It’s brill up North

When a stand-up comedian writes a sitcom for television it can go one of two ways. They can either write what they think a sitcom is supposed to be: laughter track, stereotypical characters, nudge nudge, first big opportunity riddled with compromises; or they can write about something they know, people that are fully rounded, skip the laughter track and have it provided by you when you think something’s funny (surely you don’t need a sound engineer to tell you when something humorous has been written?), and keep as much creative control as they can after forging their way for years on the circuit and with a certain number of TV appearances. I’m so glad Jason Cook picked the second option.

Starring, as the focal family, Jim Moir (aka Vic Reeves but he’s billed as his real name so we’ll stick with it), Gina McKee, Chris Ramsey and Kimberley Nixon, as well as Lisa McGrillis turning in a star performance as sister Vicki – “a likeable slapper”, Hebburn is based on where Cook grew up, creating as much of an affectionate homage as did the construction of Shameless’s estate.

Cook also features in the show, playing a character called ‘Ramsey’, loosely inspired on Chris Ramsey, also a comic and – by coincidence – playing a younger version of Cook. It’s swapsies here.

Really this is very well written, performed and directed. Well, what would you expect from the director of Gavin & Stacey and the writer of Ideal joining forces with an award-winning comedian? There are laughs at every turn as this tightly tessellating community, jam-packed with idiosyncracies and yet side-stepping that difficulty of constructed characters who are ‘dead mad’, moves forward as one, without a secret held for long thanks to shared toilet cubicles and thin walls.

“Hebburn doesn’t set the scene, it’s already in the scene”

Hebburn doesn’t set the scene, it’s already in the scene. A few nods of exclamation are given to Nixon’s outsider, but really you just have to bundle in and get on with it, which is no criticism. Your surroundings and tone are set by the characters and their dialogue. The introduction of new vocabulary is seamless and creative euphemisms play their part too. It’s fast-paced, just like meeting your partner’s family for the first time en masse – which is why this works as the first episode’s construct.

Being from Down South I can’t say this won’t reinforce certain stereotypes of a Geordie town, even if it’s stated so clearly from the off that this isn’t Newcastle, it’s Hebburn (ironically sounding so close but appearing so far from Heaven). With Judaism being seen as incredibly exotic, the kindnesses portraying an outrageously prejudiced ignorance, and a brashness not dissimilar to Shameless, it treads a thin line between honouring and insulting its loved town inhabitants. It is very funny though. Packed with guilty laughs.
Hebburn, BBC2, Thursday 18 October 2012