What to watch
The obvious temptation with this new comedy starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb and created by former Peep Show writer Simon Blackwell is to see it as more of the sardonic same. Yet while the spectres of Mark Corrigan and Jeremy Usborne clearly hover around the edges, particularly where Webb’s Andrew, a sort of darkest timeline version of Jez, is concerned, Blackwell manages to make Back work on its own terms.
Mitchell is the ungainly Stephen who has left his job as a London lawyer under something of a cloud (“They all got their money back”) and is now desperately trying to make a go of running his deceased dad’s pub. Enter Andrew, a former foster brother of Stephen’s desperate to help “the only real family I’ve ever known”. But how far will this charismatic cuckoo go to claim his new nest? Is he really the man he claims to be? If so why can’t Stephen remember him? A great support cast including Louise Brealey and Matthew Holness clearly relish the chance to deliver Blackwell’s acerbic oneliners but the real joy lies in the interplay between Mitchell and Webb. They might not exactly be stretching themselves but it’s still hysterical to watch. Sarah Hughes