HAY DAY (THIS COUNTRY)

  

For three seasons, Charlie and Daisy May Cooper's BBC3 sitcom 'This Country' has bucked comic convention.

Audiences in Britain have been used to mostly urban sitcoms and have rarely got to see comedy about rural life.

If they have, rural life has been depicted from a privileged background like BBC1's 'To  The Manor Born' or in clerical comedies like BBC1's Church of England sitcom 'The Vicar of Dibley' or the eccentric Irish Catholicism of Channel 4's 'Fr Ted'.

But when 'This Country' first aired on BBC3 as a mockumentary in February 2017, viewers - particularly in the Cotswolds - were struck by its authenticity.

Daisy May Cooper and her brother Charlie drew a lot of inspiration for the show from their own experience of rural poverty and boredom.

A lot of its humour is drawn from the characters killing time but like a lot of great comedy, there is a vein of tragedy.

And in the case of Daisy May Cooper's Kerry Mucklowe and her cousin, Charlie Cooper's Kurtan, it is the fear of being left behind in a working clasdrural community with little opportunity to advance their lives.

The central premise of the show is that Kerry and Kurtan are the subjects of an earnest BBC documentary about rural life.

She lives with her mum, who we never see but often hear barking out comments from her room upstairs.

Her estranged dad, Paul Cooper's Martin Mucklowe is a womaniser who often takes advantage of Kerry's rose tinted view of him and he gives her little in return.

Kurtan is appalled at how Martin treats his cousin but he is outraged by many things - sometimes totally losing the plot.

He's super competitive as well, as the first episode about a scarecrow contest brilliantly demonstrates.

And when a potential love interest arrives on the scene, Kurtan can also get very obsessive.

Kurtan and Kerry's appeal often lies in their naivety.

In the opening episode, they illustrate their deep bond when Kerry says her cousin is the only person she would share a box of Celebrations with because he likes Bounty bars.

Kurtan subsequently admits he doesn't even like Bounties that much but just feels sorry for them because they are always the last ones left in the box.

The other figure in the local community that binds Kerry and Kurtan together is Paul Chahidi's vicar, the Rev Francis Seaton who they have a deep affection for.

The vicar is a softly spoken man who often tries to help the duo find work or better their lives.

A former member of a Christian boyband, he is mild mannered but occasionally, the mask slips and he flies hilariously into a rage.

The Coopers add into the mix Ashley McGuire's scary but rather lonely neighbour Mandy, Trevor Cooper's volatile pensioner Len Clifton and the late Michael Sleggs' Slugs, a local youth who Kerry and Kurtan treat quite badly.

All of this makes for keenly observed comedy.

Kerry and Kurtan may come up with dim schemes but we overlook this because they are laugh out loud funny, even when they are being two faced.

A lot of this is down to Daisy May and Charlie Cooper's perfectly pitched performances which fully exploit the potential for physical comedy and memorable one liners.

Season three, which aired in 2020 as the UK moved into lockdown, saw the cast adjusting to the sudden death of their colleague Michael Sleggs due to heart failure.

The third series begins with an affectionate opening episode about the passing of his character Sluggs but it also sees him expose a Mucklowe family secret from the grave.

Other episodes in the final series focus on Kurtan learning how to drive, Martin trying to weasel his way back into the family home, Kerry joining a book club and Kurtan discovering his half-brother has died.

The final two episodes are particularly good, with Kerry and Kurtan looking after the vicar's chickens while he is away in Bristol and then struggling to come to terms with a shock announcement during the Harvest festival that will have a profound impact on their lives.

And while it is unlikely we will see Kerry and Kurtan again in the near future except for maybe the odd one-off episide, Charlie and Daisy May Cooper's sitcom undoubtedly stands up to repeat viewings.

While it is clearly fashioned out of a lot of love for their native Cirencester, there is also a sense that the Coopers are getting an awful lot off their chests about working class village life.

How the sister and brother team progress as comic actors and writers after 'This Country' will be fascinating.

Both have dabbled in movies over the past year, with Charlie appearing in Michael Winterbottom's 'Greed' and Armando Iannucci's 'The Personal History of David Copperfield'.

They also contributed an episode to Iannucci's HBO sitcom 'Avenue 5'.

But as they move away from the tight knit world of 'This Country', whatever they create can be done in the knowledge that they have already have delivered a comedy classic.

Matching its brilliance, though, will be no easy task.

('This Country' was broadcast on BBC3 and BBC1 from February 8, 2017 to March 23, 2020)