“Sketchy fun”

Man Stroke Woman: Seasons 1 – 2

Network BBC 3

Release Date 20 November 2005 – 1 March 2007

Episodes 2 series, 6 episodes each

Binge time 6 hours

This week’s Overlooked is taking us all the way back to 2005, with a British comedy sketch show that completely blew my young mind and deserves a little recognition for doing so.

Man Stroke Woman, produced by Ash Atalla of The IT Crowd and The Office, is a dry, satirical and often dark comedy series starring a whole bunch of familiar faces, most notably Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Spaced), Amanda Abbington (Sherlock), Ben Crompton (Game of Thrones), Daisy Haggard (Green Wing), with Meredith Macneil and Nicholas Burns.

Man Stroke Woman offers a range of sketches, some one-offs and others reoccurring, about relationship concerns of the “modern” (note; mid-2000s) world, and sometimes just plain weird gags.

Every single sketch is pure brilliance. There aren’t many TV shows that I can say I laugh all the way through every time, but Man Stroke Woman is a superbly written, incredibly witty and perfectly succinct comedy. No sketch is longer than a couple of minutes because they all just get straight to it. No laugh track or other distractions, just rapid fire scenarios and lines that nail it every time.

The show had only two seasons, airing on BBC from 2005 – 2007. Even if you can commit to all 12 episodes, have a flick through the various sketches you can find on YouTube. You may even recognise some that have circulated the web for years like “Man Cold” and “The Walk of Shame“. Though by now the “moderness” can be a little outdated, if you let yourself slip into that early naughties mindset you’ll get right into it.

For your cynical and snide British comedy fix, I can’t recommend Man Stroke Woman enough.