🔗 Share this article

In a quiet neighborhood of the Irish capital, an individual can be found on the pavement, sporting a vest and expressing his concerns. “I notice I'm becoming more silent. Harder to see,” states the main character, looking up at the night sky. “Circumstances have evolved and at this point I believe if I don’t do something, I’ll just carry on in this minor, harmless existence.” Hungry Paul, his only and only friend, considers the idea. “Nothing wrong with that,” he responds, his dressing gown flapping in the breeze. “Preferable to striving for recognition only to wind up defacing it.”

For viewers exhausted by the chaos and fast pace of modern television landscape, Leonard and Hungry Paul comes as a warm cover and warming mug of a sweet cordial.

Like its harmless protagonists, Leonard and Hungry Paul – a half-dozen installment show developed by the writing duo, based on the author’s subtle 2019 novel – takes a dim view at modern life; gazing critically above its prematurely middle-aged glasses on everything in the way of disturbances, quick actions or – perish the thought – an abundance of ambition. The series on the contrary, a celebration of shyness; a subtle homage to people content to amble along below the parapet. But. Leonard (another distinctly original turn by the actor) feels restless. He feels a creeping “urge to throw open the doors and windows of my life … slightly.” The passing of his parent has yanked the floor from under his slippers and Leonard, a ghost writer, now finds himself doubting the choices that have brought him to this point (alone; defensively moustached; working on a range of children’s encyclopedias for an employer who signs off messages with the phrase “see you later”).

Therefore Leonard begins on a journey for emotional fulfilment, with the slightly bolder friend Paul (Laurie Kynaston) functioning as his confidante, life coach and partner in a recurring board games evening which acts as discussion (“Is the water heated from kids relieving themselves, or is it that kids pee because it’s warm?”) and safe space.

(How did Paul get his nickname? The reason is unknown. The origin of this name is shrouded in mystery. Maybe the postal worker once ate some food unusually quickly, or reacted to a tense moment by nervously peeling four scotch eggs with his teeth).

Arriving in Leonard's calm existence comes Shelley (the actress), a fresh lively associate who cheerily offers to eliminate Leonard’s appalling boss (the actor) in a workplace safety exercise. The swift movement you can hear signals Leonard's peaceful routine undergoing a shake-up.

In another part in the first episode of a series focused less on story and more on what the under-30s might call “atmosphere”, viewers encounter Paul's father (the brilliant the performer), a worn-out individual who covertly observes, saves and reviews daytime quiz shows to amaze his adoring wife through his fact recall.

Guiding the audience through all this subtle warmth we hear a narrator that is unmistakably – and actually is – Julia Roberts. Yes, the star. If you are thinking, “undoubtedly the use of a major Hollywood star contradicts the series’ unshowy MO and initially serves only as a diversion?” you're right. Nevertheless, Roberts does a good job, and dialogue for example “Leonard's challenge is his absence of a ‘eureka’ face” assist in making sure that first reservations give way though not complete approval, then at least acceptance.

No more criticism currently. Leonard and Hungry Paul’s heart is in the right place: that place is “located on a seat alongside similar shows, showing its favourite duck.” This is a show that strolls leisurely wearing its simple clothes, occasionally looking up at the stars, sometimes downward toward the ground, serenely certain that there is nothing on Earth as cheering as spending time with close companions.

Open the doors and windows within your world, slightly, and allow it entry.