Him & Her - TV review

Rolling in the aisles as the slackers are given the perfect send-off.

The final episode of this slow-burning feast of awkwardness sums up that tricky moment in every wedding when the dad's getting inappropriate on the dancefloor and the bride's so drunk she's demanding sexual favours from her sister's boyfriend. Paul is trying to dump Graham and hold his new marriage together, while Becky's at the mercy of her ex-boyfriend, with a conga preventing her from telling Steve that she's pregnant. But the moment when she does is touching in a distinctly Him & Her way. Just lovely.

So, a fond and final farewell to Becky and Steve, Laura and Paul, Shelly and Dan, the trio of very different couples at the heart of Stefan Golaszewski's sharply comic take on modern romance. The honeymoon night is looming but before that there are grudges to be satisfied, wild oats to be sown and secrets to be spilled. Will anyone get out of that wedding reception with the sniff of a happy ending? Keep your hankies handy.

Much of this last episode takes place in the toilet - as befits one of the grossest comedies ever to grace the small screen. It's also gloriously uncouth: the mangy neighbour glugs the dregs of drinks, the bride's father rubs up against one of the bridesmaids, the sozzled bride rubs up against anyone in trousers.

Russell Tovey perfects his neglected-puppy-dog pout as Steve, while Sarah Solemani's Becky dances a half-hearted conga. Can the wedding from hell possibly end happily ever after? Let's just say fans of this cult favourite may find they shed a tear at the end of this final series.

Much of this final run of Him & Her has been almost unwatchably excruciating. But tonight, with the wedding disco providing the banal backdrop, we get to the heart of the matter.

The wedding has essentially been a smokescreen. This series has really been about Steve and Becky being dragged out of their natural bedsit habitat and into the realm of other, less well-adjusted people. And, whether it's Dan and his peculiar sleepwalk through life, Paul and his anguished confusion or Laura and her bottomless well of outwardly projected self-loathing, all of these people test them to breaking point. Accordingly, this finale is animated by a horrible tension: it couldn't go wrong for the real happy couple, could it?

Well, we've been safe in writer Stefan Golaszewski's hands so far. So we can trust him to fashion something with heart, humour and the ring of truth here. An undersung comedy gem concludes; we hope we haven't seen the last of these two.

Oh, you again, Sarah Solemani! If it feels like the actress is everywhere at the moment, it's because she is! The good news for the crazy few that haven't bought into her cute charm is that soon she'll be on one less show, as Him & Her airs its final ever episode this week.

For the rest of us, this is a time to mourn the loss of a great, yet grotty comedy that found strength in its simplicity, not to mention the brilliant pairing of Solemani and Russell Tovey as lazy lovers Becky and Steve. Him & Her resists the temptation to go big for its grand finale, with most of the action taking place in a cramped toilet as Paul and Laura's nightmarish wedding rumbles on. Claustrophobic and cringe-worthy, just how we like it, it's a lovely exit for this BBC Three gem.

If there's a more excruciating half hour of comedy on offer this year than last night's Him & Her: The Wedding, then please don't make me watch it. I don't think my nerves would stand it.

Writer Stefan Golaszewski unerringly distilled every cringe-making wedding speech you've ever heard as the top table at Laura and Paul's ill-fated nuptials heaved under the weight of seething resentments, frustrated passions and desperate doubles entendres. It was a car crash you had to watch through your fingers - all the while suppressing a snigger.

Because, though the humour is black as treacle, there are laughs to be mined from this delicious dissection of love turned sour. There was best man Steve, dying a thousand deaths as the room turned against him, bridegroom Paul, fondly recalling how his forbidden lover knew every contour of his body, and bride Laura, a woman intent on carnal revenge with anyone.

Till death do they part might come sooner than we think.

Sarah Solemani: what I learned from Him & Her

As BBC Three's popular sitcom comes to an end, its lead actor reflects on four series of eating chips in bed.

The ceremony's over and now it's speeches o'clock, which is where the real-time glory of Laura and Paul's wedding truly comes into its own. Laura's dad waxes lyrical about her exes of "all shapes and sizes, all colours of the rainbow", and Paul's delivery of his speech about love is particularly uncomfortable when he catches the eye of the real object of his affection. But it's best man Steve who digs the deepest hole with his inappropriate jokes about the stag night. Lo-fi hilarity all round.

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.