Graham Linehan

Graham Linehan on US IT Crowd: "Don't do my show"

Graham Linehan has hinted that the upcoming US remake of The IT Crowd will be a departure from the original series.

Graham Linehan would love to do a IT Crowd spin-off

The creator of the cult comedy would like to give Matt Berry's vile boss Douglas Reynholm his own show.

Writer? Don't fear the writer-performer

The situation isn't quite as bad as James Cary makes out. Writers do still have some clout in the comedy creation process - Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, for instance, continue to create their own shows, while Graham Linehan can choose what he wants to write, and when.

Just as we're getting used to their little foibles, the Walshes depart in a paranoid whirl. Mum Carmel makes plans for a special meal, son Rory goes into existential meltdown over a cat while Ciara sets boyfriend Graham a lose-lose conundrum. As for Dad Tony, he can't bring himself to open the results of a biopsy on the little fella on his Rose of Tralee. It was a bumpy start but Graham Linehan's family sitcom deserves a full run.

Radio Times review

Comedy group Diet of Worms and Graham Linehan's family sitcom ends on a high. It's the Walshes' annual dinner night, in which they eat out to celebrate a single act of spontaneity 15 years ago.

However they never set foot outside the front door, as Rory struggles to dress appropriately, Graham finds himself caught in an emotional trap by Ciara, and Tony frets about his biopsy. Oh, and the lurking Martin is now just a disembodied voice in the wall cavity.

The situation is almost laughably tense, with great gags including some exquisite descriptions of Rory's outfits: "You look like you're going to steal a horse and swap it for some heroin".

Radio Times review

This domestic sitcom from Dublin comedy troupe Diet of Worms and Graham Linehan really hits its stride tonight, as meek, unassuming Graham (the excellent Shane Langan) is evicted from his bedsit in a hilariously absurd opening scene.

His only option is to fall upon the mercy of the Walshes, who hardly welcome their daughter's boyfriend with open arms. Tony (Niall Gaffney) tries desperately to prove he's as learned as the bookish Graham, while Carmel (Philippa Dunne) fixes a smile and insists "it's fine" that Ciara (Amy Stephenson) is sharing her bed with a man.

The set-up is standard but the finely crafted execution raises the comedy to great heights.

The Walshes are a working-class Dublin family comprising cab driver Tony (Niall Gaffney), chatterbox Carmel (Philippa Dunne) and their two grown-up children, both unemployed, all living in a house too small to accommodate four adults, plus their neighbour, who is forever round fixing things.

It is this sense of claustrophobia that gives The Walshes its comic edge. Otherwise it would be a fairly standard family sitcom, albeit one with much better jokes, given the fact that Graham Linehan of Father Ted fame is one of the writers.

Over on BBC Four things were uplifting, thanks to The Walshes - a new sitcom from Graham Linehan, co-written with comedy troupe Diet of Worms, the latter playing the members of the eponymous Dublin family. It's not the subtlest piece of work you'll ever see (dad Tony, under erroneous impression that daughter Keira's new boyfriend is a doctor, shows him his "small anal event - like a rubbery M&M behind me scrotum!") but there are lovely touches. Mother Carmel's "demented fridge". Neighbour Mike who appears quietly at intervals from behind the latest banjaxed Walsh appliance. The "28A" affixed to Keira's door to make her feel like she's got her own flat. I laughed. At two points I nearly cried. Linehan et al are either geniuses or need to be burned as witches. I'll tune in next week to decide.

Review: The Walshes, BBC Four

Zany Dublin family comprising eccentric parents, neurotic daughter and dozy slacker son prepare to meet daughter's new boyfriend... Sound promising? No not especially, but The Walshes is written by Graham Linehan (with help from the "Diet of Worms" comedy troupe), and where there's Linehan there's always hope.

Radio Times review

What's that, you say, a sitcom about an Irish family with an overbearing matriarch? Well, forget Mrs Brown's Boys, because writer Graham Linehan and Dublin comedy troupe Diet of Worms's take on the tropes of Irish family life is far more restrained.

We're introduced to the Walshes - "eejit" Dad (Niall Gaffney), smothering Mammy (Philippa Dunne), feckless son Rory (Rory Connolly) - as they prepare to invite desperate-to-flee-the-nest daughter Ciara's (Amy Stephenson) new, unassuming boyfriend Graham into their madhouse.

It's a traditional family sitcom full of comic misunderstandings, some wonderful moments of silliness and there's an affectionate charm in the playing, with Shane Langan particularly good as Graham - he has the look of a young Linehan about him.