Enjoy another helping from the café
KATE & KOJI proved to be just the tonic we needed in early 2020.
Launching just days before the national lockdown was ordered, the studio sitcom played out in the early throes of the pandemic, providing much-needed laughs to millions holed up at home.
The premise: an unexpected and sparky friendship between Kate, the owner of an old-fashioned seaside cafe, and Koji, an African asylum seeker and qualified doctor (Brenda Blethyn and Jimmy Akingbola).
“You never know how it’s going to be received, but we’re delighted with the way it went down,” says Brenda, 76. “On average, we had (just under) five million viewers.”
“People were very pleased because everyone was a bit stunned in March (2020),” agrees co-star Barbara Flynn, 73, who plays Kate’s arch nemesis, councillor Lavinia Bone.
“Lots of people said how much they enjoyed it because they were at home and didn’t know what to do with themselves,” she says. “It was something nice that the whole family could enjoy.”
Kate & Koji stars tell GEMMA DUNN about the return of the popular familyfriendly comedy
Now, two years on, the hit comedy – written by Outnumbered duo Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin – is back. Returning to the latest six-episode run, alongside Brenda and Barbara, is Blake Harrison as Kate’s handyman nephew Medium; while Okorie Chukwu takes over the role of Koji from Jimmy (who is now in LA having signed onto the re-boot of The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air).
Guest s ta r s include
Chizzy Akudolu, Claire Skinner, Susie Blake and Martin Marquez.
So where can we expect to find the characters this series?
Much like the rest of us, they’re navigating life after the pandemic. Brenda explains: “We meet them again as lockdown has just finished and Kate is being rewarded for her efforts looking after people.
“She’s been cooking food for the vulnerable, and Medium has been delivering for her, and they’ve won an award for it.”
But it all goes downhill, shares the Vera star, “as (in the next episode) her foot has a row with a curb ramp and Koji has to take over in the cafe, which is pretty irritating to Kate.
“She just sits back and moans – or criticises. But she knows he’s doing his best; she knows his heart is in the right place.”
As for Koji, he is still working illegally as a doctor in the café and still awaiting a decision on his asylum application.
“It’s a sad situation and process that people have to go through,” says Okorie, who is known for Hood Chronicles.
“Koji’s going through that process, and when he goes to the cafe he gets a bit of refuge in discussing and going through situations that take his mind off it for a moment – like when he runs the cafe for a day.”
Councillor Bone will be up to her usual tricks, says Barbara. “There’s the sparking that goes on between Kate and Lavinia (Lavvy). But later on, she finds a remarkably different side to her character, which causes absolute mayhem.
“She suddenly becomes nice, and nobody knows quite what to do with that,” she says. “But it all comes right in the end, of course.
“It’s a glorious part to play; it’s enormous fun and Brenda is a total dream.
“It’s different, it’s funny, it’s light and it’s an amazing piece of writing.
“They’ve made a world that’s very accessible to the whole family to sit down and enjoy, as well as keeping a lot of reality to it.”
“Comedy saves us all,” adds Brenda. “The biggest gift my parents left me was a sense of humour. If you’ve got a sense of humour, you’ll get through anything.”
She hopes Kate & Koji will run and run: “It’s a treat, actually. After dealing with the horrors of murder, which is also great, you just come in and have a laugh” she says.