Better Things
BBC2, Sunday 6 September, 10pm
It’s a measure of the confidence of this US comedy series, as it reaches its fourth season, that the opening episode begins with a lengthy, moody montage of images of an unusually rainy Los Angeles to the sound of Warren Zevon’s classic song Steady Rain. But that’s just the calm before the storm as our heroine Sam (Pamela Adlon, who also writes and directs) and her oddly British mother Phyllis aka Phil (the legendary Celia Imrie) pick up Sam’s daughters Frankie and Duke, who have been away visiting their father. Frankie then surprises Sam by asking for a big party for her 15th birthday. If you haven’t yet caught this hidden gem of a series, get onboard now. ★★★★