TV Review: After Hours

Originally published 28/07/2019

SPOILER ALERT

Anyone who has not seen the British sitcom After Hours (2015) is hereby advised that this post may contain a few unavoidable spoilers.

My wife and I’s Now TV subscription will be coming to an end in a few days and, in an effort to save a bit of money, we shan’t be renewing it. Consequently, we’ve taken to cramming in a lot of short TV shows from Now TV to get our money’s worth. Thus, you’re going to be getting quite few reviews of TV shows over the next couple of weeks starting with the little known* British sitcom, AFTER HOURS

Well then, what can I say about After Hours? In many respects, this six episode British sitcom defies a lot of the requirements for good telly and yet I really enjoyed it.

Willow (Jamse Tarpey) hasn’t long finished school and plans on going travelling with his girlfriend Jasmine (Georgina Campbell). However, when the first episode has barely started she meets up with him in a cafe just long enough to dump him. Lauren (Jaime Winstone), who is working at the cafe, tries to comfort the dismayed Willow, and as they are talking it is revealed that she is one of the hosts of Willow’s favourite internet radio program, After Hours. She is delighted to learn that someone actually listens to and enjoys the show, and so she and her co-host Ollie (Rob Kendrick) invite him to work with them on the show, broadcasting from Lauren’s longboat on the canal.

This show contains only the absolute minimal required suspense, drama or conflict. In fact, it probably contains less than is required to make a genuinely good TV show, even for a sitcom and yet… it has a real je ne sais quoi about it, that makes it very pleasant to watch, like cuddling up on the sofa in a thick duvet. Most of the characters are friends with each other. Even Willow and Jasmine’s new boyfriend are reasonably civil. Whenever one character suffers, the other characters rally around and support and help each other. Willow’s parents want him to get a real job instead of working for free on After Hours. But they see it’s important to him, so they let him do it anyway. Willow’s father (Ardal O’Hanlon) wants the family to boycott the local supermarket. Money worries drive both he and his wife to secretly get jobs there, however this never climaxes in a shocking discovery or any sort of marital strife. The most ‘dramatic’ part comes in the final episode where Lauren and her ex-boyfriend/bandmate reunite to do a one-off gig. They sleep together, fall out and cancel the gig at the last minute. But no problem! The gig goes ahead anyway with a little help from Lauren’s friends. It’s a huge success and everyone’s happy again.

I mentioned that it’s a sitcom. Perhaps you think what it lacks in drama, it makes up for in eye-watering laughter. But I’d have to say no to this as well. It had funny bits, don’t get me wrong, but it was hardly a rip-roaring, side-splitting odyssey of mirth. It was the kind of funny that makes you smile rather than laugh. It was a really, really nice program that gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling.

I realise I’m making this sound frightfully dull but it wasn’t. Believe me, my wife and I enjoyed every last minute of it and were sad when it was over (though I suspect if it had gone on for too long it could have become boring; I think it was just the right length). If life’s getting you down or if you’re just sick to the back teeth of intensely depressing TV and you’re looking for a bit of comforting escapism, I can highly recommend this show.

My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟