Russell Tovey: 'Steve’s going to propose!'

Russell Tovey: 'Steve’s going to propose!'
Russell Tovey: 'Steve’s going to propose!' (Image credit: BBC/Big Talk/Perry Curties)

Russell Tovey and Sarah Solemani are back with the third series of Him & Her on BBC3 and romance is definitely in the air as Steve is searching for the perfect moment to propose to his live-in lover Becky... So what will Steve and Becky will be getting up to in this third series of Him & Her – apart from slobbing around their filthy flat? Russell: “The main theme this series is Steve trying to find the perfect opportunity to propose to Becky. She seems completely unaware so if she senses something’s going on, she doesn’t let on to Steve. It’s also about the battles with their friends and family who are always coming round. Steve is trying to prove that he’s man enough for Becky, but no one else thinks he is, so his self-esteem takes a bashing!” We suppose one person who Steve doesn’t want to discover the secret is Becky’s sister, Laura. Is she still as vile as ever? Russell: “Yes and she finds out so it’s great for the storylines and it’s great TV, but it’s awful for Steve. Laura is even worse now as she’s pregnant so she feels much more self-important.” Will Laura still be spouting controversial views, like the BNP stuff in the last series? Sarah: “Yes because she’s an atrocious character so if you didn’t put those atrocious words in her mouth, it wouldn’t be authentic.” Russell: “The thing about Laura is that she doesn’t actually believe any of it which is why she can get away with it. People don’t hunt her down and kill her because she says this stuff verbatim, like she’s picked it up somewhere. She has terribly low self-esteem and deep down, she’s jealous of Becky and Steve’s relationship which is genuine.” Sarah: “Laura needs to be adored and thinks the best thing about being alive is being famous, no matter what for. She’s everything that’s wrong with the world. I was actually terrified the BNP stuff would get edited out, but I’m so glad it didn’t because that is how some people think ie 'The corner shops are run by people who aren’t English and they charge 80p for a banana! That’s outrageous so I’m going to vote BNP' I’m glad we keep that offensive element in the show.” What else is going on with family and friends? Russell: “When the last series ended, Paul was on the verge of running off with a 16-year old Muslim girl and suddenly Laura was pregnant. He’s already got a son, Luke, and he wants to be a good dad, so that gels them together. Obviously there’s a friction though, because he hates her.” Sarah: “Shelley and Dan’s romance is also going on and we meet Shelley’s son, Kieran, for the first time. The actor who plays him is brilliant. He’s only seven, but he was obsessed with the Second World War and talks a bit like an old man. He was fascinating.” Has it been hard to keep the drama and comedy confined to the couple’s flat over three series? Russell: “That’s the beauty of the piece - the flat is a character in itself.” Sarah: “The writer Stefan, originally based the show on him and his partner as they never want to go out. I have a partner and we don’t really want to go out either so I can relate to that. Plus, I’m really messy!” Maybe the show should be in smell-o-vision to get across how filthy it is? Sarah: “It really does smell. The food in the kitchen stinks because it goes off, but we forget because it’s our home! Then these guest actors come in and are like, ‘Oh’. We complain about the heat every year, but nothing gets done about it.” Russell: “There’s a sofa that everyone sits on and it smells of either piss or sick, depending on where you sit. It’s such a hot set that when we’re in bed, we’re actually sweating into the sheets. By the end of it’s pretty grim.” Is it true we get to see how Steve and Becky first met in one episode that goes back in time? Sarah: “It’s a charming episode, the fourth I think, and it’s my favourite. It was so nice to revisit that feeling of when you really fancy someone, the first time you knock on their door and hope it’s going to go well.” Russell: “And it was nice to see Steve’s old flat, because Becky’s little touches have been made to it since. It’s really blokey then – there’s nothing in it!” Do you think the show appeals to all age groups, or just Steve and Becky’s? Russell: “My parents love it and they’ve got all these expat friends who now live in Tenerife and they take the DVDs out for them. They absolutely love it even though they’re all in their 60s and 70s. All my mates love it, youngsters watch it and feel they’re being naughty. It appeals to everyone - male, female, gay or straight.” Sarah: "I lived on an estate in west London and all these boys on bikes would shout, ‘Oi Becky!’ Plus, a friend of mine, whose mum lives in an old people’s home in Israel called her and said, 'There’s a show called Him & Her - you’ve got to watch it!' They’re even watching it in Tel Aviv!" Him & Her returns to BBC3 on Sunday, November 18 at 10pm

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.