🔗 Share this article

In a calm neighborhood of the Irish capital, a man stands in his driveway, wearing a vest and sharing his concerns. “I notice my voice is fading. Harder to see,” remarks the protagonist, gazing up at the night sky. “Events have unfolded and at this point I feel like without a change, my life will proceed in this simple, peaceful routine.” Hungry Paul, Leonard’s best confidant, considers these words. “Nothing wrong with that,” he replies, his dressing gown moving with the wind. “Better than trying to make a mark and causing harm instead.”

For those exhausted by the bluster and fast pace of modern television landscape, this series steps in similar to a foil blanket with a hot drink of Ribena.

Like its harmless protagonists, the series – a half-dozen installment program developed by Richie Conroy and Mark Hodkinson, inspired by Rónán Hession’s quiet story – looks disapprovingly toward today's world; peering critically over its spectacles on everything in the way of loud sounds, abrupt changes or – goodness forbid – an abundance of ambition. This show on the contrary, an ode to introversion; a quiet celebration of those content to amble along out of the spotlight. But. The character (another distinctly original portrayal from the star) feels restless. He feels an increasing “need to open the openings within my world … a little.” The recent death of his parent has yanked the floor out from under him and this young man, an anonymous author, now feels questioning the decisions that directed him to his current situation (single; with a protective mustache; writing multiple educational volumes for an employer who concludes messages using the words “goodbye for now”).

And so Leonard starts on a journey for emotional fulfilment, with the slightly bolder Paul (Laurie Kynaston) acting as his close companion, guide and co-conspirator in a weekly board games evening which acts as discussion (“Does the pool feel warm because kids pee in it, or do kids pee in it since it's warm?”) and safe space.

(What's the origin of "Hungry" Paul? The reason is unknown. The source of this name is shrouded in mystery. Maybe Paul once ate a snack in record time, or answered to an awkward situation by panic-peeling four scotch eggs by biting into them).

Arriving in Leonard's calm existence comes a new colleague (Jamie-Lee O’Donnell), a fresh energetic co-worker who cheerily offers to eliminate the awful manager (the character) at a fire practice. The rushing noise you can hear represents Leonard's calm life being turned upside down.

Elsewhere in the initial show of this program not heavily plotted and centered around what a modern audience may refer to as “mood”, viewers encounter Hungry Paul’s dad (the brilliant the performer), a tired character who covertly observes, records then replays trivia competitions to dazzle his adoring wife through his fact recall.

Shepherding us throughout this gentle kindness there is a voiceover that sounds very much like – and, indeed, very much is – Julia Roberts. Truly, the celebrity. In case you're considering, “certainly the use of such a famous actor contradicts the show's modest approach and starts off as just a diversion?” you're right. However, Roberts does a good job, and lines like “Leonard’s problem is that he lacks a ‘eureka’ face” help ensure that early misgivings give way though not complete approval, then certainly understanding.

No more criticism currently. The show's core is well-intentioned: the right place being “sitting on a park bench in the company of gentle comedies, pointing out the duck it loves.” It’s a series that moves gently in comfortable attire, sometimes gazing upward into space, sometimes downward toward the ground, quietly confident that no experience is in life as heartening as spending time alongside close companions.

Unlock the entryways within your world, just a bit, and welcome it inside.