Uncle stars Nick Helm as Andy, a perennial under-achiever and wannabe rock god who last romance ended in disaster. About to end it all, he suddenly finds himself having to babysit his young nephew, Errol, while Errol's mother, Sam, pieces her life back together after drug addiction and divorce.
The combination of man-child looking after child-wise-beyond-his-years is not a new one. But there's something incredibly funny and also very touching about the combination of Helm and young actor Elliott Speller-Gilott, who plays Errol. At turns, it's convincing, touching and hilarious without ever being mawkish, saccharine or crass. Both actors give beautifully balanced performances.
Daisy Haggard, from Man-Stroke-Woman and Episodes is also excellent as Sam, mum to Errol and sister to Andy. She also has some of the best lines and, in my opinion, remains criminally under-used by most comedy producers.
Thrown into this set-up is Andy's ex-girlfriend and two potential new love interests, plus various musical numbers penned by Helm, whose stand-up comedy persona is also a frustrated wannabe rock god who performs very sharp satires of different rock-music genres. Check out his work on the inter-net-web if you're in any way curious. It will be time well spent.
Uncle is genuinely heartwarming and genuinely funny. It could well be the comedy of the year. And it's only January. It is that good.
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