Stefan Golaszewski

BBC Three's flat-share sitcom Him & Her has been recommissioned for a third series. This is a comedy I watch but don't review every week, so I'm pleased by this announcement. Series 2's been much stronger, mainly because writer Stefan Golaszewski's chosen to involve more characters - in the form of the family/friends of reclusive lovers Becky and Steve. It's still not the kind of show I laugh-out-loud with, or feel keen to get other people watching, but it's pleasant and amusing. Most episodes have at least one memorable encounter or uncomfortable situation to giggle at.

I do wonder if the concept will stretch to a third year, though. There's almost no character development with Becky and Steve (which is kind of the point because they're stuck in a blissful rut together), but it's getting to the stage where you're hoping for Becky to at least fall pregnant.

Stefan Golaszewski's grubby but warm-hearted comedy is on top form tonight: Becky has moved into boyfriend Steve's flat so it's time for the two families to meet - an excruciatingly awkward occasion in which awful presents are exchanged, surprising political alliances bubble to the surface and everyone is very out of their depth.

As love's young sleazers Steve and Becky fill in the spaces between s**gging - mostly with their deranged rhomboid of friends - Him & Her feels more like reality TV than TV comedy.

Russell Tovey and Sarah Solemani have the kind of kinky chemistry you can't fake. Things have moved on from the first series and Becky has moved in to Steve's flat but the trickle of slacker erotica - most episodes feature Steve taking a pee without closing the bathroom door - remains undiluted.

In a way, writer Stefan Golaszewski is celebrating old-fashioned romance, in the sense that the central idea of Him & Her is that, somewhere out there, your perfect mate exists.
Steve and Becky, united by dubious hygiene and an inability to get dressed, are made for each other, right down to the tips of toes you know need a good clipping.

If I was to carp, I'd say Him & Her could do with a few more laughs but I'd find it hard to credit that these two aren't living at the end of my street.

Him & Her series 2 episode 1 review

Filmed exclusively in one location, the genius of Stefan Golaszewski's writing is that whilst nothing really happens, what does occur is very watchable, and indeed at times extremely funny.

It's BBC3's most successful sitcom ever, so of course it's back for series two. Writer Stefan Golaszewski's low-key, handily low-budget visits to the flat inhabited by laid-back Steve (Russell Tovey) have barely changed, with the main development being that Steve's sexy, tolerant girlfriend Becky (Sarah Solemani) has moved in, not that she's got round to unpacking much.

Interrupting their regime of toast, sex and lying about are the friends and family who bring the funnies in from the outside world. They're lazy smiles rather than belly laughs, making this a show that requires your mood to match its own - but Steve's ex Julie (Katie Lyons) dropping in, this series promises a bit of drama, too.

Stefan Golaszewski on Him & Her

With hit BBC Three programme Him & Her returning on Tuesday, we asked writer and creator of the show, Stefan Golaszewski, to give us his thoughts on the new series. He's also happy to answer any questions you may have about the series, so why not comment below!

Him and Her: Romance's reality check

As BBC3 comedy Him and Her gets set for a second series, writer Stefan Golaszewski explains to Ben Dowell how he gets his inspiration from gritty realism rather than unattainable ideals of domestic bliss.

An interview with Stefan Golaszewski

Today we have an interview with Stefan Golaszewski who, amongst other things, was the Cambridge Footlights President from 2002-2003, part of the insanely good comedy sketch group Cowards (along with Tim Key, Tom Basden & Lloyd Woolf), and writer/creator of the BBC Three series Him & Her.

The best British comedy right now is Him & Her, which couldn't be more different from US sitcom Modern Family. You imagine the latter being devised in the classic American way, with a team of crack writers being locked in a room, fed pizzas pushed under the door and only let out once they'd delivered scripts as tight as Gloria the Colombian trophy-wife's dresses.

Him & Her, on the other hand, looks like it's come out of the BBC3 glooper which produces programmes for feckless twentysomethings who don't actually watch TV. But while its central characters are two feckless twentysomethings who for five episodes now have not left their mingin' cowp of a flat (tomorrow's the last one and I don't expect the situation to change), Stefan Golaszewski's romcom is, in these surroundings, a jam and fluff-covered gem featuring charming performances from Russell Tovey and Sarah Solemani as Steve and Becky.

Despite their differences, Him & Her and Modern Family had things in common last week beyond their quality. In both, a character brought a girl home, prompting consternation. Parents fussed over daughters and Steve proved just as useless as Mitchell with a hammer in his hand. He was meeting Becky's parents for the first time. "I'm a people person," he said afterwards. "No you're not," said Becks, shutting the door on the world again.

I was going to review the first episode of this new comedy last week, but received the wrong DVD, so my panegyric has had to wait: it's beautifully acted (especially by Russell Tovey and Sarah Solemani in the lead roles), wonderfully written (by Stefan Golaszewski), and intermittently very funny indeed. Last night, Steve refused to go to the pub to celebrate his 24th birthday, citing a nasty dose of flu when in fact he just wanted to stay at home watching porn. That was pretty much all that happened, but it happened exquisitely.

It's tempting for critics to look for the antecedents of new comedy, which is probably very annoying for those who conceive and write it. But here goes anyway. Him & Her seems to owe something to The Royle Family, in that, within the most mundane domestic setting, it gets its laughs from character rather than situation, powered of course by a terrific script. Also in common with the Royles, Steve and Becky are themselves telly addicts, working their way through the Morse box set. Those little references by television to television can sometimes look glib and self-conscious, but here they work perfectly, and last night Morse came in handy in all kinds of ways, not least as a device to have Steve caught by Becky and their friends as he vigorously played with himself. It was enough to shake the ghost of John Thaw, but only with huge guffaws of laughter.