Johnny Flynn

Last in the run of a sitcom that's a kind of apologetic British remake of Two And A Half Men, though it feels more like something from the 1990s on ITV. Up to now it's been a vicious circle of familiar characters and consequently underpowered gags. Tonight, the chalk/cheese twentysomething brothers who are surrogate parents to a troubled younger sibling are surprised by the arrival of their unreliable father. Feckless lothario Toby (Johnny Flynn) is innocently delighted; Tolstoy-reading fusspot Dan (Ben Ashenden) is embittered.

Johnny Flynn interview

The actor and musician plays a laid-back, carefree charmer in Comedy Central series Brotherhood -- but he's busier in real life...

You'll forgive us for thinking that a BBC Four comedy about the hobby of metal detecting sounded about as fun as an afternoon excavating a trench. But Detectorists proved to be one of our highlights of the year.

It would be easy to assume that Mackenzie Crook was handed his own series to write, direct and star in because of his name rather than the content. And yet the portrait of old friends Andy and Lance (the ever-amazing Toby Jones) negotiating midlife crises, roaming around the countryside looking for a lot more than gold, was wryly amusing and even moving.

The achingly slow pace was either loved or loathed by viewers - and we really loved it. A beautiful soundtrack by Johnny Flynn, sweeping vistas of the Suffolk countryside and what wasn't being said all made Detectorists fantastic.

Initially dismissed by some as a "title first, show second" gimmick, Scrotal Recall succeeded by turning its high-concept premise into a platform for narrative trickery. The flashbacks detailing the sexual conquests of chlamydia sufferer Dylan (Johnny Flynn) slowly formed a jigsaw puzzle resembling, ever so slightly, the out-of-order fourth season of Arrested Development. Of course, for those just wanting to watch a warm-spirited comedy, Scrotal Recall managed that well too, proving more likable than its laddish premise suggested.

This unlikely romcom starring folk singer Johnny Flynn as a mild-mannered STI sufferer draws to a close. As usual, Luke (Daniel Ings) is the one compelling Dylan (Flynn) into action, as the two search for the latter's ex, Phoebe, to tell her she might have chlamydia. There's a shock discovery for the lads and more flashback fodder, before present-day Luke forces Dylan to make a decision about Evie (Antonia Thomas). Will he confess his feelings to her?

Radio Times review

While Mackenzie Crook's nerdcom has ambled along quite happily for two episodes, this edition's walk over field and furrow is quite the happening. Disappointed that Bishop's Farm has yet to yield the kind of gleaming spoils that its potty owner has shown them, Andy and Lance focus instead on their pub's imminent folk-song open mic.

Highlights: Andy (Crook) makes a fool of himself - though not with the song that he performs with Lance; we get to see the singer of Detectorists' theme tune (it's Johnny Flynn, star of Channel 4's Scrotal Recall); and there's more hilariously childish insult-trading with rival gang the Antiqui-searchers. Best one yet.

Lance and Andy prepare for their open-mic spot at the White Horse; club president Terry suspects he knows what happened to Farmer Bishop's missing wife; and Becky may be keeping mum about a discovery of her own, in the latest chapter of this exquisitely well-observed Beckettian comedy. Given that both series showed up around the same time, and share a similar sort of wry charm, there's a pleasing crossover tonight with Channel 4's Scrotal Recall: the latter's Johnny Flynn makes a cameo as a fellow folkie.

Radio Times review

The adventures of Dylan Witter (folk singer and actor Johnny Flynn) continue with tonight's flashback to an eventful double date with best mate Luke (Daniel Ings) and a very, very funny climax (if you'll forgive the term) when he has to reveal his, er, condition to his conquest. It's a neat premise allowing for imaginative time leaps, though the title does not quite convey the tenderness (as well as the comic brio) of the material.

The unrequited love subplot between Dylan and best female friend Evie (Antonia Thomas), however, does needs to take a more original direction.