You can Count on psychic Arthur
COUNT ARTHUR STRONG BBC1, 8.30pm
THIS is a sitcom that will no doubt divide opinion, as comedy quite often does.
Returning for a third series, its loyal fans will be delighted to see Steve Delaney on top form as Count Arthur Strong, a delusional semiretired music-hall star. But the haters will continue to gawp, wondering why everyone else is laughing.
In the same vein as the likes of Mrs Brown’s Boys (although decidedly less rude!) or Citizen Khan, this has an old-school slapstick feel, with plenty of canned laughter, misunderstandings, hilarious misuse of words and mistaken identities. It’s the simplicity that makes it work so well.
The comedy centres around the community that frequents Bulent’s Cafe, including the highly anxious Michael (Rory Kinnear), the fearsome Bulent (Chris Ryman), the gentle Eggy (Dave Plimmer) the untalkative John the Watch (Andy Linden), and Bulent’s sister Sinem (Zahra Ahmadi). And this time there is a new customer, the cheerful Birdie (Bronagh Gallagher). Most likely if you went down to your local caff, you might find just as eccentric a bunch of regulars – it’s all plausible.
However, what is not plausible is that Arthur has psychic skills. And in tonight’s episode, there is a fiasco when he is required to perform an exorcism at the house of Michael’s publishing agent Philippa and her wife Monica.
Monica hears strange noises and keeps losing things, and despite Arthur trying to “put the ghost to rest”, she makes a convincing case for the spiritual exorcism. If only Arthur actually had psychic powers.