The Daily Telegraph

What to watch

EVERYONE ELSE BURNS

- Veronica Lee

Channel 4, 10pm & 10.35pm

Adouble header to launch Dillon Mapletoft and Oliver Taylor’s enjoyable sitcom, starring Simon Bird, about a puritanica­l religious sect. Despite sporting a very weird haircut, Bird essays another version of his characters in The Inbetweene­rs and Friday Night Dinner as David Lewis, a condescend­ing, permanentl­y exasperate­d individual who is thwarted in his ambitions – including to become a church elder – at every turn. The Lewis family are members of the Order of the Divine Rod in Manchester, an apocalypti­c congregati­on who believe the end of the world is nigh and that sinners – ie everyone but themselves – will be cast into eternal flames on the day of reckoning. However, cracks are starting to appear in David’s life; son Aaron (Harry Connor) is thankfully a true believer, but longsuffer­ing wife Fiona (Kate O’flynn) regularly slopes off to neighbour Melissa’s (Morgana Robinson) house to watch her telly, while teenage daughter Rachel (Amy James-kelly) is discoverin­g what hormones are for. Her teacher (Lolly Adefope), meanwhile, is encouragin­g Rachel to apply to Satan’s hellhole, aka university. It’s a warmhearte­d comedy as much about family life as religion, with a high gag count.

 ?? ?? Simon Bird and Kadiff Kirwan star in this sitcom set among Mancunian religious zealots
Simon Bird and Kadiff Kirwan star in this sitcom set among Mancunian religious zealots

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