Him & Her

Poor old Steve. As he battles on through his best man's speech, you can almost touch the tumbleweed. He's been hung out to dry by bridegroom Paul's indiscretions and Becky's ex Lee (Nick Blood, so creepily smooth if makes your flesh crawl) undermining him at every turn. He wants the ground to open up and swallow him - and he's not the only one. Russell Tovey stars in the terrific comedy that's an unholy marriage of Carry On and Beckett.

Radio Times review

The wedding from hell continues with the speeches: always ripe fodder for comedy and writer Stefan Golaszewski doesn't disappoint. Like many of the guests, you don't know whether to laugh or grimace at the father-of-the-bride's weak jokes and unwitting double entendres.

It's poor Steve (the superlative Russell Tovey snuffling like a puppy dog that's been kicked) who suffers the most. His off-the-internet best man's speech goes down like a lead balloon, to the delight of Becky's suave ex-boyfriend. As for the obnoxious bride, she's still reeling from last week's distressing revelation and gulps down wine like there's no tomorrow.

Life outside the bedsit becomes ever more dangerous at ceremony time for Paul, who's desperately trying to text his way out of it as his bullying bride-to-be Laura giggles nervously. Her determination to hurry things along after scrolling through the incriminating contents of his phone is beautifully played, as is his reluctance to call the wedding off. Steve and Becky are as lovely as ever, with the tender glances between them saying so much more than words could. It's such a shame it's nearly over as Him & Her is on fire.

What would any bride do if she discovered a deal-breaking secret about her bridegroom just before they were about to exchange vows? If you're the borderline psycho Laura (Kerry Howard), you... well, that would be telling. In another terrific slice of cringe-making black comedy starring Russell Tovey and Sarah Solemani, the wedding from hell takes yet more twists and turns, with bridesmaid Becky's big secret putting her under her sister's thumb with horribly embarrassing consequences.

The deliciously odious bride prances down the aisle for a ceremony as excruciating as it is funny. She preens on a throne guzzling chocolates, the groom slumps beside her texting his lover and poor old Becky must perform a surprise reading. Sarah Solemani and Russell Tovey are as brilliantly understated as ever as reluctant bridesmaid and best man who spend much of this episode shooting each other rueful looks across the marquee. Yet tonight they're upstaged by Kerry Howard, who plays the bridezilla to perfection. By the end you almost - almost - feel sorry for her.

We've rarely seen her out of T-shirts, vests and knickers but now Becky (Sarah Solemani) is strapped into a gaudy blue bridesmaid's dress and gritting her teeth for all they're worth as sister Laura's wedding turns out to be even more of a nightmare than she'd imagined it would be. Knots will be tied in Stefan Golaszewski's sharply observed black comedy but they're more likely to be round the bride's neck than anywhere else...

'Have a cool one', advises Steve (Russell Tovey) breezily as the guests for Paul and Laura's wedding arrive. Just the sort of lame remark that Becky (Sarah Solemani) can't let lie, and also a warning that what follows will be anything but 'cool'.

While Becky, realising too late that chief bridesmaid equals dogsbody, is trapped in a limo with the exquisitely awful Laura (a magnificent Kerry Howard), Steve is firefighting desperately as Paul's doubts multiply. And then there's Becky's ex, Lee, charming everybody while needling the best man.

With this final series, H&H is staking a claim to be the best sitcom BBC Three has ever produced - no mean feat in the wake of Gavin & Stacey, Nighty Night and Pulling. It captures all the social awkwardness and personality clashes of a wedding with none of the actual happiness - so acute and so excruciating that you can't watch, but you can't switch off either.

Him & Her is by the far the best sitcom to have ever landed up on BBC Three, and surely the only one with roots in Harold Pinter. The swansong series, Him & Her: the Wedding, in which Laura and Paul's nuptials unfold over four episodes, is, as it should be, dominated by the bride with Kerry Howard's performance as invincibly monstrous Laura surely heading for a comedy award.

Russell Tovey and Sarah Solemani are taking more of a back seat in this series. Becky quite literally as the long-suffering bridesmaids joined Laura for a limo ride from hell.

And if one sequence demonstrated the assurance of Stefan Golaszewski's comedy, it was the one where Laura had her head out of the limo sunroof, abusing passers-by and being ignored by the bridesmaids as they enjoyed a respite from her tyranny by sending text messages.

"Observational comedy" is an over-used term, but this was the real McCoy.

No doubt there are purists out there who are dismayed to see that loved-up slackers Becky and Steve have been released from the captivity of their bedsit and allowed out into the wild.

Certainly, we've never seen them looking quite this clean before.

And after three series in which almost nothing happened, creator Stefan ­Golaszewski has gone to the other extreme, by bringing us a single day that is so eventful it takes up the whole series.

But the comedy, Becky and Steve's relationship and the chemistry between actors Sarah ­Solemani and Russell Tovey are all more than strong enough to thrive in this unfamiliar atmosphere.

And that's even if in tonight's second episode the couple are physically separated for minutes at a time (let's not forget that we're talking about a man who, when he proposed, admitted that he missed Becky when she went to the toilet).

The momentous occasion that has lured them outside is the wedding of Becky's toxic sister Laura.

And while Steve is on best man duties back at the hotel, Becky is in the back of a limo watching the bride pick fights with pedestrians through the sunroof.

How Becky has got this far in life without shoving Laura's head down numerous toilets goes to show what a wonderful person she must be.

Meanwhile Paul, the terrified groom, is desperately trying to avoid becoming Becky's brother-in-law.

And all he needs Steve to do is fake a heart attack.

Can't see a problem with that.

Him & Her - review

Slobby, smelly Steve and Becky are still the nicest couple in the world.