''Him & Her'' is a

British television Regular television broadcasts in the United Kingdom started in 1936 as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

about a lazy twenty-something couple: Steve and Becky, who live in

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in East London, east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London and the Historic counties of England, ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Chari ...

, London. It was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Three on 6 September 2010. It is written by

Stefan Golaszewski Stefan Golaszewski (born November 1980) is a British writer, performer and director. He is part of the comedy troupe Cowards and is the writer and creator of BAFTA winning sitcoms ''Him & Her'' and '' Mum''. Early life and education Golaszews ...

and stars

Russell Tovey Russell George Tovey (born 14 November 1981) is an English actor. He is best known for playing the role of werewolf George Sands in the BBC's supernatural comedy-drama '' Being Human'', Rudge in both the stage and film versions of ''The Histo ...

and

Sarah Solemani Sarah Solemani (born 4 September 1982) is an English actress, writer and activist. She is best known for starring in the BAFTA winning sitcom ''Him & Her'' and playing Renee Zellweger's best friend Miranda in ''Bridget Jones's Baby'', for which ...

. The theme tune is the song "

Boom Bang-a-Bang "Boom Bang-a-Bang" is a song recorded by Scottish singer Lulu. The song was written by Alan Moorhouse and Peter Warne. It was the at the Eurovision Song Contest 1969, held in Madrid. It was the joint winner with three other entries: Salomé ...

" by Lulu. The first series aired from 6 September to 11 October 2010, and comprised six episodes. The second series aired from 1 November to 13 December 2011, and comprised seven episodes. The third series aired from 18 November to 23 December 2012, comprising seven episodes, including a 'special' Christmas episode. The fourth (and final) series aired from 21 November to 19 December 2013 and comprised five episodes. Series 4 (subtitled "The Wedding") is based around Laura and Paul's wedding ceremony and reception, rather than the flat where Steve and Becky live.

Series overview

; Series 1 Becky and Steve are happy to spend their days watching DVDs in Steve's flat, but are constantly interrupted by Dan (the man who lives upstairs), Laura and Paul (Becky's sister and her fiancé), and Becky's parents. ; Series 2 Becky moves into Steve's flat permanently. Becky's sister Laura and her friend Shelly have become best friends with Steve's ex-girlfriend. Dan is back with his horrid girlfriend. ; Series 3 Steve contemplates proposing to Becky, but struggles to find the right moment. Becky's sister Laura is pregnant, and is letting everyone know about it. Meanwhile, the relationship between Shelly and Dan continues to blossom. ; Series 4 The series focuses on Paul and Laura's wedding day. Each episode follows a different stage of the day, with Becky as chief bridesmaid and Steve as best man, from the early morning wake up call, through the ceremony and the speeches, to the late-night disco. Becky finds out she's pregnant with Steve's baby.

Cast

Main cast

* Becky Williams (

; 25 episodes), Steve's partner * Steve Marshall (

; 25 episodes), Becky's partner * Dan Perkins ( Joe Wilkinson; 25 episodes), Steve & Becky's neighbour, Shelly's partner * Laura Parker ( Kerry Howard; 24 episodes), Becky's sister and Paul's wife * Paul Parker (

Ricky Champ Ricky Champ (born 1 July 1980) is an English actor. He is known for his roles as Paul Parker in the BBC Three sitcom ''Him & Her'', and Stuart Highway in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. Champ has also appeared in ''Crims'', ''Plebs'', and th ...

; 23 episodes), Laura's husband and Graham's boyfriend * Shelly Mills (

Camille Coduri Camille Coduri (born 18 April 1965) is an English actress. She is best known for playing Jackie Tyler, the mother of Rose Tyler, in ''Doctor Who'', and also for her roles as Faith in ''Nuns on the Run'', Miranda in ''King Ralph'', and Dot Clapton ...

; 18 episodes), Laura's friend and Dan's partner

Guest cast

* Nigel Williams (

Ralph Brown Ralph William John Brown (born 18 June 1957) is an English actor and writer, known for playing Danny the drug dealer in ''Withnail and I'', the security guard Aaron (a.k.a. "85") in ''Alien 3'', DJ Bob Silver in ''The Boat That Rocked'' aka ' ...

; 8 episodes), Becky and Laura's father * Graham ( Paul Clayton; 6 episodes), Paul's boyfriend * Kieran Mills (Louis Melton; 6 episodes), Shelly's son * Janet Marshall (Joanna Bacon; 5 episodes), Steve's mother * Jill Williams ( Marion Bailey; 5 episodes), Becky and Laura's mother * Lee ( Nick Blood; 5 episodes), Becky's ex-boyfriend * Ian (

Jonny Sweet Jonny Sweet (born 1985) is a British comedian and the recipient of the 2009 Edinburgh Comedy Award for best newcomer. Early life Sweet was born in Nottingham and educated at the local independent school Nottingham High School. He read English ...

; 5 episodes), Paul's biological half-brother * Bianca (Georgia Eracleous; 5 episodes), Laura's cousin and bridesmaid * Mike (

Ian Burfield Ian Burfield is an English actor, who has often played roles as police officers and detectives on television. He appeared in 12 episodes of ''The Bill'', 39 episodes of ''EastEnders'', and played the part of a Tweed Coat Fingerman in 2005 film '' ...

; 4 episodes), Barney's father and Janet's partner * Luke Parker (Reiss McRaye; 4 episodes), Paul's son * Keith (Thomas Coombes; 4 episodes), Paul's friend * Dennis (James Doherty; 4 episodes), Becky and Laura's uncle * Sue (

Victoria Willing Victoria C. Willing (born 1959) is a British actress known for her work on ''The Inbetweeners'' and various Jim Henson Company productions. In January 2020, Willing appeared in an episode of the BBC soap opera ''Doctors'' as Gwen Hubbard, and i ...

; 4 episodes), Becky and Laura's aunt * David (Neal Barry; 4 episodes) * Darren ( Josef Altin; 3 episodes), Paul's friend * Gina (

Diane Morgan Diane Morgan (born 5 October 1975) is an English actress, comedian, television presenter, and writer. She is best known for playing Philomena Cunk on Charlie Brooker's ''Weekly Wipe'' and in other mockumentaries, as Liz in the BBC Two sitcom '' ...

; 3 episodes), Steve and Becky's neighbour * Julie Taylor ( Katie Lyons; 2 episodes), Steve's ex-girlfriend * Anita (Beverly Rudd; 2 episodes), Dan's ex-girlfriend * Barney (

Blake Harrison Blake Harrison is an English actor, comedian and dancer. He is best known for playing Neil Sutherland in the BAFTA-winning E4 comedy ''The Inbetweeners'' and more recently as 'Medium' Dan, in the ITV sitcom Kate & Koji since 2020. Career H ...

; 2 episodes), Steve's friend and Mike's son * Bernadette Parker (Elizabeth and Harriet Mayes; 2 episodes), Paul and Laura's baby daughter * Jonathan (Neil Edmond; 2 episodes), Steve and Becky's neighbour * Pete Marshall ( Christopher Fulford; 1 episode), Steve's father * Jamie ( Martin Delaney; 1 episode), Becky's friend * Lorraine (

Kerry Godliman Kerry Anna Godliman (born November 1973) is an English actor and comedian best known for her roles in ''Derek'', '' Bad Move'' and '' After Life''. Early life Godliman was born in Perivale, West London, and trained at Rose Bruford College in ...

; 1 episode), Laura's wedding make-up artist * Gay Allen (Nathasha Stokes; 1 episode), Barney's girlfriend * Paris ( Lizzie Roper; 1 episode), a prostitute Dan hires * Mrs Bailey (

Eve Pearce Eve Pearce (17 April 1929 – 13 January 2023) was a Scottish actress. She performed in many Royal Shakespeare Company productions. Early life Eve Pearce was born in Aberdeen to a very poor family and was brought up in a one-roomed tenement, h ...

; 1 episode); Steve and Becky's neighbour * Paul (Lee Long; 1 episode), Paul's friend, known as "Other Paul" * Rashid (Seelan Gunaseelan; 1 episode), a waiter at Paul and Laura's wedding

Critical reception

Most critics in the UK responded warmly to the first series; although there was some mild criticism directed towards the more crude and naturalistic aspects of the programme, reviewers reacted positively to the quality of writing and acting found on the show. In the ''

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

'' Keith Watson summed it up as "sleazy fun utnot without a certain soiled charm", while in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' Brian Viner compared the set-up to that of the popular British sitcom '' The Royle Family'', describing ''Him and Her'' as "beautifully acted... wonderfully written... and intermittently very funny indeed". In one of the more negative reviews, David Crawford of the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'' was a little more reserved in his praise of the show; although he admitted that "the chemistry between the two leads... ives thefilthy comedy a warm-hearted edge" he also expressed distaste for the "lewd and crude" humour frequently on display. In respect to the writing, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' labelled the series "a witty, touching show" that "has the feel of a series of short plays", while in ''The Radio Times'' Claire Webb noted how as the series progressed she found it to be "more Beckett play than the

sual Siberian-Urals Aluminium Company (russian: Сибирско-Уральская Алюминиевая Компания), commonly known as SUAL (russian: СУАЛ), is a fully vertically integrated aluminium company that ranks amongst the world's t ...

zany fare you might expect from a BBC3 sitcom. On reviewing the final episode, Aidan Smith of ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'' summarised the show as "a jam and fluff-covered gem featuring charming performances from Russell Tovey and Sarah Solemani as Steve and Becky". The series was awarded the BAFTA for British Academy Television Award for Best Situation Comedy in 2014.

Episodes

Series overview

Series 1 (2010)

Series 2 (2011)

Series 3 (2012)

Series 4 (2013)

Home media

The complete first series DVD was released on 18 October 2010 and the second series on 12 November 2012. A series 1 & 2 boxset was also released on 12 November 2012. The complete third series DVD was released on 9 December 2013, and the fourth series on 13 October 2014, as well as a complete Series 1-4 collection.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Him and Her (TV series) 2010 British television series debuts 2013 British television series endings 2010s British LGBT-related comedy television series 2010s British romantic comedy television series 2010s British sitcoms BAFTA winners (television series) BBC romance television shows BBC television sitcoms Bisexuality-related television series English-language television shows Infidelity in television Television series about couples Television series about dysfunctional families Television series about siblings Television series by Big Talk Productions Television series by ITV Studios Television shows set in London Walthamstow