Before its release, the new Disney Plus sitcom Alice and Steve faced heavy online criticism. The story follows a 30-year friendship between Alice (Nicola Walker) and Steve (Jemaine Clement), which is tested when Steve starts dating Izzy (Yali Topol Margalith), Alice's 26-year-old daughter. Coming from the production company behind Baby Reindeer, it sounds more like a horror than a comedy. Why would a man in his 50s date a woman he essentially watched grow up? How will anyone be OK with that?
But I urge you to give it a shot – because the result is a delicious descent into one-upmanship that had me snort-laughing by the end of the first episode. The issue of Steve and Izzy's relationship, how uncomfortable it is to everyone around them, and how weird it is that they would choose to date each other, is baked into the fabric of the show from the second they get together. Everyone knows it's weird – even them, though they try to move past it.
That's where the comedy lies. It serves as the ultimate motivator for Alice, who becomes laser-focused on taking the romance down by any means necessary, destroying anything and everything in her wake – perhaps even her own marriage to the mousey Daniel (Joel Fry), who's just as horrified.
Key Details About Alice and Steve
- Director: Tom Kingsley
- Writer: Sophie Goodhart
- Cast: Nicola Walker, Jemaine Clement, Yali Topol Margalith, Joel Fry, Tyrese Eaton-Dyce, Marcia Warren, Eilidh Fisher
- Run Time: 6 x 30-minute episodes
- Where to Stream in the UK: Disney Plus
The show is very similar in tone to Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman's slapstick comedy The Roses from last year – the central characters are likeable, but petty and immature, seemingly too self-involved to see the other person's side or their own hypocritical actions.
Young Izzy makes the moves on Steve after moving back to the family home following a break-up. Divorcee Steve, who has just been on a boozy night out with Alice after the funeral of their close friend, is at a mental low and crashing on her couch. But that isn't enough to justify their romance, and soon they're having to prove they actually like each other to everyone – especially Alice, who not only dated Steve in the past but is filled with so much disgust for him she is incapable of keeping a lid on it.
Soon, she's going after him with every weapon in her arsenal – taking down his job, involving his ex-wife, and a particularly horrendous dinner party where she reminds all in attendance that she had him first (even her own mother jokes if it means she's in with a chance). But her aggressive refusal to accept them only seems to make Izzy and Steve double down.
Verdict on Alice and Steve
While some are uncomfortable with the premise, Alice and Steve oozes charm and delivers laughs in spades. I highly recommend you give it a chance. Easily digestible and full of heart, it's the most pleasant surprise of a watch I've seen this year. For Izzy, it's a childish 'you can't tell me what to do, mum' attitude, and for Steve… well, he's consummately lonely, and is flattered that anyone, particularly a pretty young woman, has taken any kind of interest.
Writer Sophie Goodhart has done a phenomenal job in making every character likeable, even when their actions become utterly terrible. She never absolves or forgives them of their actions, but instead uses them to steer the comedy forward.
Whoever decided to put Unforgotten's Nicola Walker in a comedy alongside Flight of the Conchords' Jemaine Clement deserves some kind of medal. They make a magic pairing, and Nicola, in particular, thrives in this kind of funny-yet-ridiculous setting we've never seen her in before. You believe in their long-standing friendship and the pain that comes with being betrayed, but revel in their schemes as they try to one-up each other.
At six half-hour episodes, Alice and Steve is a quick getaway into a world of utter chaos – and I adored it. The premise might not sound like your taste, but I promise, it's worth it.
Alice and Steve is available to stream now on Disney Plus.
