Sarah Hadland

Preview - Inside No. 9: Empty Orchestra

The latest edition of Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith's anthology series takes us into karaoke booth No. 9.

Review: Uncle, BBC3

The third and final series of Uncle kicks off with a slice of emotional turmoil for Andy (Nick Helm). We all know that he has a nephew, Errol, but could he be a father too? The first episode finds him reflecting on whether his life if about to undergo a seismic shift that will mean that he has to accept some real responsibilities.

A triple bill from the queen of affable slapstick. This binge includes the episode in which Miranda's plan to take French classes backfires when she runs into a loathed former teacher, played by Peter Davison - whose occasional TV appearances are a reminder of his exemplary timing. It also includes the one with the Officer and a Gentleman ending and the usual sterling support from Sarah Hadland, Sally Phillips and Patricia Hodge.

Ardal O'Hanlon pilots ITV sitcom

Ardal O'Hanlon has shot a pilot for a new ITV family sitcom. The Berries, which co-stars Miranda's Sarah Hadland, is about what's described as 'your average family ... that is to say, completely unique in their own funny ways'.

Stop/Start was written and stars Jack Docherty who I most remember from his Channel Five chat show but who has recently been very active on radio. In fact Stop/Start is based on Doherty's successful Radio 4 sitcom with cast members Kerry Godliman and John Thomson also accompanying the writer for this small screen adaptation. Joining their number are Sarah Hadland, Nigel Havers and Laura Aikman who take part in what can best be described as rather an old-fashioned relationship comedy. The central couple of the piece are Rob and Cathy (Doherty and Godliman) who are about to celebrate an anniversary with a party where he has to give a speech. At the same time Rob's old work colleague Georgy (Aikman) moves across the road with her much older husband David (Havers) with the pair quickly being invited to the anniversary party. The third couple Evan and Fiona (Hadland and Thomson) are friends of Rob and Cathy's who are basically at each other's throats primarily arguing about yoghurt. The narrative twist that Stop/Start provides is that each of the six characters stops the action to talk directly to the audience often letting us in on how they're feeling during a certain moment. Despite this narrative device feeling a bit gimmicky at times it does provide some good laughs with Docherty's script containing a lot of clever observational humour. Additionally Rob and Cathy felt like a real couple to me and their problems with the monotony of a long marriage rose above the cliché of other romantic comedies. I also warmed to David and Georgy's story too thanks to a scene at the anniversary party where it was established why the couple were together. The one couple who were ill-served by the script were Evan and Fiona whose arguments felt too contrived to the extent that they didn't feel like fully-realised characters. That being said all six cast members gave it their best with Godliman particularly excelling in the role of the put-upon Cathy. Furthermore I didn't think the laughter track added anything and the use of The Ting Tings' 'Shut Up and Let Me Go' made the piece feel dated from the get-go. But that being said, of the three Comedy Playhouse pilots, Stop/Start is the one that I feel could easily get a full series due to its great ensemble cast and interesting central premise.