Him & Her (2010-2013) is a situational comedy which focuses mainly on young lovers Becky and Steve, dealing with their wacky neighbours, friends and relatives. Hilarity Ensues.
The action unfolds in Real Time, and at first never leaves Steve's (and eventually Becky's) flat. The final series (more or less) keeps the real time format, but shakes things up by having all five episodes spread across a single day at a new location.
As such, the show only reveals short snippets of the various characters' lives, with focus on their clashing personalities. While a comedy, there are more serious moments scattered here and there.
Tropes:
- Alcoholic Parent: Steve's mum Janet, though she appears to be a functional drunk. She left early when visiting Steve on his birthday so she could crash an engagement party she wasn't invited to because there would be free drinks and kept one of the bottles of vodka she'd bought Steve for his birthday for herself. She almost always has or asks for a beer whenever she appears.
- Alpha Bitch: Subversion. Laura would desperately like to be seen as this sort of person, and while she ticks a lot of the personality traits, you always get the sense that she's very consciously trying to be something that she's not; after all, her "clique" consists only of her disinterested older sister and a lonely, middle-aged single mum. Tellingly, she shows extreme deference to Steve's glamorous ex-girlfriend Julie, who is a more straightforward example of the trope.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Laura is this to Becky, though Becky hides it well. It's implied that Becky tolerates a lot of her behaviour because she feels a degree of guilt about Laura having to grow up in the shadow of a more attractive and popular older sister.
- Attention Whore: Laura has the gift of turning every conversation back to herself, and acts as if someone's done her a great injustice should they talk about themselves. Her fiancee Paul can be just as bad at times.
- The Baby Trap: Laura does this to Paul in season 2. She lies about being on the pill and reveals her pregnancy just before he has the chance to tell her he has fallen in love with a 16 year old "proper Muslim" and plans to leave her. She succeeds in the sense that he stays with her but it has backfired on her. As of Series 3, a wedding date has still not been set and the relationship has deteriorated further and Paul has distanced himself physically and emotionally. This has clearly taken an emotional toll on her that reaches a climax in Episode 6.
- Big Eater: Becky and Steve are constantly seen snacking on something or other.
- Bratty Half-Pint: Paul's son, Luke. His clearly imitative behaviour throws further light on his father's Manchild tendencies.
- British Brevity: The first series has six episodes; the second has seven. The third had six, plus a Christmas special, and the fourth and final season five.
- Butt-Monkey: Steve. Poor poor Steve.
- Shelly is this BIG TIME for Laura. She finally snapped in Series 3 and it was MAGNIFICENT!
- Caught with Your Pants Down: One episode sees Steve all ready for some much needed alone time when Becky and co unexpectedly come back to the flat.
- Cerebus Syndrome: The show never ceases to be a comedy, but the third series introduces increased dramatic stakes as Steve tries to work up the courage to propose to Becky in the face of increased hostility from her family, along with Laura's increasing cruelty in general.
- Character Focus: For a comedy, Becky has had a lot of character focus during series two.
- Disappeared Dad:
- Steve's parents are divorced, and his father has been a distant figure throughout his life. Rarely mentioned, we finally meet him in the series 3 Christmas special, where he and Steve eventually share a tender moment of reconciliation.
- Paul has it even worse - he doesn't even know who his father is. It's implied that this is a Freudian Excuse for his childish nature.
- The Ditz: Shelly, but she's really very sweet.
- Drop-In Character: The driving force of the show, as everything takes place in Steve and Becky's flat. Typical episodes revolve around their quiet day being disturbed by unannounced visits from friends and relatives.
- Entitled Bastard: Laura is very much a female version of this. She's spoilt and expects the world to revolve around her, taking anything she wants from Becky and Steve's flat, occasionally stealing from Steve's wallet. Paul has his moments.
- Fanservice: Becky spends a lot of time in long t-shirts and panties around the flat, her actress happens to have gorgeous slender legs.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Paul is frequently on the verge of a massive tantrum over what seems to anyone else like very minor issues.
- Honey Trap: Becky offers to let Steve watch her masturbate with a vibrator... in exchange for letting Laura come round to talk about Paul. Steve reluctantly agrees, just as Laura knocks on the door, forcing Becky to admit that she'd already called her.
- I Resemble That Remark!: Laura: "No one does me up my arse Steve... unless it's their birthday.."
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Both Steve and Becky show signs of this now and again.
- Jerkass: Becky and Laura's dad Nigel is a bully and an asshole who can't stand poor Steve. When Steve came to him to ask his permission to propose to Becky he threatened to break Steve's neck if he did so.
- Laura. She's a merciless bully who is seemingly incapable of understanding how cruel she is.
- Steve isn't one, but is treated as though he is.
- The Lad-ette: Becky is a mild version of this.
- Loners Are Freaks: Dan comes across like this.
- Manchild: Paul's outwardly brutish nature appears to come with a case of arrested development. His frequent outbursts of temper are usually accompanied with angry tears, and he delights in things like Christmas and birthdays in an oddly child-like manner.
- Momma's Boy: The series 1 commentary mentions that Steve is a little bit of one.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Laura gives a particularly cruel and undeserved one to Steve in Episode 2 of Series 3. "You're a prick. You've got no job and you're going to die. There's nothing interesting or famous about you whatsoever."
- A more karmic version however appears in Episode 6 of Series 3 when Shelly gives an extremely deserved one to Laura with brutal honesty about how she's becoming even more of a bitch as time goes on and how she'll eventually have no friends.
- Retool: Episodes in the first three series were set weeks or months apart, and never moved further than a few steps outside the door of the flat. The final series was set across a single day, at Paul and Laura's wedding.
- The Scapegoat: Steve is this constantly. Steve being held up by Becky taking ages to find a costume for a party? It's Steve who didn't want to come and ruined the party! Paul gets caught cheating on Laura? It's Steve's fault because he accidentally caused the truth to come out!
- The Slacker: Steve and Becky. They rarely ever leave the flat and spend most of their time lounging in bed.
- Tomato Surprise: The first series ends with Steve asking Becky to move in with him. Before this, viewers were never given any reason to think that they didn't already live together.
- Wacky Marriage Proposal: Steve has one of these planned out for Becky on their first anniversary. Shelley showing up with a drunken Laura put those plans on hold as well as a misunderstanding involving Becky almost finding the ring. He pulls it together in the end though.
- Will They or Won't They?: Dan and Shelley in the first 2 seasons. As of season 3 they are officially seeing each other but keeping it from Laura for obvious reasons.
