Together (2015)

In the year in which we learnt that BBC Three was to move online, the channel proved that it still could deliver the goods when it came to sitcoms. Johnny Sweet's romantic comedy was surprisingly charming as we followed his character Tom's attempts to have a successful romance with Cara Theobold's Ellen. What made Together so unique was the fact that you barely saw the central couple on screen together yet you still believed in their romance. Additionally Sweet was able to assemble a fine supporting cast most notably Alex McQueen and Vicki Pepperdine who almost stole the show as Tom's parents. Funny and charming in equal measure, we're just hoping that Together still finds life on BBC Three's online platform as it more than deserves to.

Together review

A dated, dull script and a below-par performance from the leading man means that even the brilliant performers in it (Katy Wix, Cara Theobold etc.) can't save it.

TV review, Together, BBC2, Episode 5/6

I'm really enjoying this gently quirky romantic comedy. The twist that the lovers barely meet is almost incidental.

Jonny Sweet interview

Jonny Sweet on why video game Dream League Soccer has become a psychological crutch.

TV preview: Together, BBC3, episode 3

It's hard to decide what I like the most about Together. Alex MacQueen's inspired performance as pedantic dad-he-was-born-to-play Ashley? Vicki Pepperdine's fussy trapped-in-her-marriage mum Lesley or Jonny Sweet's starring role as Tom, the man-child trying to woo Ellen (Cara Theobold).

Rarely Asked Questions - Jonny Sweet

Jonny Sweet's new romantic comedy series Together continues on BBC Three. Please watch it, it is brilliant, Sweet is brilliant and it also features a lot of other brilliant comedy faces.

Together is written by and stars Johnny Sweet; a performer who up to know I hadn't really rated which made this charming sitcom all the more surprising. Sweet plays Tom a rather kind-hearted if foolish guy whose sister (Katy Wix) is constantly setting him up on blind dates which go rather badly. During the episode Tom keeps encountering Ellen (Cara Theobold) a rather outspoken young woman whose ex-boyfriend Luke (Jaz Deol) is constantly trying to win her back. The problem with the first episode of a romantic comedy series is that we have to sit through a number of missed opportunities before the central couple hit it off. The missteps in the first episode of Together include Tom seeing Ellen naked at a life drawing class and later encountering a rather saucy couple as he tries to gatecrash a party she's attending. Although Sweet crafts several awkward moments during the episode they never feel embarrassing and rather surprisingly most of them ring true. Sweet is helped by the fact that the script has been edited by Tim Key and Jeremy Dyson who have obviously aided in the general flow of the comedy therefore no scene outstays its welcome and almost every moment is played for laughs but at the same time the central relationship is never forgotten. In their handful of scenes together I felt that Sweet and Theobold had natural chemistry and I found the final scene particularly touching. However the majority of the highlights in this first episode came courtesy of Vicki Pepperdine and Alex McQueen as Tom's well-meaning parents. McQueen's soliloquy about the right temperature in which to serve rhubarb yoghurt was especially hilarious as were Pepperdine's attempts to dispose of her on-screen husband's junk. Even though Together never blew me away, I found it to be a charming sitcom full of promise and one that I'm definitely going to stick with for the time being.

Together review: charming comedy in BBC3's last days

Huw Fullerton enjoys Jonny Sweet's new sitcom, which follows the fortunes of two young people living in London struggling to find their place in the world - and realising they're better together...

This new comedy drama from Jonny Sweet follows listless singleton Ellen and bumbling berk Tom, participants in a brief encounter who, despite sharing an undeniable attraction, seem destined to flitter around each other like drunk moths. In this opening episode, a smitten Tom joins Ellen's painting class, despite his previous artistic endeavours mainly being in the medium of Crayola. Despite neither lead character proving particularly sympathetic, this slow burner offers enough warmth to warrant a return visit.

TV preview: Together, BBC3

It's a bit twee at times - I was nervously expecting a ukelele to make an appearance towards the end - but I think it is going to grow on me.