Black Books

I have been getting acquainted with Black Books (2000) these holidays. I seem to be the only person in the world (at least among the people I know) who hadn't heard of it until recently, and now it has become our dinner routine: ie it's now "Black Books time".

Set in a small, independent bookshop in central London, Black Books is an hilarious British sitcom. With only three series of six episodes each (and short ones at that - 22 mins), every minute is priceless comedy. The series centres a foul-mouthed, Irish alcoholic bookshop owner (Dylan Moran) and two other eccentric cast members (Bill Bailey and Tamsin Greig). It is the kind of humour that other sitcoms strive for yet few truly achieve. The romantic notion held by every devoted reader of running a bookshop soon unravels, especially with an owner who doesn't like customers or people who buy books.

We are halfway through series two; part of me wants to binge on the rest and watch the remaining episodes back to back, while another part of me wants to savour the rest and continue enjoying an installment each night to avoid reaching the end too soon.