We briefly meet Austin, the namesake of this British-Australian sitcom, at the very beginning of the opening episode: he’s walking through his workplace – a warehouse, he’s a forklift driver – bluntly dispensing unsolicited advice to his colleagues (“Best hangover cure: sardines on toast!”). But before we know it, we’ve been torn away from this offbeat sage and thrown into the orbit of a far less wise man. Julian (Ben Miller) is a children’s author in crisis. He has come to Australia with his illustrator wife Ingrid (Sally Phillips) to promote the latest instalment in their wildly successful Big Bear franchise. Before takeoff, Julian retweeted a missive about free speech from a neo-Nazi (he didn’t realise they were a neo-Nazi). Upon arrival, he discovers his career has effectively been destroyed.
Book tour (and self) cancelled, Julian hastily arranges a signing in one of the only shops that will still have him, a Mein Kampf-laden store run by a neo-Nazi (he didn’t realise they were a neo … you get the picture). After the penny finally drops, Julian starts packing up – that’s when Austin arrives, Big Bear back catalogue in tow. He wants his books signed and to deliver some news. “I’m pretty sure that,” he begins, pausing idiosyncratically, “I’m your son.”
