Tom Rosenthal (I)

Bulgarians don't worry about offending you

An interview with Tom Rosenthal.

Edinburgh Fringe interview: Tom Rosenthal

Tom Rosenthal may be best known for his role opposite Simon Bird in the excellent Friday Night Dinner and more recently in the ancient Rome based sitcom Plebs. His experience filming the series in Bulgaria form part of his second Edinburgh Fringe show.

Let's face it, it's not exactly a golden age for British sitcoms. So when a half-indecent one stumbles along, let's hope it's given time to grow.

As Plebs bowed out last night, I found myself hoping this wasn't the last we'd seen of Shredder, Copier and Water Boy ('Man! Water Man!').

Though the closing episode, Saturnalia, didn't have anything to match my favourite moment of the series - Doon Mackichan downing a banana - it did leave the door gaping open for a second run as the hapless Marcus (aka Copier) still hadn't bagged himself any Cynthia action. You feel for the boy, you really do.

That's down to Tom Rosenthal's endearing turn as Marcus, which started off dangerously close to Inbetweener Will but has happily grown to fill out his own tunic.

Marcus could come off as a whiny whinger but Rosenthal's everyman likeability makes you root for him. With Joel Fry's Stylax, he turns Plebs into a (funny) spin on Two And A Half Men. Only with a short bloke (Ryan Sampson's terrific slave Grumio) instead of a fat kid.

When's the world ending? Nigh, according to the scary soothsayer in the final outing of this engagingly silly faux-Roman sitcom.

Not satisfied with throwing a wet blanket on the Saturnalia festivities, the 'crone' curses poor sweet Cynthia.

So, what with the apocalypse and all, Stylax (Joel Fry) reckons it's the perfect time for Marcus (Tom Rosenthal) to make his move on the object of his affection. But first he must reverse the curse.

The Emperor's new rat-catching initiative has led to moggies running amok in the courtyard as our hopeless Roman Romeos crank up the double entendres in this sparky toga-tugging sitcom. While shredder Stylax (Joel Fry) dons makeshift mittens to curb his scratching after bed bugs start nibbling on his kinky rhubarb, Marcus (Tom Rosenthal) considers installing a cat flap to Cynthia's flat after her beloved stray moggy Felix takes a shine to his hearth rug. Which may or may not be a euphemism.

Tom Rosenthal interview

Tom Rosenthal talks about new comedy Plebs, and why TOWIE fans will have to brush up on their Latin...

The gimmick of this sitcom, which is ribald without being too dumb, is that it's set in ancient Rome but blatantly has 21sdt-century sensibilities. Tom Rosenthal (Friday Night Dinner) and Joel Fry (who superbly played dimwits in Twenty Twelve and Trollied) are Marcus and Stylax, two losers with dead-end administrative jobs and a chronic lack of fmale attention. With rubbish slave Grumio (Ryan Sampson) taking the place of a feckless pal, they could be from any modern comedy, but transferring the tropes to a period setting gives this one another layer.

Plebs focuses on three no-hopers in the form of office boys Marcus (Tom Rosenthal) and Stylax (Joel Fry) and their slave Grumio (Ryan Sampson). Marcus is a bit of a dreamer and when an attractive new neighbour Cynthia (Sophie Colquhoun) enters his life he falls head over heels in love. The only problem is that Stylax wants them both to go to an orgy and that means trying to convince Cynthia to come with them.

Cue a lot of comic misunderstanding, awkward silences and a very kinky cage game. I believe Plebs was conceived when someone said 'why don't we try and make an Ancient Rome version of The Inbetweeners.' Plebs is filled with the crude humour and obvious jokes that you would expect from an ITV2 sitcom. As much as I like Tom Rosenthal he has been saddled with playing 'the awkward one' which means he has to make a lot of sad faces when Cynthia goes off with another man. Meanwhile Joel Fry, who is so great in Trollied, is the 'horny one' and is always trying to get off with someone while avoiding the advances of his boss (Doon Mackichan). In fact the best performance comes from Ryan Sampson as the bewildered Northern slave Grumio who is forced to route through the bins to find food for his two masters.

While Plebs isn't awful it still felt like a sitcom that was developed with a key demographic in mind rather than just simply created by a talented scriptwriter. In fact, while the state of British drama seems to be very healthy indeed, I don't think there's been one really good UK sitcom since the start of the year.

Maybe it's the fact that togas are just so darn saucy but there's something irresistibly comical about Ancient Rome. In the noble tradition of Up Pompeii!, Plebs (ITV2) is the latest sitcom to play the old Empire for laughs. And titter I did.

It could afford to up the raunch factor, with opening episode The Orgy surprisingly shy of flesh. But Tom Rosenthal's central character, Marcus, makes a sweet prude amid a sea of debauchery and his servant Grumio (Ryan Sampson), surfing a wave of northern camp, is a guaranteed scene-stealer. 'You never see a dog with a towel,' he observed of his drip-dry post-shower regimen. Fair point.

The cultural connection between Ancient Rome and classic ska and reggae is lost on me, but oddly it's an inspired one, with tunes such as Double Barrel by Dave & Ansel Collins giving the action a sun-kissed spring. And any show that chops Danny Dyer's head off has to be worth a second look.