Catastrophe

Catastrophe: the final episode

Such density of scripting, combined with the dark humour and embarrassing realities, both made palatable by the screen charisma of Delaney and Horgan, should cement Catastrophe's place as a landmark in Britain's comedy terrain.

Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan end their modern classic of a sitcom by moving to the US for the funeral of Rob's mum, who was played by the late Carrie Fisher. In a whirl of snarling grief are the usual cathartic transgressions, and a perfect blend of cynicism and sentimentality. Peerless.

Catastrophe episode 6, finale review

The last ever episode highlights the fact there has really never been anything quite like this series before.

Catastrophe finale review

Through four years of caustic dissection of marriage and parenthood, the charisma, warmth and chemistry of Catastrophe's brilliant leads ensured we went out on a high.

Farewell to Catastrophe, the best romantic comedy on TV

Catastrophe has been a gift. How rarely we have seen all sides (and bodily functions) of people displayed so honestly as they attempt to share their life with another's.

Catastrophe made us laugh at life's worst bits

It's hard to pinpoint why we all fell in love with two dysfunctional adults who accidentally started a family. Perhaps it's because they made us feel better about our own mistakes.

The penultimate episode in this season of Catastrophe - tragically, the last - kicked off with such a sublimely off-colour gag (about another Channel 4 show, Sunday Brunch) that I mused, mildly, that standards could only trickle downhill thence.

Should have known better. A guest appearance by Chris Noth as Rob's misogynist boss, all geezerish complicity and freezing out women (because they obviously don't have a sense of humour), was sexist in a way I had thought had been made illegal in America, but on reflection probably remains rampant (if not mandatory) in most States.

How half our own population must have cheered, then, at Sharon's calling-out of her own new and faintly creepy headmaster, in a way which surely can be done most skilfully with a soft County Meath accent and fast sense of sweary humour. Most women don't enjoy such luxurious wish-fulfilment - but, for all that, this somehow managed to achieve message with nuance, without ever losing sight of Sharon Horgan's primary objective, which is to be caustically funny throughout.

The tiniest bit of mid-season drift is remedied by a party episode filled with all the best minor characters: Fergal (Jonathan Forbes) is back to celebrate his 40th birthday, a fiasco that ends up looking rather like a Renaissance painting - featuring, unforgettably, Douglas Hodge on bass and drums.

Catastrophe, episode 3, review

Nobody could call this sitcom predictable. This often-shocking sitcom has a modish wisdom that speaks to the nation's thirty-somethings.

Sharon and Rob are on a health kick, one that puts her on a collision course with her GP. It may be that she's not as physically fit as she thought? Plus, there is another bravura turn from Daniel Lapaine as Rob's friend Dave. It is as painfully relatable as ever, yet still, somehow, a pleasure.