
Home (2017)
- TV sitcom
- Channel 4 / Comedy Blaps
- 2017 - 2020
- 13 episodes (2 series)
Comedy about a family who allow a Syrian asylum seeker to live with them. Stars Youssef Kerkour, Rufus Jones, Rebekah Staton, Oaklee Pendergast, Aaron Neil and more.
Episode menu
Series 1, Episode 1

Further details
Peter Guest has driven his new partner Katy, and her son John, back from their first holiday together. As they unpack the car, they are in for a super-sized surprise. Somehow they are going to have to come to terms with the loss of their luggage, the arrival of something that will change their lives forever, and the chance of criminal charges for people smuggling.
Broadcast details
- Date
- Tuesday 5th March 2019
- Time
- 9:45pm
- Channel
- Channel 4
- Length
- 30 minutes
Cast & crew
Youssef Kerkour | Sami |
Rufus Jones | Peter |
Rebekah Staton | Katy |
Oaklee Pendergast | John |
Andy Gillies | Policeman |
Tania Mathurin | Immigration Officer |
Dean Roberts | Immigration Officer |
Phillip Langhorne (as Phill Langhorne) | Station Officer |
Rufus Jones | Writer |
David Sant | Director |
Adam Tandy | Producer |
Alan Marke | Executive Producer |
Jim Reid | Executive Producer |
Gary Matsell | Line Producer |
Rufus Jones | Associate Producer |
Mark Williams | Editor |
Amy Maguire | Production Designer |
Nicky Bligh | Casting Director |
Harvey Glen | Director of Photography |
Jackie Vernon | Costume Designer |
Helen Speyer | Make-up Designer |
Christian Henson | Composer |
Amy Tyler | Graphics |
Timothy Wood | 1st Assistant Director |
Hassan Akkad | Consultant |
Ahmad al-Rashid | Consultant |
Video
Sami in the boot
Peter and his new partner Katy and her son John arrive back from their first holiday together. As they unpack the car, they find Syrian asylum-seeker Sami hidden in the boot.
Featuring: Rufus Jones (Peter), Rebekah Staton (Katy), Youssef Kerkour (Sami) & Oaklee Pendergast (John).
Press
For obvious reasons, there was a sense of ethical tenterhooks when it came to watching Home, a new comedy written by and starring the talented Rufus Jones (W1A; Camping), about a Syrian refugee who ends up living with an English family after stowing away in their car's boot. Prissy Peter (Jones), Katy (Rebekah Staton) and her son (Oaklee Pendergast) discovered Damascus teacher Sami (Youssef Kerkour), who had been separated from his wife and child. Sami's predicament divided the already struggling couple, with Katy sympathetic, and Peter less so. "He's lost and alone and he needs looking after." "He's not Paddington." Peter ended up sleeping on the sofa opposite Sami, with the latter drily remarking: "We've both been exiled by an unstoppable force."
Admittedly, Home wasn't trying to be a documentary, but it was rather too light on the suffering of real-life refugees. However, it was also witty and poignant. Kerkour's Sami had the best moment - a sight gag about Marmite not tasting so good (I know, outrageous - I'll be writing a letter of complaint to Channel 4). It was important that Sami didn't become a human prop for the British family to riff about, but, if anything, he emerged as the most fully formed character - wry, fast-witted, dignified. This came through stronger towards the end, when Sami invited Peter to ask him questions. "Which side of the road do you drive?" "The one without the tanker." "Is there anything I can do to make you feel more at home?" "There actually is: tear down those walls and blow up the toilet." At such points, Home seemed part refugee-themed comedy, part updated Odd Couple. Going by this opener, it should be worth keeping an eye on.
Euan Ferguson, The Guardian, 10th March 2019Home review
Yes, Home is underpinned by a strong social, political message, but like all good comedies, it's ultimately about relationships and the ridicule of human foibles, from Peter's intransigence to the bureaucracy of the Home Office.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 5th March 2019Home is the perfect mix of funny and tragic
What happens when you open the boot of the family car to find an unexpected passenger all the way from Syria?
Eleanor Bley Griffiths, Radio Times, 5th March 2019How sitcom Home humanises the migrant crisis
A family find a Syrian man hiding in their boot in Rufus Jones's comedy. It's a warm-hearted riposte to years of 'terrifying' anti-immigrant rhetoric, he says.
Julia Raeside, The Guardian, 5th March 2019Home, episode 1, review
Gentle variation on the sitcom.
Sean O'Grady, The Independent, 5th March 2019Home: review
This fish-out-of-water comedy about a family who take in an asylum seeker feels timely but mild-mannered to a fault. Where's the conviction?
Rebecca Nicholson, The Guardian, 5th March 2019