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Colin from Accounts: a show so fearless and hilarious that I want to get a tattoo of it

Source: Guardian Culture - Published: 05 Sep 2026 09:00

It’s deliciously satirical, fizzes with electric chemistry – and it’s snortingly funny too. If you haven’t watched the worst named show on TV yet, do so. Right now!Sometimes the best things in life have the worst names. The Beatles. Smeg fridges. Nintendo Wii. But top of the tree is Colin from Accounts (Monday 7 September, 10pm, BBC Two), a name so bland I almost slipped into medical unconsciousness upon hearing it. It’s worse than bland. There’s an aspect of comedy-tie zaniness to it, a “Look, we’re calling our possibly office-based sitcom the most boring thing we can think of!” tedium. One can imagine the lazy jokes, the stock characters. Within 15 minutes of watching it, I was genuinely toying with the idea of a CFA tattoo.How did this unpromising Australian import become my favourite? By being a showcase for fearless writing, electric chemistry and delicious comic timing. Written by real-life partners Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyer, it tracks the relationship of medical student Ashley and Gordon, a brewery owner and ball cancer survivor. The romance, like their writing, is allergic to schmaltz. Their meet-cute occurs in the street when Ashley flashes a boob at Gordon, causing him to crash his car and permanently disable a stray dog that they unwillingly adopt together. (That’s Colin. It’s not really about Colin.) Continue reading...