Catastrophe

In a week crammed with riches, we had the return of Catastrophe, rushed back for its second series this year without having apparently suffered for any undue haste. It's still glorious - gloriously profane, savagely observant, yet shot through with, at its heart, two characters so obviously in love they can be ripping the serious bejesus out of each other at full volume yet still turn away and snicker at something funny said. Which happens often.

The miracle of this programme is not just the two stars, Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney, nor the fact that their very coupling - a car-crash between loopy Irishness and straight-jawed Yankhood - brings so much potential, but that the pair find so many new ways to say something delightful, believable, witty about the hoariest old sitcom cliches. Breast-feeding, childbirth, dire family gatherings: all are tackled with a freshness of thought that amazes, after decades in which I've gazed at similar setups with my pained curdling-milk face-ache on.

We also had Carrie Fisher as Rob's exuberantly unlikable mother, and the beginnings of dementia, and post-partum depression, and a dead dog: but all treated with humanity, not least when Sharon, serious for once and worried that she can't bond with her three-day-old daughter, frets over the fact the baby looks "manipulative, like it's plotting something". Hmm. We've all seen those kids.

Catastrophe, series 2, Channel 4 review

It's dirty, yes, but Catastrophe is written, performed and edited with a clarity that is next to cleanliness.

Catastrophe: tender, believable and filthily funny

Channel 4's deliciously tart romcom is as truthful a portrayal of postnatal depression and dementia as you're likely to see - and certainly the funniest.

Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney convert their fearless comedy from salty romp to black farce: season two opens with a rancorous wetting of the baby's head, at which the flaws of Sharon and Rob's families are exposed. It's that icy early phase of parenting where you can't just get on with child-rearing, because a thousand other things intrude. But Catastrophe can look serious adult frustrations in the eye and cackle, because it's underpinned by the snappy couple's gorgeous "us v world" chemistry. Miraculous.

Radio Times review

Sharon Horgan's young Irishwoman meets a handsome American stranger (co-writer Rob Delaney) in a bar and embarks on a wild affair that they both know will end when he heads back to the US. Problem is, she then falls pregnant and they decide to stay together and keep the child.

It's a premise that isn't as far-fetched as it sounds. She obviously needs the support, while he is adamant that his kid will have what he didn't - a dad who sticks around.

It's grown-up, rude, the sex scenes are hilarious and the two leads have a genuine rapport in a comedy that has you rooting for this odd couple all the way through, whether it is meeting her ghastly friends or coping with the medical scares that accompany her pregnancy. There are verve, panache and real things at stake here.

Channel 4 comedy is patchy. There can be total genius such as Toast Of London, and then a little succession of mediocre shows which are quickly forgotten. While Catastrophe isn't quite a work of brilliance, it's still spiky, clever, utterly profane and very funny.

This is the start of its second series. The first saw Irish Sharon and American Rob have a one-night stand from which Sharon became pregnant and so they decided to get married and raise the child.

In this new series, Sharon is still pregnant, yet years have passed. They are having their second baby and allowing that to cause stress, worry, bitchy little arguments and clumsy, ungainly attempts at having sex.

One of their arguments is about Sharon's legs. She rests them on Rob's legs and he claims it's giving him cramp. They fight and insult one another spectacularly but then, the next day, all is forgiven and Sharon makes numerous calls to Rob's office demanding he come home as she's going into labour. The poor man races home in terror to find her cosy on the sofa, saying she was bored and just fancied a bit of company. They're a great on-screen couple.

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Catastrophe returns for series two and it's easy to get on board with Sharon's particularly honest approach to life.

How two late starters made one of 2015's best sitcoms

Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan met on Twitter and conceived their hit comedy Catastrophe thousands of miles apart - can parenthood bring them together?

Radio Times review

One of the many joys of Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney's brilliantly funny and warm-hearted comedy is its fearless embrace of authentic and thorny issues that sometimes threaten our couple's otherwise solid union. So tonight, Horgan's Sharon has to face up to her postnatal depression, an aversion to her fellow mums and her lonely fixation on Sam, the one member of the mother and baby class she actually likes, but who seems rather put off by her neediness.

Delaney's Rob, meanwhile, wants Sharon's new therapist to prescribe more sex with him and is momentarily tempted by a sexy (and very forward) French work colleague, Olivia.

It seems as if the pair are being tested a lot more this series, but fans will always feel safe with Delaney and Horgan around. Probably because their consistently excellent performances and lashings of keen, spiky and cliché-free writing alchemise everything they touch into comedy gold.

Catastrophe review

Ben Dowell finds that the Channel 4 couple comedy is still on excellent form but suspects that the two lovebirds are being tested a lot more this series.