His BBC One series Here We Go has single-handedly revived the family sitcom genre, and Hollywood stars love his short films. Might he be one of Britain’s most versatile comedy writers?
No matter what type of comedy you are into, Tom Basden is your man. A fan of dark, naturalistic cult fare? Try his 00s sketch show Cowards. Profane historical farce? He created ITV2’s ancient Rome-set Plebs. Heartstring-tugging dramedy? He co-stars in Ricky Gervais’s After Life. Quirky musical comedy? He won best newcomer at the Edinburgh fringe for his. The lighter work of the great Russian novelists? He adapted Dostoevsky’s The Crocodile for the stage. Hip, esoteric double acts? He has got one with Tim Key. Unabashedly mainstream family sitcoms? Well, he has just about single-handedly revived the genre with Here We Go, which is about to return to BBC One for its second series.
Despite Basden’s startling versatility, that last still feels like a surprising achievement; it is hard to think of the last time we had a domestic sitcom that was conventionally low concept and solidly great (perhaps Outnumbered, which debuted almost 17 years ago).
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