Kathy Burke

Kathy Burke's autobiographical four-parter Walking and Talking, in which two 14-year-old girls walk the streets of punky north London in the 1970s, talking almost as swiftly as the cast of Veep about boys, alcoholic dads, weight problems and boys. It sounds slight, but it's given extra oomph by the terrific Jerry Sadowitz as the "fruit and nut case" Jimmy the Jew, and Burke as a misanthropic nun, who embarks on a terrific take-down of her fellow sister's appreciation of Boney M.

It might have been the least slick of the three shows, but it was also perhaps the most genuine, giving a real sense of Burke's childhood fears and thrills. And it's well worth catching by those 10 million of you who do have Sky Atlantic.

Walking and Talking, Kathy Burke's new series, is essentially constructed out of Kath and Mary's walk home from school. Kath has the details of Burke's own childhood - alcoholic father, no mother and a tendency to score higher for Personality than Looks when her friends fill in the teen-mag love questionnaires. But this is played lightly here, not as emotional ballast. Kath introduces herself as a bundle of enthusiasms - for X-Ray Spex, Keith Waterhouse, Kes and Play for Today - and the mood is consistently sweet and innocent. When her friend Mary questions the knowledge of an older boy at school, Kath - the more knowing of the two - replies: "He's 18, Mary. Of course he knows everything!" Like Welcome to the Places of My Life, it's a bit all over the place formally, dropping in animations and sketch-like sequences featuring two nuns (one of whom is played by Burke herself). But the mood is consistent throughout - deeply affectionate for the child she was.

Kathy Burke's Walking and Talking is a charming semi-autobiographical comedy which adroitly captures the certainty and confusion of adolescence. Set in [y]979[/y], it follows an ambling conversation between two teenage friends on their way home from school, occasionally interrupted by cameos from Burke herself as a belligerent nun, and cult comedian Jerry Sadowitz as - surely not? - a ranting Glaswegian lunatic. It's a slight yet gently amusing affair.

Interview: Kathy Burke, comedian and actress

She'll never write her autobiography, but talented actress Kathy Burke plays her teenage self - minus the horrible bits - in a new TV series.

It's the 70s, so everything is a bit brown and Life on Mars. Busby-haired "Kaff", who is 14 and lippy, pogos around her bedroom to X-Ray Spex. This is the young Kathy Burke, as remembered by the actress for a new four-part series.

The sitcom follows the tomboyish teen (a superb Ami Metcalf) and best mate Mary as they amble around the streets of Islington. Co-starring Burke as Angry Nun and Jerry Sadowitz as Jerry the Jew, it's a total delight, with realistic rhythms of girl talk, and a smile of a soundtrack.

Having made its debut in Sky1's Little Crackers series of short films from 2010, Kathy Burke's slight but charming autobiographical musings return for a four-part series, with the adolescent Kath and best pal Mary as played by Ami Metcalf and Aimee-Ffion Edwards. It's virtually a two-hander, barring an exchange from her two bewimpled teachers and a puzzling cameo from Jerry Sadowitz, so a huge amount rests on the dialogue and performances. Burke's script invokes the comedy of recognition easily enough, as the awkward teens rail against the frequently baffling yet strangely enticing adult world of French toast, pubs and romance. But the genuine warmth of their relationship owes a huge amount to the young actors: Metcalf and Edwards are both wonderful, and reason enough alone to tune in.

I found Walking and Talking (Sky Atlantic), Kathy Burke's new series about two 14-year-old girls in 1970s London who walk and talk adolescent angst to be not compelling, though this might have been because I was all funned out by the rest of Sky Atlantic's comedy output then. I know TV channels like to have themed evenings and load their schedules accordingly, but it's not how I like to watch television. I don't get home from work on a Monday evening and think, "Tonight, Matthew, I shall just watch comedy", in much the same way I don't choose to watch only documentaries on a Tuesday, crime dramas on a Wednesday or panel quiz shows on a Thursday. I like variety. And even if I didn't, almost any comedy won't seem that funny after Alan Partridge or Veep.

Walking and Talking had its moments and I suspect it will be a show that creeps up on its audience rather than wows it from the off. Personally, though, I could have done with a few more laughs. Most of the ones I did get were from Burke's own cameo as the Angry Nun in the school playground. More of her and I could be persuaded.

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Kathy Burke talks about her new Sky Atlantic comedy series, Walking and Talking, based on her experiences growing up in north London in the late 1970s...

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