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The Other One centres around two young women called Catherine Walcott (Ellie White and Lauren Socha), who only discover each other’s existence when their father, Colin (Simon Greenall) dies, much to the annoyance of their unsuspecting other halves, Marilyn (Siobhan Finneran) and Tess (Rebecca Front), the latter forever dating to wipe Colin’s misdeeds out of her mind.
Alas, for this first of three new comedy pilots – to be followed next week by Famalam, and then The Pact (see trailer below for clips from all three) – jokes were practically nowhere to be found. The crematorium incinerators were referred to as like a ‘barbeque’, there was a ‘nob’ joke, one of the sisters has “completed Tinder”, there’s a boyfriend, remorseful because he slept with another woman, plus a moderately amusing joke delivered by Ted Robbins, which I won’t spoil for you, other than it involves misdirection.
The fact this was written by Holly Walsh explains how dreadfully unfunny it is. When I used to watch Mock the Week and she took the stage, it was like a comedy vacuum.
There is some comedy to be gained from two identically-named siblings in a sitcom, but none of it rears its head, here, and I just counted the minutes waiting for it to end. This is a shame since many of the cast have been involved in far better shows, particularly Ellie White in the second series of House of Fools, and of course, Rebecca Front in The Thick Of It.
The Other One isn’t available to pre-order on DVD and is unlikely to be at this point, given that it’s a one-off. If you missed it, you can watch it on BBC iPlayer for 30 days after transmission.
Score: 0.5/10
Director: Dan Zeff
Producer: Pippa Brown
Writer: Holly Walsh
Cast:
Cathy: Ellie White
Cat: Lauren Socha
Marilyn: Siobhan Finneran
Tess: Rebecca Front
Rupert: Brian Bovell
Marcus: Amit Shah
Colin: Simon Greenall
Vicar: Vivienne Soan
Taxi Driver: Ted Robbins
Paul: Neil Pearson
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.