Bill Paterson

Saddest bit of Fleabag's finale? Having to say goodbye

Goodbye to darling Fleabag, who wiped her tears dry before leaving us last night with a smile and a final wave.

The best references & running jokes in Fleabag finale

The final (ever?) episode of Phoebe Waller-Bridge's comedy was full of nods to the show's history - CONTAINS SPOILERS

There are spirited debates to be had about whether this run of Phoebe Waller-Bridge's peerless sitcom is superior to its predecessor, but it clearly hasn't suffered the difficult second season syndrome some feared. It concludes with the wedding between Dad (Bill Paterson) and Olivia Colman's monstrous godmother, an event that delivers at least two momentous family face-offs, and a show-stopping performance from Andrew Scott's much-lusted-after man of the cloth.

Fleabag finale is an absolute masterpiece

Fleabag graciously bowed out of our lives today with the final installment of Phoebe Waller-Bridge's insanely perfect second series.

Fleabag's finale was a heartbreaking crescendo

Few artists have so truthfully explored every intricacy and hardship of what it means to love as Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

Fleabag season two review

Phoebe Waller-Bridge's exemplary artistry shines through in the latest series of her beautifully candid comedy Fleabag.

Why do I get the feeling that Phoebe Waller-Bridge likes trouble? The second series of Fleabag, again written by and starring her, arrived "371 days, 19 hours and 26 minutes later", in a flurry of sex (Fleabag flirting with new character, "cool, smoking priest", played by Andrew Scott), violence (a punch-up between Fleabag and her loathsome, lying brother-in-law, Martin, played by Brett Gelman), and miscarriage - suffered secretly in a restaurant toilet cubicle by Fleabag's sister, Claire (Sian Clifford).

In the end it was almost as much of a bloodbath as the other show Waller-Bridge writes, Killing Eve. Before it all kicked off, our favourite selfish, rude, inappropriate, fag-smoking malcontent (the Dorothy Parker of the Fomo generation?) had, relatively speaking, been behaving herself at the engagement meal of her inadequate father (Bill Paterson) and snaky godmother (Olivia Colman, on fine, forked-tongue form). The show's appeal lies in Waller-Bridge's gift for jumping between casual interaction ("Claire, you've been ages. Are you pissed off, or are you doing a poo?"), to fang-deep venom (Martin to Fleabag: "I'm so intrigued to see how you're going to make this whole evening about yourself"), to surreal pathos ("Get your hands off my miscarriage!"). While I felt the first series flagged slightly towards the end, this was a dark, stylish return - the telly staple of a tense family celebration, but with sudden twists and writing so sharp it could scratch your eyes out.

Review: Fleabag - Series Two

Before going into this review I should state that I have one major problem with Fleabag: other critics. When the first series aired in 2016, one of the most famous scenes is of the title character played by the show's writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge, masturbating to footage of Barack Obama. Similarly, the critics are so fawning in their praise of this comedy that in my head just about every single newspaper TV critic in Britain is secretly wanking off to Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

Review: Welcome back Fleabag!

The first episode of Fleabag's long-awaited second series serves up an extremely awkward family dinner, an eccentric priest and some deliciously dark comedy.

Fleabag review

An old-fashioned setup given contemporary clothing.