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Everyone Else Burns is a new sitcom with a bizarre premise in that while most of us are living a normal, everyday life in the present day, David (Simon Bird – Friday Night Dinner) and his family are in a ’60s-decorated house, but their modern TV doesn’t work because David admitted he poured a jug of water over it, since he saw two people kissing… with tongues.
It’s also a weird house in that the both the lounge and sitting room areas are knocked through, yet the stairs go up the middle of them. That’s an awkward position, and Homes Under The Hammer would soon suggest moving the stairs by a wall, so they’re not bang in the middle of the room where they get in the way.
But enough of such trivialities, as we see him getting his family up in the middle of the night in order to hunker in their bunker (sort of), as he thinks it’s the end of the world. His daughter, Rachel (Amy James-Kelly – Three Families), is scared shitless, while his son, Aaron (Harry Connor) – conversely – is glad the end time is here. But, for now, they’re just really going on a long walk to the top of a hill because it’s an ‘apocalypse practice’ run. The former is relieved, but the latter is angered.
All that said, on their journey, as they saw a car pass by, going about their normal morning business, David comments, “Probably a sinner. They’ll be struck down before he reaches Stockport” 😀
In fact, there’s a huge amount of witty lines in here, a sitcom set around this weird family who are part of a group of religious extremists (to put it politely!), so I won’t pick them all up on first viewing.
Once you’re done with being distracted at David’s awful (but he insists upon it) bowl haircut, in the first couple of episodes which I’ve seen out of the six, his wife, Fiona (Kate O’Flynn – Bridget Jones’ Baby), is looking to start her own business, Rachel meets a young man called Joshua (Ali Khan), who thinks she needs to get more of a life, and Morgana Robinson (The Witches) plays Melissa, the family’s angry neighbour who’s sick of their way of life.
But just as I think that clearly, this is a couple well-suited to each other, I did end up wondering, just how much longer can they put up with each other? Well, that question will presumably be answered over the remainder of the series.
Everyone Else Burns is on Channel 4 tonight at 10pm, with two episodes in the first week. It’s already available on All 4 in full. It’s not yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD.
Director: Nick Collett
Producer: Molly Seymour
Writers: Dillon Mapletoft, Oliver Taylor
Cast:
David: Simon Bird
Fiona: Kate O’Flynn
Rachel: Amy James-Kelly
Aaron: Harry Connor
Miss Simonds: Lolly Adefope
Elder Samson: Arsher Ali
Sid: Kath Hughes
Joshua: Ali Khan
Andrew: Kadiff Kirwan
Melissa: Morgana Robinson
Joel: Liam Williams
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.