gordon's work colleagues dispensing terrible advice (another sitcom staple) and I also have to mention Zak who plays Colin - I can't say it's the most active of roles, but he absolutely nails it!

So yeah, I liked this - it's a well-written mix of serious and light-hearted, tackling some relatable issues within an amusingly ridiculous framework grounded by a great acting duo with some lovely chemistry.  If you've not checked it out then I fully recommend it - it's up there with Blue Lights as the best new thing I've seen so far on the list and it's available on iPlayer for you right now.

#12 - A most peculiar thing indeed
#15 - A diverting, fun series