Interview: Elaine C. Smith

Elaine C. Smith says sitcom Two Doors Down has saved her love of telly comedy.

Jonathan Watson flexes his muscles in new show

His to-do list included a host of must-do jobs he needs to tackle sooner rather than later, because for the next few weeks he'll be busy preparing for a show that's become essential viewing for millions of Scots each Hogmanay - Only An Excuse? But fans of the Scottish actor who has a reputation for being a man of many faces - and voices - don't have to wait until the end of the year to see him in action for he's back on our screens next week, starring in the wonderful comedy show, Two Doors Down.

Doon Mackichan interview

The comic hits out at the sexism that held back Smack The Pony, the rise of rape as entertainment - and the pleather trousers she spent 11 hours in for Two Doors Down.

The sitcom about Scottish suburbia continues. The plot (Eric moves a bed into the garage; Sophie won't name her baby's father) is undistinguished, but makes for some strong character comedy. Colin and Cathy are a strangely believable couple, with all the idiosyncratic loyalty that that implies. When Eric sees the funny side of Cath's therapy, Colin does not - though he's not serious for long. "Women are easily distracted," he explains to Eric. "Is that a dartboard?"

Characters from last year's festive Scottish comedy are reborn into a generally funny sitcom. The premises can be pretty thin - tonight's is that evergreen plot standby "man wanting peace and quiet is constantly interrupted" - and the characters often feel as if they have moved north from Gavin and Stacey. Still, there's some good caustic humour, not least when Eric reveals he's given up drinking. His neighbour Cathy is incredulous: "Not even a beer in the morning?"

Elaine C Smith steals the show in Two Doors Down

I've written before on these pages about my distaste for Elaine C Smith's TV persona, which is loud and boisterous, but she is stealing the show in this new series.

Two Doors Down reunites us with Eric and Beth (Alex Norton and Arabella Weir) a middle-aged Glaswegian couple who are part of a close-knit neighbourhood. From the opening instalment I got the impression that each episode of the series will be based around one crisis or another that the neighbours have with the rest of the street getting involved in the process. This time it was Eric's late night hunt for oven chips that led to Beth's freezer being left open overnight and completely ruining all the food that was in it. This prompts Beth to invite friends and family around to sample a buffet that includes everything from vegetable pakoras to apple pie. Drafted into help in the kitchen is Cathy (Doon Mackichan), Beth's neighbour who can't help but pass comment on how big her freezer is in comparison to her friend's and how it pains to even help put stuff in the oven. The other story running throughout this first episode is that of Eric and Beth's son Ian (Jamie Quinn) who is about to move in with his boyfriend Jaz (Harki Bhambra) but isn't keen to tell his parents just yet. Whilst Two Doors Down wasn't laugh-out-loud funny what I enjoyed about the show was the way in which you identified with at least one of the characters. I feel most people know an Eric or a Beth or a Cathy and therefore it's not a hard task to imagine these people living on your street. The central gag of the freezer breaking down is an equally realistic conceit and the scene in which Beth and Cathy were trying to work out what went in the oven and what temperature was very funny indeed. I feel that the sitcom's creator Simon Carlyle has a very good ear for everyday dialogue and that's true of both Two Doors Down and his work on Boy Meets Girl. The cast are equally on form with Norton, Weir and Mackichan the highlights of a strong ensemble who were all trying their best to make the show work. My only criticism of Two Doors Down at this early stage is that the supporting characters don't feel as well-realised as the main cast which is true of Ian and Jaz as well as Sharon Rooney's Sophie who doesn't get to do much at all. Overall I would say that Two Doors Down is a promising and likeable sitcom that contains believable characters and situations which is something I couldn't say a lot of other contemporary comedies.

Review: Two Doors Down, BBC Two

This being sitcomland, nobody is allowed to be entirely normal.

Two Doors Down returns for a full series following its one-off 2014 special, rejoining the residents of Latimer Crescent in Glasgow. Eric (Alex Norton) comes home drunk from the pub, leaving the freezer door ajar after bingeing on oven chips. To avoid having to throw away the food, furious Beth (Arabella Weir, her Scottish accent still a work in progress, it would seem) decides to invite the neighbours round to help polish it off. It's a mundane set-up, not helped by a woeful lack of laughs.