All right, I’m going to say something that, realistically, is going to ruin a lot of television for you for a very long time, possibly for ever. Have you ever noticed how – especially in comedies, but also in almost everything else – nobody actually talks to each other? They don’t actually have conversations? Sometimes they say things to each other, sure. Sometimes they reveal enough information to get the story engine moving. But they don’t actually say things, and quite often they actively talk past each other while they’re doing it. When did you last see an actual, honest-to-goodness conversation in a scripted series? You’re racking your brains. Take a minute, see what you come up with. Nothing, right?
Anyway, I have a delightful surprise for you: it’s called Still Up, it’s a British comedy on Apple TV+ (from Friday 22 September), the characters actually talk to each other, and it’s really, really good. The central conceit is this: best friends Danny (Craig Roberts, who is superb and needs to be in way more things) and Lisa (Antonia Thomas, who is also superb and needs to be in way more things, but is also already in The Good Doctor) are two friends with shared insomnia. They while away the small hours of the morning with long, meandering phonecalls about nothing and something, and they share this deep, loyal, honest-feeling friendship. Obviously they are in love with each other. You don’t win any prizes for guessing that they’re in love with each other.
