Forget giant marketing budgets, sometimes all you need to create the "buzziest" show on TV is a "small border terrier called Colin who has wheels for back legs", said James Jackson in The Times.
That's the premise behind "Colin from Accounts" – an Australian comedy about the "will-they-won't-they" friendship of Gordon and Ash, scripted by and starring real-life couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall.
The duo were brought together in season one when bar-owner Gordon ran over a dog after medical student Ash flashed her nipple at him. But the cute border terrier wasn't the only reason the show became an instant "word-of-mouth hit": quite simply, it was "funny", with a "whack of relatable honesty" as the "tentative couple squabbled like young modern couples actually do". Now, the second season has arrived and thankfully it's "every bit as good as the first".
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"Everything that made it great is back", agreed Lucy Mangan in The Guardian, and the latest episodes are "shaping up to be better than ever". The action picks up a few weeks after the end of season one, when Ash and Gordon, on the verge of breaking up, give Colin away to a new family. Now, the couple are back together and trying to get their beloved dog back.
Dyer and Brammall remain the "perfect foils for each other" and are both "equally compelling" to watch, delivering "sarcastic one-liners" and "bruising truths". And the supporting characters are outstanding: Ash's "superbly toxic mother" Lynelle (Helen Thomson) and her "magnificently creepy" boyfriend are a "transcendently awful" pair.
No longer focusing on the age gap between Ash and Gordon as the main source of laughs, the second series explores the issues that threaten to "drive the cohabiting couple apart", said Jasper Rees in The Telegraph, from Ash's neuroses to Gordon's porn habit.
While "not every episode is as strong as the others", added James Hibbs in Radio Times, there isn't a single one that "misses the mark". "Colin from Accounts" is a "consistently funny eight-episode binge" that makes for "perfect easy watching of an evening".
All in all, said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian, season two effortlessly maintains the "bonding banter, aggressive sniping and real emotion" that made the first series so successful. "The result, as before, is a masterclass in writing and an absolute joy to watch."
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