Daisy May Cooper, Tim Key and other stellar talents are hamstrung by this period comedy’s thin story and unimpressive jokes
It’s such a fertile premise, so resonant with the times that you wonder why we aren’t besieged with dramas, documentaries and podcasts set in and around the mid-17th century – time of civil war, plague and an equally poisonous outbreak of misogyny that gave England literal witch-hunts.
But no matter. It’s a time and a set of subjects that’s just as ripe for comedy – as black and bitter, you might expect, as a suspicious old crone’s brew – and here comes one with as distinguished a cast and pedigree as you could hope. The Witchfinder (BBC Two) is written by Neil and Rob Gibbons, who gave us the glorious return of Steve Coogan as his most famous character, in the pitch-perfect daytime television spoof This Time with Alan Partridge (Coogan is listed as a script consultant on the new show) and it stars – well, everyone you’d want it to, really. It features Tim Key (Partridge’s hapless sidekick Simon, known as Sidekick Simon, in This Time and who has long deserved the upgrade to main role that he gets here, even if he does seem to be exactly half Coogan and half Ricky Gervais in content and delivery), Daisy May Cooper (from the impeccable This Country), comedy stalwart Jessica Hynes, Daniel Rigby (an unforgettable Eric Morecambe in 2011 and great in everything since) and various other familiar faces that let you know you should be in for a good time.
