Duo Zoom in to bicker and banter
It’s a premise that’s hard to resist. Two of Britain’s finest and most charismatic actors coming together for a Covid-inspired comedy.
And if the omens were good – their last show together had them playing a Neil Gaimaninspired angel and demon – then the result is even better than we might have dared hoped.
Snippets of Staged have been circulating on social media and showcased on talkshows like Graham Norton’s in the 12 months since its debut in the United Kingdom, so it’s a welcome relief to finally have the real thing arrive on Kiwi screens.
In this Covid-era, Zoom-set successor to The Trip, Welsh wizard Michael Sheen and Scottish scamp David Tennant banter and bicker while trying to stay occupied, at a time when they are unable to perform in front of a live audience.
Their proposed production of Luigi Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author has been iced as a result of the pandemic, however, director Simon Evans is convinced they should continue to rehearse so they can be ready to roll as soon as the lockdown lifts.
Tennant is enthusiastic about the move, but Sheen is more reticent about online readings.
He has instead thrown himself into his landscape painting hobby, indulging in daily charcuterie boards and getting increasingly paranoid about the return of bird life to his beloved Port Talbot.
‘‘I feel like I’m in a
Hitchcock movie,’’ he frets.
Slightly envious of his fellow thespian’s lavish and artistic lifestyle, Tennant, in comparison, has been wrestling with home schooling his children and started spelling words backwards in his head.
‘‘It’s not a skill set, it’s a compulsion,’’ he admits.
As with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon’s adventures around Europe, much of the delight of Staged comes from the dynamics in the pair’s relationship.
Instead of impressions, these two boast a range of regional and international accents to showcase, while arguing about who should have top billing – and why – lamenting ‘‘loose’’ email language and taking every chance to one-up each other.
The occasional guest – Samuel L Jackson, Dame Judi Dench and Adrian Lester in season one and everyone from Christoph Waltz to Cate Blanchett, Michael Palin and Phoebe Waller-Bridge in series two – injects a little more spice into proceedings.
But really we’re here to see this terrific duo send up their public personas and profession, which they do with panache and aplomb.
They might be Staged, but these bite-sized episodes are terrific fun.
Staged begins on Sky’s UKTV at 9.30pm tonight. Episodes will also be available on Sky Go.