Radio Times review

Tonight's episode is like one of those nightmares where you try to get somewhere but are thwarted at every turn. Steve and Becky are off to the cinema yet everything conspires against them. First wallet, phone and keys go missing. Then the slob from upstairs accidentally gets locked into their flat. No sooner has he been liberated than Laura and fiancé Paul turn up to show off their holiday snaps, making bigoted remarks until their hosts' eyes bulge. As usual, it's not exactly laugh-a-minute but the escalating exasperation of this luckless couple is masterful.

BBC Three's flat-share sitcom Him & Her has been recommissioned for a third series. This is a comedy I watch but don't review every week, so I'm pleased by this announcement. Series 2's been much stronger, mainly because writer Stefan Golaszewski's chosen to involve more characters - in the form of the family/friends of reclusive lovers Becky and Steve. It's still not the kind of show I laugh-out-loud with, or feel keen to get other people watching, but it's pleasant and amusing. Most episodes have at least one memorable encounter or uncomfortable situation to giggle at.

I do wonder if the concept will stretch to a third year, though. There's almost no character development with Becky and Steve (which is kind of the point because they're stuck in a blissful rut together), but it's getting to the stage where you're hoping for Becky to at least fall pregnant.

The opening few minutes of this excellent sitcom say as much about the male of the species home alone as Simon's Cat does about cats. It's not long before family and neighbours intrude, however, to gather optimistically around the television for the lottery. Laura is an eloquent study in bigotry and she's convinced Paul has a cancerous lump on his testicles. Meanwhile, Dan drops in with his seemingly nice cousin Alex. Steve and Becky are, as ever, superb, so comfortable in the proximity of each other's skins.

Russell Tovey could play a sack of potatoes and still be entertaining. Even more impressively, Tovey somehow manages to make his character Steve - the anti-hero of this anti-romantic comedy - almost likeable. That's no mean feat as idler Steve and his good-for-nothing girlfriend are even grosser than usual tonight.

All the action happens off screen: Paul is having a bust-up on the street below with a bloke who dared to pinch his fiancée's bottom. (She's really rather flattered.) Steve and Becky stay out of it. Instead they munch and belch their way through the evening, determinedly ignoring the hullabaloo outside. You'll grimace as much as you giggle.

Him & Her live chat

We have asked the very lovely Kerry Howard (Laura), Ricky Champ (Paul) and Joe Wilkinson (Dan) to pop into BBC Three central to chat with you about life in Him & Her...

With a rhythm, a feel and a character all its own, this bleak gem of a sitcom is possibly BBC3's sole redeeming feature. Tonight, Steve and Becky throw a dinner party to mark their cohabitation, while their ghastly array of family and neighbours get to do their worst. A feeble anecdote about an 82p banana triggers off some alarming conversational tangents, not least Laura's intention to join the BNP. Mike, Steve's mum's new boyfriend who takes full advantage of the open door toilet policy, turns out to be relatively un-appalling.

It's the moment every couple dreads: the first meeting of prospective in-laws. Many a Hollywood rom-com has mined this rich comic seam, but none more brilliantly than this warts-and-all sitcom. Steve's mum has a new flame who's somewhat lacking in table manners. But they're no match for Becky's wise-cracking father and prim mother, perched on the shabby sofa. It's excruciatingly funny and at times simply excruciating, especially when one guest makes a racist remark. Superb, but not for the faint-hearted.

Stefan Golaszewski's grubby but warm-hearted comedy is on top form tonight: Becky has moved into boyfriend Steve's flat so it's time for the two families to meet - an excruciatingly awkward occasion in which awful presents are exchanged, surprising political alliances bubble to the surface and everyone is very out of their depth.

Russell Tovey interview

Former History Boy is also the man who might have been Tintin but what he really wants is 'the career of Julie Walters. As a man'.