The Other One

This is not quite as sharply funny as Walsh’s work on Motherland, but while the jokes might not always be laugh-out-loud, the relationships between these women (and now Callum) are deftly drawn with heart and tenderness that sings through the absurdity.

The Other One takes a unique look at death and mourning, couched in a story about two families thrown together under extreme circumstances. The show’s warmth is established almost right away and will only get better.

Acorn's imported British comedy The Other One, also inspired by a true story of fraudulent fatherhood and long-lost siblings, charmingly finds the middle ground between dense pathos and glib laughs. The show is a rare gem.

The show’s creator, Holly Walsh, deftly undercuts the inherent sentimentalities of her story, even as the supremely uptight Cathy (Ellie White) and the raucous, free-spirited Cat (Lauren Socha) predictably overcome their differences and form a new family blended from emotional openness and cheap white wine run through a SodaStream.

It’s a show with a loving heart that nevertheless manages to remain witty and fleet, doing a lot with every scene and never wasting a minute.