It’s time for the drama to blossom
YOU might remember this bittersweet comedy from a couple of years ago. It centred on the Flowers family: depressed father Maurice (Julian Barratt); music teacher wife Deborah (Olivia Colman), and their 25-year-old twins – inventor son Donald (Daniel Rigby) and musician daughter Amy (Sophia Di Martino).
Added to the mix were Maurice’s senile mother
Hattie (Leila Hoffman), and Japanese illustrator Shun (Will Sharpe).
From the first few minutes of Maurice trying to hang himself, and lovable Deborah handing out tea and cakes to workmen, it was clear this wasn’t your average sitcom. Anything but in fact.
Part Wes Anderson, part Lewis Carroll, and mostly bonkers, it left highbrow critics rubbing their hands with glee.
It returns for a second run this week, and it’s another feather in the cap for Julian Barratt, the actor, musician and comedian who burst into the public eye as part of
The Mighty Boosh.
In the years since, Julian has been one of British showbusiness’s most reliable supporting stars, giving memorable turns in The Bunny And The Bull, Ben Wheatley’s spine-chilling A Field In England, and his own pet project, Mindhorn.
The latter, which he co-wrote and starred in with
Simon Farnaby, was a gloriously silly comedy about a washed-up actor who reprised his role as a TV detective to catch a criminal.
Of course, Olivia Colman’s stratospheric rise to fame over the past decade has been well-documented. From her early role in surreal sitcom Green Wing, to
ITV2 favourite Hot Fuzz, and powerhouse turns in Broadchurch and The Night Manager, the Norwich-born actress has become one of the most in-demand thespians of her generation.
A string of awards for projects such as Tyrannosaur, Accused and The Night Manager underline the fact with heavy strokes.
More recently she lent solid support to Kenneth Branagh’s version of Murder On The Orient Express, and Phoebe Waller-bridge’s sublime black comedy Fleabag.
However, arguably her greatest challenge is yet to come: playing the Queen in Netflix’s global smash saga The Crown.
Another pending project is an animated series based on Richard Adams’ tearjerker Watership Down, which re-teams her with Flowers co-star Daniel Rigby.
He’s been a star on the rise for more than a decade, making critics sit up and take notice in period drama Lillies, Black Mirror, and the David Walliams sitcom
Big School.
And thanks to Channel 4’s Mount Pleasant, and Friday Night Dinner, co-star Sophia Di Martino is also high on the list of Blighty’s finest casting agents.
In the new run of Flowers – in this first of a double-bill – Maurice is on medication and seems in a better place, while Deborah is about to become the published author of a book about his depression.
Meanwhile, lodger Shun is boozing away the summer days, and Amy’s band the Pink Cuttlefish Orchestra are coming to stay at the ramshackle Flowers’ house.
The series is stripped across the week at the same time, so fans won’t have to wait long to see how this blooming marvellous saga plays out.