The Unfriend has a great premise… for a sitcom. It also has a prestige TV cast to match, with Amanda Abbington, Reece Shearsmith and Frances Barber all assembled to tell the story of a middle-class couple who accidentally invite a serial killer into their home. But this isn’t a sitcom. It’s the debut play from Sherlock creator and former Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat, directed by Mark Gatiss, and the story gets bogged down by writing that’s inconsistent in quality.
Middle class couple Peter (Shearsmith) and Debbie (Abbington) are soaking up the sun on a cruise when they meet Elsa Jean Krakowski (Barber), a loud, charming American. She’s decidedly un-PC and rattles off fat jokes while spouting about the dangers of vaccines, but is – we’re told – a laugh. That is, until Elsa invites herself to their Chiswick home and one perfunctory google reveals that Elsa is a suspect in not one, but six murders – including her husband. “She’s a murderer and we’re too embarrassed to bring it up,” says Debbie, with an exasperated cry.
