Herald Scotland
Damien Love reveals his pick of the week’s TV
Published on 4 January 2015
Excellently, despite only about 14 people watching the first one, they’ve made a second series of Steve Delaney and Graham Linehan’s quietly tremendous sitcom. If you’re not up to speed, Count Arthur Strong (Delaney) is a former variety show performer, turned staggering old duffer; Rory Kinnear co-stars as Michael Baker, a shy, slightly bitter, struggling writer, whose late father once had a double act with Arthur. Filmed before a studio audience, the show is bright, light and old-fashioned in a smart way, managing to strike a balance between being quite sweet while being very stupid, as you might expect from the man who gave us The IT Crowd and Father Ted. As we begin, Michael is in the throes of writer’s block, and so, to put off trying to do any work, he returns to London and Arthur’s gang. But he’s less than delighted to discover that, in his absence, Arthur has dashed off a novel of his own. And even less delighted when he discovers what’s in it…
