I liked the premise and think this sit-com has a lot of promise. Am a big fan of Brenda Blethyn; I've never seen the actor who plays Koji in action before, but he is superb. In fact, all characters are played well. Obviously Kate is very crotchety; I'm assuming we eventually get to find out more of her backstory as to why. I also like that they've (maybe deliberately and intentionally) seemingly limited themselves to the "caff" (or caff-ay) setting. In this respect, it's more like porridge than fools and horses. Amazing what you can do with limitations however, as it forces ingenuity and creativity to come to the fore, as "The Terminal", "Phone Booth", and "Buried" have all testified to. I think it's very clever the way the initial misunderstanding and misreading between Kate and Koji was set up (I'm guessing his original name was Kolo, but Koji does have a nicer ring to it - a bit like how oompa loompas were originally called whipple-scrumpets, which is good, but oompa loompas is better - Obviously from Kolo to Koji is not as drastic as that), but it's also nicely done that he is quite reticent and taciturn normally, as well as pleasant; until provoked, when he can become forceful when insulted, but always in a relatively dignified manner. His cheerful upbeatness and pleasant bearing contrasts well with the cafe owner, and this makes the whole thing work and be interesting for the audience. I look forward to the five remaining episodes; let's face it, we could probably most all of us do with a bit of light-hearted comedy relief over the next few weeks and months. Thank you to the writers and cast and crew for making this happen. All good comedy always touches the soul in the way no other genre ever can.
Review of Kate & Koji
