One of the great joys of Roisin Conaty’s GameFace, which returned for a long-overdue second series, is its sheer normality. Conaty’s heroine Marcella is reassuringly ordinary, the sort of woman we all know, a little quick at wriggling out of responsibility, keen to hide her bigger problems with a silly one-liner, gloriously prone to making truly terrible jokes.
The great joy of GameFace is it’s both very broad and carefully specific
Thus among the best moments in an episode packed full of them was a fantastically bad Forrest Gump impression, which, brilliantly, Marcella then admitted was terrible to her date, the amiable driving instructor Jon.
Roisin Conaty’s heroine Marcella is reassuringly ordinary, the sort of woman we all know (Photo: Channel 4)
As you probably would, if you were on a date with the person you’ve fancied for ages having somehow neglected to tell him that you’ve managed to pass your driving test so shouldn’t really be still having lessons with him.
A lie of omission that’s getting bigger and bigger, which makes you nervous and when you’re nervous you do stupid things and, well, there’s nothing more stupid then suddenly deciding to label your companion the Irish Forrest Gump and then belabouring the point with a bad Southern accent.
Damien Molony as Jon in GameFace (Photo: Channel 4)
This series is both very funny and properly smart. The characters are well drawn and the scenarios feel grounded in a very specific type of London reality – of a woman who grew up in the city and has the accent to prove it.
It’s the kind of comedy – both very broad and carefully specific – that’s incredibly difficult to get right. Conaty makes it look easy.