Julia Davis

Radio Times review

"At least it's made by somebody who cares," said up-and-coming 52-year-old sketch comedian Kevin Eldon at the start of his first solo series, just after a giant boxing glove had appeared in shot to punch him in the face. This was the joy of It's Kevin: silly set-ups other sketch shows wouldn't consider, executed with a level of care and expertise other sketch shows can't match.

Eldon has appeared in Brass Eye, I'm Alan Partridge, Fist of Fun, Harry & Paul, Nighty Night and countless other revered British comedies, its creators all knowing that his impeccable timing and oddball menace would lift their projects. Big names like Julia Davis have reciprocated by guesting in It's Kevin, but they're not just doing Eldon a favour, and this isn't just a chance for a technically gifted supporting actor to have a go at being the lead in a bunch of sketches. Eldon boldly put himself centre-screen as the host and creator of a programme that lovingly, caringly turned the sketch show inside-out. His writing is as impressive as his acting.

It began with a song-and-dance number in a bright white studio, with ticker tape, Cockney walkabouts, puppets and a thrash-punk interlude. If it had stopped there it would still have been the comedy of the year so far, but on it went, often staying in the white studio with sketches sidling in and out of Eldon's interactions with a cast of helpers. His maintenance man couldn't find the lost property office. His wardrobe assistant spoke only in screams (taken, I think, from that "goats shout like humans" YouTube video). The perfect sandwich was made by Hosni Mubarak, a curt young man with a massive dagger. A man played by David Cann explained that the best sandwich he ever had was one a found under a train seat. "I don't know what was in it. Orangey, yellow sticky stuff."

There hasn't been a sketch show with ideas this good since Big Train in 1998 - Eldon was in that as well. He reprised his famous impression of George Martin, giving the Beatles producer's voice to Hitler reminiscing about annexing the Sudetenland ("I immediately knew that we were onto something big"). But the biggest laughs were stupid visual jokes, superbly performed. The bit where Eldon failed to replace a microphone back in the stand went on for an extremely long time, but I could have watched it for longer.

The scheduling at 10.30pm on a Sunday, and the lack of on-air promotion and advance marketing, suggest BBC2 thought they had a weird dud on their hands, until scores of comedy pros shouted about It's Kevin on social media, and every broadsheet ran a profile detailing Eldon's impeccable pedigree. Then there was the odd flicker of support from the BBC online, too late: only 430,000 people tuned in according to overnight figures.

Those ratings are on a par with Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle - so it was that another original comedy by a rare talent pouring his heart into his career peak was seen only by the niche audience who were already on side. If people who aren't comedy nerds miss It's Kevin, they have really missed out.

Doomed romance, bad luck and sexual confusion are hallmarks of the work of both Daphne Du Maurier and Julia Davis, so this sordid marriage of the two feels entirely natural. As a homage to Rebecca and the like, Hunderby is sublime: the turns of phrase are deft, the performances both arch and loaded with menace, and the wider production impeccably detailed. Importantly, however, room is also made for a cock-n-balls gag. Davis herself is Mrs Danvers surrogate Dorothy, pining after her late mistress (whose 'broken mound was as smooth as ham') and scheming against her new one, Helene (Alexandra Roach, doe-eyed and gauche), the shipwreck survivor courted by uptight pastor Edmund (Alex McQueen). Claustrophobic and grimly hilarious in the manner of Davis's best work, this is a triumphant opener for an award-winning series. If you missed it first time round, don't make the same mistake again.

Hunderby: why this Julia Davis comedy is worth watching

This period-sitcom homage to Daphne du Maurier is the most original show on television. If you didn't catch Hunderby first time round, don't miss the repeat.

Steve Coogan makes a suitably un-avuncular narrator in this nightmare-before-Christmas tale for older animation fans with a taste for something darker, as spouses Julian Barratt and Julia Davis supply voices. What to buy a boy who has everything? A giant crab, of course.

Joel Veitch - he of the dancing internet cats - writes, and Steve Coogan, Julia Davis and Julian Barratt star in this wonky animated tale of greying Uncle Wormsley and young, wealthy Johnny Goodington. Johnny wants a giant crab for Christmas, but the only person who has one is Wormsley. The boy's parents decide to call in The Crab Catchers to guarantee their precious boy his wish. But at what price? A skewwhiff morality tale that calls to mind Warp Films' superb Bunny and the Bull in tone, this is a weird, exciting half-hour break from the norm.

An earlier slot might have been more suitable for this rudimentary animated children's fable. It's a gruesome, cautionary tale about love, greed and a giant crab, written by Tim Gallagher and Joel Veitch, and produced by Baby Cow. Steve Coogan narrates the story of a miserably creepy, grey old man, Uncle Wormsley, whose sole companion is a huge crab that he keeps in a cage and to whom he feeds the neighbours' pets. Across town lives the spoilt Johnnie, whose parents are obscenely wealthy and who is given everything he wants. But the one thing he craves is a giant crab and so his father enters into a devilish pact with the mysterious "crab-catchers". Julian Barratt, John Thomson and Julia Davis provide the voices.

Vic and Bob eye lead actors for their new film

Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer are writing a feature film they will star in and want their leading ladies to be comedy queen Julia Davis... and Eggheads presenter Dermot Murnaghan.

Julia Davis: British TV comedy needs variety

Julia Davis talks to Metro about her new period drama-inspired comedy Hunderby and the state of British TV comedy.

Hunderby, DVD review

Julia Davis's Hunderby is beautifully odd, deliciously dark, and played absolutely straight, writes Rachel Ward.

Last in the exquisitely funny series. Helene is confined to the attic until her pelvic explosion cometh, while Doctor Foggarty, wretched with drink, tries to make another go of it with Crippled Hester. Julia Davis and co-writer Barunka O'Shaughnessy must take several bows to deafening applause for this comic masterpiece. The hoot-per-minute rate has remained high throughout and among an exemplary cast, Alex MacQueen (as Edmund) did a full Sheryl Crow, moving from comedy backing singer to lead vocals with aplomb.