The Cutprice Guignol

It’s not often that a show is so damn good that I have to put everything else in my life on hold for it.

Yeah, I know I said about fifteen minutes ago that I was in a true crime mood above all, but I am coming to you today to talk about comedy. Specifically, Stath Lets Flats, a British sitcom following the exploits of a Greek-Cypriot estate agent working for his father’s property business.

Look, I’m not the first person to figure out how amazing this series is – it’s been around since 2018, and won a couple of BAFTAs back in 2020, and quite rightly so – but I’m be doing a disservice to all you loyal and lovely blog readers if I didn’t take the time of day to tell you just how good this show is.

Because, since I started watching it last week, I can’t stop myself bingeing the whole thing. Watching anything else, or indeed doing anything else, feels downright foolish, when something of this quality is right there in arm’s reach. When a show is so good that you can’t get on with your life until you’ve consumed every minute of every episode that’s out so far, you need to talk about it, right?

Stath Lets Flats, written by and starring Jamie Demetriou (and if you recognise that name, it’s because he’s the brother of What We Do In The Shadows star Natasha Demetriou, who also stars in Stath as his on-screen sister), is a show that seems fine at first. Cute, British comedy, maybe, nothing special. But as you get deeper into the episodes, and you start to understand the world and these characters better, it turns into a fucking masterpiece.

A lot of this comes courtesy of Jamie Demetriou as Stath. The dialogue, delivery, and performance he creates for this leading man is downright Deadwood-ian in how much it demands that you tune in to this almost entirely new set of communication skills to fully enjoy it; Stath’s second-language-English-misunderstandings blending with his lanky physical comedy to create this hectic, unhinged, and scream-laugh-funny character to base this show around. Once you tune in to the way this character communicates and moves through the world, Stath Lets Flats turns from good to “I am crying-laughing to the point it actually hurts”.

And, of course, it’s not just Jamie Demetriou who rocks his performance here. If you’ve seen WWDITS, then you know his sister is a legitimate comedy icon in her own right; her dimwitted performance as Sophia and her surprisingly sweet relationship with her brother on-screen allows Stath someone to communicate with on his level, while her relationship with Stath’s absurdly beloved co-worker and best friend and totally average Al (Al Roberts) is a joy to behold. Kiell Smith-Benoe (of Ghosts fame) is a personal favourite of mine, an exasperated real person trying to deal with the sitcom absurdity around him, while Christos Stergioglou as the loving but somewhat hapless gay father of Stath and Sophia adds as much heart as he does humour.

Stop everything that’s going on in your life to watch Stath Lets Flats. Like, actually, genuinely, watch it right here for free. Yes, it’s probably going to consume your life for a little while, but trust me, it’s worth it. Even if, like me, you cringe a little whenever you see how much a flat in London costs per month.

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(header image via Wales Online)