The Story of Leonard and Hungry Paul Review: A Calming Show With Narration from the Famous Actress Brings an Ideal Antidote to Today's World

In a calm suburb of the city, a person stands in his driveway, sporting a vest and voicing his feelings. “I feel myself getting quieter. Less noticeable,” states the protagonist, gazing toward the stars. “One thing’s led to another and currently it seems unless I take action, I’ll just carry on in this simple, peaceful routine.” Paul, his only and only friend, ponders this statement. “Nothing wrong with that,” he responds, his bathrobe moving in the breeze. “Preferable to striving for recognition only to wind up defacing it.”

For anyone exhausted by the chaos and fast pace of modern television terrain, the show comes like a warm cover with a hot drink of Ribena.

Similar to its gentle leads, the series – a six-part show written by the writing duo, adapted from the author’s understated story – looks disapprovingly on contemporary society; looking disapprovingly above its prematurely middle-aged glasses at anything related to loud sounds, sudden movements or – heaven forfend – an abundance of ambition. The series rather, a celebration of shyness; a quiet celebration to people happy to wander below the parapet. However. Leonard (one more uniquely quirky turn from the star) feels restless. He senses a growing “desire to unlock the entryways in my existence … a little.” The passing of his parent has whisked the rug away from his feet and the 32-year-old, a writer for others, now feels reconsidering the choices that directed him to his current situation (unattached; with a protective mustache; writing a range of educational volumes for a man who concludes messages saying “see you later”).

Therefore Leonard launches himself on a quest for emotional fulfilment, with the slightly bolder friend Paul (the actor) functioning as his confidante, guide and ally in a weekly game night which acts as symposium (“Does the pool feel warm because kids pee in it, or do kids pee in it as it's heated?”) and safe space.

(How did Paul get his nickname? The reason is unknown. The beginning of the moniker is shrouded in mystery. Perhaps Paul previously devoured a sandwich unusually quickly, or answered to an awkward situation by panic-peeling four scotch eggs with his teeth).

Arriving in Leonard's calm existence comes a new colleague (the actress), a fresh energetic colleague who lightheartedly proposes to get rid of his terrible supervisor (the character) in a workplace safety exercise. The swift movement audible signals Leonard's peaceful routine being turned upside down.

In another part in the first episode of this program not heavily plotted and more on what a modern audience might call “mood”, we meet Paul's father (the brilliant Lorcan Cranitch), a worn-out individual who covertly observes, tapes and rewatches television game programs to impress his loving spouse through his fact recall.

Shepherding the audience throughout this minor-key niceness we hear a narrator that is unmistakably – and actually is – Julia Roberts. Indeed, the celebrity. If you are thinking, “surely the presence of a big-name celebrity is at odds with the series’ unshowy MO and at first acts merely as an interruption?” that's accurate. Still, the actress performs admirably, and lines like “The issue with Leonard is the missing a look of sudden insight” help ensure that first reservations fade though not complete approval, then certainly understanding.

But that’s enough grumbling currently. The show's core is well-intentioned: the right place being “sitting on a park bench alongside similar shows, indicating the duck it loves.” This is a show that strolls leisurely in its sleeveless jumper, occasionally looking up at the stars, at other times looking at its feet, serenely certain that nothing is in the world as heartening as passing time in the company of good friends.

Throw open the portals in your existence, a little, and let it in.