Big bird

What would be one of the worst things your darling daughter could have done upon returning after her gap year abroad, destined for a place at Bristol University and happily ever after? Greg Davies can tell you. This tenderly realised nightmare from the writers of Man Stroke Woman and Roommates, starring our own man mountain of comedy, Davies, plus Helen Baxendale and Saturday Night Live’s Andy Samberg had me sniggering and then laughing out loud at the hell on Earth protagonist Ken’s daughter Rachel (Tamla Kari) has unwittingly created for him.

The premise of Cuckoo is that upon returning from her time in Thailand, Rachel arrives at the airport tanned, happy and accompanied by her new husband, an arrogant hippy goon from California who she met in the Far East, ready to move in and live off the land of Rachel’s parents – Ken and Lorna. Completely hoodwinked, the parentals stand there non-plussed as Rachel introduces her hubbie dearest, aptly named Cuckoo, surprised they hadn’t got her Facebook message explaining everything. Ken’s dry response that at 45 he doesn’t check Facebook regularly seems lost on her.

Going from bad to worse at each step, in no small part due to the genius expressions elicited from Davies’ reactions to the situation being thrust upon him, I squirmed and I grinned in equal measure. Outnumbered’s Tyger Drew-Honey is well worth a mention here too as Rachel’s moody teenage brother. More than a simple add-on sibling from the outset with his immediate dismissal of her marriage. “Am I supposed to congratulate you? Anyone could get married. I could get married…” en-route to the fridge.

It’s a great ensemble. Helen Baxendale is fun and a bit eccentric. She slightly enjoys her new son-in-law’s presence, his comment about a woman in her 40s putting her passion into her food rather than her bed delivered around the dinner table being particlarly worthy of spitting out your tea in surprise. Tamla Kari carefully slips between teenage daughter and young adult in love, mixing strops with lust. But it’s the conflict between Ken and Cuckoo that fuels this puppy.

Neither wants to argue, and neither see their own behaviour as conflicting with the way of the world. They just see the world differently. Plus Greg Davies and Andy Samberg are both excellent performers, at times sparring wordlessly yet transparently.

This could have been written with broad strokes, leaden with unsympathetic characters and clashing stereotypes, but as much as they are familiar they have been crafted with such detail as to make them all quite likeable. You can’t not like parents that sing Salt-N-Pepa’s ‘Push It’ at full volume in the car. Just try.

Cuckoo, BBC3, Thursday 27 September 2012

Victoria Nangle