‘I doubt I’ll ever laugh as hard again’

The best TV formats are the simplest. And what could be simpler than a contest in which all you need do to win is not laugh?

This is the glorious premise of Japanese title Documental, aka LOL: Last One Laughing. Bring a gaggle of comedians into a room, train some cameras on them and observe as they attempt to stay expressionless while trying to make each other laugh. The merest chuckle results in a warning, a second transgression and you’re eliminated. The final stony-faced comic is crowned the champion.

LOL finally landed on these shores in late March. What a boon for UK audiences. The fundamental reason this show triumphs is the relentlessness of the laughs. Admittedly, I am a weak-willed individual when it comes to humour, but as the series progressed, it easily reaches the hernia-causing threshold. 2025 was a bittersweet year and March a particularly tough month, but LOL melted it all away.

Joe Wilkinson’s RNLI monologue; Daisy May Cooper re-enacting rollercoasters with a leaf blower; Richard Ayoade channelling his Garth Marenghi era; Bob Mortimer talking about…kitchen islands, Toby Carveries, diarrhoea, bad dental work, the biscuit industry - whatever the hell he wants.
It was comedic death by a thousand cuts of banality and oddball.

Adding some TV wonkery, LOL was utterly original. Hailing from Banijay UK bedfellows Big Brother reality specialist Initial and Zeppotron, doyen of the comedy panel show, it breathed life into format sub-genres experiencing varying degrees of existential crisis. Combining the two with participant commentary, Big Brother camera work, quirky format beats, crazy jokes, cameos, I felt I was watching something completely fresh.

As Richard alluded, we were all in trouble when Rob unsheathed his swords anecdote. Meats and cheeses always pleases…I doubt I’ll ever laugh as hard again.

UK BROADCASTER SHOW OF THE YEAR

The Narrow Road to the Deep North, BBC1

I’ve got so used to dramas having a narrative vehicle that I’d forgotten what it feels like to be totally enveloped by the artistry of a series. Adapted faithfully from Richard Flanagan’s Booker Prize-winning novel of the same name, which is in turn taken from an itinerant verse by Edo-era haiku poet Bashō, Curio Pictures’ series is itself a journey, an achronological one, charting the life of Australian army doctor Dorrigo Evans.

Narrow Road to the Deep North 2

We jump forward and back between his days from before he is shipped out to fight in World War II, through his time as a Japanese PoW orchestrating his comrades’ building of the Burma Death Railway, to his later years as a celebrated surgeon, struggling with the haunting memories of his past. It is a character drama, rich in depth of its protagonists, even those on-screen for snippets of its five episodes.

The beauty lies in the starkness of its scenes – most notably its portrayals of war, but also those of love – be it unrequited, transactional, or cascading – and the human condition. And it doesn’t moralise, it leaves the viewer to find their message from the action. Jacob Elordi and Ciarán Hinds deliver supremely different yet completely unified depictions of Dorrigo, while Shô Kasamatsu’s stock continues to rocket after his turn in Tokyo Vice.

Odessa Young’s Amy is simply jaw-dropping, and her and Elordi offer the most compelling screen chemistry. Justin Kurzel’s exquisite direction, overlaid by a sublime soundtrack, make you care little for the destination. But even then, it was satisfying.

 Top five UK broadcaster shows  Top five streamer shows
1 The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Curio Pictures for BBC1   1 LOL: Last One Laughing UK, Initial and Zeppotron for Prime Video
2 7/7 The London Bombings, The Slate Works for BBC2   2 Severance S2, Apple TV
3 This City is Ours, Left Bank Pictures for BBC1   3 Grenfell: Uncovered, Rogan Productions for Netflix
4 Boyzone: No Matter What, Curious Films for Sky Documentaries   4 MobLand, Paramount+
5 Play for Today: Big Winners, LA Productions for 5   5 Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy, Passion Pictures for Netflix

John Elmes

  • John Elmes, deputy news editor and international editor

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