Leonard & Hungry Paul Overview: A Calming Comedy With Narration from Julia Roberts Provides the Perfect Cure to Modern Life

In a quiet suburb of the city, a man can be found in his driveway, sporting a sleeveless jumper and voicing his feelings. “I notice myself getting quieter. More invisible,” states the protagonist, looking up at the night sky. “Events have unfolded and currently I believe if I don’t do something, I will continue in this quiet, unremarkable life.” Hungry Paul, his only companion, reflects on the idea. “That's perfectly fine,” he responds, his dressing gown swaying in the breeze. “Preferable to trying to make a mark and ending up damaging things.”

For anyone exhausted by the noise and rat-tat-tat of modern television landscape, the show arrives like a foil blanket and a comforting beverage of a sweet cordial.

Similar to its gentle leads, Leonard and Hungry Paul – a half-dozen installment comedy written by the writing duo, based on Rónán Hession’s subtle story – looks disapprovingly toward today's world; gazing disapprovingly above its eyewear on everything that involves loud sounds, sudden movements or – heaven forfend – too much drive. This show is, instead, an ode to introversion; a gentle tribute to people content to pootle around away from attention. And yet. Leonard (a further distinctly original portrayal from Alex Lawther) is uneasy. He notices an increasing “need to open the openings of my life … slightly.” The loss of his mother has whisked the rug out from under him and Leonard, an anonymous author, now realizes questioning the choices that have brought him to his current situation (single; defensively moustached; working on a range of kids' reference books for a man who signs off messages saying “goodbye for now”).

Therefore Leonard starts himself on a quest for emotional fulfilment, with the slightly bolder Paul (the actor) acting as his trusted friend, mentor and co-conspirator during their regular board games evening which acts as discussion (“Is the water heated due to children urinating, or is it that kids pee because it’s warm?”) and safe space.

(How did Paul get his nickname? It's unclear. The origin of the nickname seems forgotten in mystery. It could be that Paul on one occasion consumed a snack unusually quickly, or answered to an awkward situation by nervously peeling some food items by biting into them).

Entering Leonard's quiet life cartwheels a vibrant character (the performer), a new lively colleague who happily suggests to eliminate the awful manager (the actor) at a fire practice. That whooshing sound you can hear signals Leonard's peaceful routine undergoing a shake-up.

Elsewhere in the initial show of the comedy focused less on story and more on what the under-30s might call “mood”, viewers encounter Paul's father (the consistently great the actor), a worn-out individual who privately views, saves and reviews daytime quiz shows to impress his adoring wife with his general knowledge.

Leading us throughout this gentle kindness is a narrator that is unmistakably – and actually is – the Hollywood icon. Truly, the celebrity. In case you're considering, “undoubtedly the inclusion of such a famous actor clashes with the series’ unshowy MO and initially serves only as a distraction?” you would be correct. However, the actress performs admirably, and phrases such as “Leonard’s problem is the missing a ‘eureka’ face” help ensure that first reservations yield if not full admiration, then at minimum tolerance.

Enough complaining at this time. Leonard and Hungry Paul’s heart is in the right place: which is “resting on a bench in the company of gentle comedies, indicating its favourite duck.” This is a show that strolls leisurely wearing its simple clothes, at times staring toward the sky, sometimes downward at its feet, serenely certain that there is nothing in the world as cheering as passing time alongside close companions.

Open the doors and windows within your world, a little, and welcome it inside.