Russell Tovey

It's the final series of this deliciously grubby comedy with Steve and Becky (Russell Tovey and Sarah Solemani) looking on, horror-struck, from the sidelines as Becky's nightmare sister Laura (Kelly Howard) prepares to tie the knot with fiancé Paul. He looks like a rabbit caught in the headlights - who wouldn't at the prospect of becoming Mr Laura? - but there's more to his wayward behaviour than simply an attack of the pre-nuptial jitters...

For its final outing, the format of Him And Her manages to outdo The Worst Week Of My Life by having the entire series take place over a single day.

It's the wedding of Becky's nightmare sister Laura (Kerry Howard) to her pitiful boyfriend Paul and for the first time ever, Becky and Steve (Sarah Solemani and Russell Tovey) have been allowed to venture out of their squalid bedsit.

They're now staying in a hotel with the rest of the wedding party, which includes fellow bridesmaid Shelly, Becky's ex-boyfriend and the bride's unfortunate baby who's being handed around like a game of pass the parcel.

But a wedding is all about the bride and Laura, who's utterly unbearable at the best of times, hits new heights of narcissism
and nastiness on her big day.

But where is the groom?

Video interview: Russell Tovey and Sarah Solemani

Russell Tovey and Sarah Solemani, the stars of BBC Three comedy Him & Her, speak to Harriet Gibsone about the show, which returns for its fourth and final series on Thursday 21 November. It follows the antics of Becky and Steve, two lazy slobs in love. Though previous series have all been set exclusively in their bedsit, the fourth sees the action move to a hotel, scene of Becky's sister Laura's impending wedding.

It's fair to say that Him & Her's format jigging gives the final run a bit of a special feel, but, as ever, the show is sold on the understated brilliance of Sarah Solemani and Russell Tovey. We're really gonna miss popping round to the bedsit.

Meet the cast podcast

Russell Tovey, Sarah Solemani, Kerry Howard and Ricky Champ discuss the final series of Him & Her with Boyd Hilton at the Apple Store in London.

Greg Rusedski and Russell Tovey? Gregg Wallace and Russell Grant? Greggs the Bakers and Russell & Bromley? Of all the Greg(g)s and Russells in the world, it's Radio 1 DJ Greg James and comedian Russell Kane who team up to present this new spin on the irreverent chat show theme. The bromantic banter is sprinkled with a selection of celeb guests - tonight the featured talent includes Brit hip-hoppers Rizzle Kicks and the Haitian-American chart-topper, dirty talkin' Jason Derulo.

This low-key sitcom set in a job centre potters along to its penultimate episode and yet again nothing much happens, though it remains mildly diverting and good-hearted. The terrible Angela (Jo Enright) buys a new coffee machine with lottery winnings, while sweet-natured Karl (Russell Tovey) falls for a minx of a barmaid who also turns out to be a claimant. And she likes taking risks, as he finds out to his mortification.

Meanwhile, manager Trish (Sarah Hadland) is doing appraisals, which means she insists on close proximity to her employees...

The Job Lot (ITV) is one of those comedies I want to make me bellylaugh because of the people in it but I'm not really getting beyond the odd wry smirk.

Despite boasting a great cast - Russell Tovey from Him & Her (and much besides), Miranda's Sarah Hadland and Adeel Akhtar from Utopia - squeezing amusement out of the daily grind of life in a job centre is proving an uphill struggle.

The problem partly stems from the feeling that the characters haven't got anywhere to go. Tovey's desk monkey Karl is the equivalent of Martin Freeman's Tim in The Office, both stuck in dead-end jobs and not quite sure how they got there, both niggled by the idea they're worth something better. But with Tim you could envision a life beyond; Karl ceases to exist the moment he steps outside the door.

It's that lack of credibility that makes The Job Lot just a journeyman old-school sitcom, cranking the odd easy laugh out of secret websites and unwipeable whiteboards - drawings of bottoms always crack a smile - but the lack of ambition makes it a candidate for early redundancy.

And I'm afraid I wasn't too impressed with another new sitcom, The Job Lot, which came on straight after Vicious. It had the air of The Office about it, following the lives of those working at a job centre in the West Midlands. But it was nowhere near as good as Ricky Gervais' classic series.

The show was about work - or the lack of it - and the characters in the office and their relationships - or lack of them - and, though it started with the Morecambe & Wise song Bring Me Sunshine, it did anything but. It left me as disillusioned as the employers.

In fairness, the performers were likeable enough, such as Miranda's Sarah Hadland's turn as neurotic Trish, and Russell Tovey as Karl, the frazzled manager.

The one shining light in an otherwise average sitcom was Jo Enright, brilliantly irritating as Angela, an unsmiling jobsworth and borderline psychopath.

Sadly, two vital ingredients were missing from the half hour show - laughs and the plots, both of which are pretty important when it comes to making good TV. Add to that the annoying background music and I've got another reason not to tune in again.

The Job Lot is slightly better [than Vicious] but still no great shakes. Once again, from Jo Enright's thwarted office shrew Angela to Russell Tovey's charmingly gormless Carl, it's the performances that save the day. The job centre setting is used to making a few sneakily pertinent points about targets culture and the disregarded human implications of unemployment - tonight featuring the always-amusing Martin Trenaman as an estate agent who baulks at commuting six hours a day to work in a bar. But otherwise, it's a simple workplace comedy recast for the austerity age.