We seem to be enjoying a mini golden age of British comedy series at the moment. In ascending or from good to superb current shows include:

Motherland (BBC – all available to stream on demand). I‘ve never been a parent to a young child, let alone a mother, so the school gate politics of this are outside my area of experience. Nevertheless, everyone will recognise the struggle for one-upmanship, and the social awkwardness that comes from worrying about what other people think of you more than what you think of them. In the pilot it seemed to me as if Anna Maxwell Martin had been parachuted in from a different programme, but now her character is more embedded (particularly in her friendship with the wonderful Diane Morgan’s character) she seems much more at home, even when every nerve in her being is screaming that she wishes she could be anywhere other than where she has found herself.

The Detectorists (BBC) kicked off its third series last night with more understated observations of middle aged male friendship, beautifully scripted, acted and filmed. It’s almost an opposite to Motherland in that there are no monsters here, just real people getting along or » Continue Reading.