Real couple who star in Colin From Accounts say they're 70% as neurotic as their characters

The new season of Colin From Accounts opens with a mortifying recap of Gordons marriage proposal before a soiree full of people and Ashleys devastating reply: We can talk about this later. Her thinly veiled refusal was a classic cliffhanger, guaranteed to keep fans of Australias greatest streaming export on tenterhooks until the next instalment.

The third and final season of the often cringeworthy romantic comedy, based in a suburb of Sydney, was released in Oz in July and is expected to launch here on BBC2 and iPlayer next month. In the first season of the show, loved by titan of comedy Phoebe Waller Bridge, trainee doctor Ashley and micro brewery owner Gordon meet when she impulsively flashes her breast at him crossing the street and, distracted, he hits a stray dog with his car.

They call the pooch Colin From Accounts, as they are forced to interact when they take the dog to the vet and subsequent events trigger a chaotic romance. Season 3 opens three years after the proposal. Gordon (Patrick Brammall) and Ashley (Harriet Dyer) have split up and both have new partners.

But they meet unexpectedly when Gordon - who has sold his brewery - goes to get a medical and encounters Ashley, now a practising doctor. Of course, neither of their new loves is easy to like. Ashleys new beau, David (Thomas Cocquerel), is allergic to dogs, while Gordons girlfriend, Chelsea (Nikki Shiels), is totally O.T.T. So, viewers are immediately invested in the will they wont they tug of war - hoping the pair will get together again.

What undoubtedly makes the show so convincing and the performances so compelling is the fact that its stars are not just co-creators, writers and executive producers, but they are also a genuine husband and wife team. Asked if they are also mirror images of herself and Patrick, Harriet says: I think were both about 60% to 70%. Speaking on The Arts Hour for the BBC World Service, she continues: They are certainly not us, but theyre not a stretch.

Harriet, 37, also admits the shows comedy engine runs on anxiety and neuroses a fair bit. She says: I think it speaks to the struggle that people have in Sydney to try and keep paying the bills. Thats definitely part of it and it is hard to be a micro brewery or craft brewery.

Patrick, 50, adds: There is a tension there. One of the reasons we picked Gordon to have a brewery is its a cool, romantic idea. Harriet interjects: Its a bit of a Peter Pan idea. Patrick agrees, adding: Its definitely Peter Pan, but its red lining as well. The business is never thriving. Its never really doing well.

Of the West Sydney setting, the couple say its cool and aspirational. Patrick continues: You want to be there, but its expensive to be there. Similarly, theres neuroses and anxiety for the Ashley character. While people assume becoming a doctor is a great job, he says of her lengthy training period in the early seasons: Shes eating cold cuts for dinner. Harriet adds: Shes 29 when you meet her and I think anxiety is like the modern epidemic. We were trying to speak to that - that modern life is a real headache.

But, while their lives are pretty chaotic, the couple fall in love and Harriet says: They slow each other down. I think thats what everyones trying to get when they are falling in love with someone is an antidote to the noise. In real life, Harriet and Patrick met on the set of the detective series No Activity in 2015 and in 2017 she moved to the USA to be closer to him.

The couple, who now split their time between Los Angeles and Sydney, married in 2021 and wrote the first season of Colin From Accounts, which launched in Australia in December 2022 and here in 2023. The couple have two adopted daughters, Joni and Mabel, and Patrick has spoken openly about his infertility, stemming from operations to treat a rare congenital condition affecting his renal and urinary system, called prune belly syndrome.

Luckily, Harriet and Patrick do not thrive on chaos when they are out of character and tend to see eye to eye both personally and professionally. Patrick says: We are pretty much on the same page with stuff. Harriet adds: Paddy works harder, though.

But they do have some differences of opinion when they are editing the show. Harriet continues: There was a moment in the edit where I was like this episode is broken. I am so stressed, so tired, I dont know what to do. Pat dug his heels in. He just wanted to fix it. And I got a little bit - my white flag went up.

Patrick picks up the conversation, saying: By the same token, I think I am more of a worker. Haris instinct is for writing. But a lot of the time, shes like that sounds like a line from a TV show, so lets not write that. Lets have something that feels real. Shes the same with her instincts about stories. Ill be there trying to make it work and Harry will be like, it just doesnt work. It doesnt feel authentic. Its a good combo in that sense.

Fans will be relieved to hear that while the third series of Colin From Accounts may also be its swansong, there are plenty of subsequent acts to come for the couple, who have been hailed as comedy geniuses. Harriet says: Were definitely going to work together again because I wouldnt want to write with anybody else.

*This episode of The Arts Hour on the BBC World Service can be heard in full on BBC Sounds.

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