Mountain Goats

If all you are looking for in a sitcom is a pleasant, non-too subtle, highly Scottish and quite mad half hour of tomfoolery, then look no further than Mountain Goats, BBC One's new late night sitcom.

Commissioned from a pilot episode amongst a selection of various (which put me in mind of Ronnie Barker's old Seven of One series) Mountain Goats tells of a group of haphazard and often quite ludicrous volunteer mountain rescuers in the Scottish highlands. The basic premise of most of the action takes place in the Old Goat Pub.

To me, the whole feel of Mountain Goats is pleasantly simple. Almost exclusively just the one set, simple narrative, and simple characters given a simple springboard into the story lines and the comedy.

Leading the team is the brilliantly conceived Jimmy, played by Jimmy Chisholm, who's inebriated and trampish nature often leads to none too subtle but still highly hilarious comedy. Often backing him up we see the dog mad lunatic Bill, played by David Ireland. His humour strikes me I think as a 50/50 scenario - a lot of the time his particular brand of Northern Irish dim-witted patter often ventures into the clichéd, yet on the occasions when the right line comes along, and is delivered well by Ireland, the results are achingly funny. Kathryn Howden as Bernie does not really add anything in terms of the comedy which is a shame, nor really does Kevin Mains as Conor, but they do add two different dynamics to the team and indeed some of the plots. Finally we have rising star Sharon Rooney who is brilliant as she is different as landlady Jules - often her style, both comedic or otherwise is like an anvil when it hits you but it is done in a very charming watchable way, and the results are often lovey to see.

So the cast is good, and capable of producing good comedy, and the concept is refreshingly simple. I do see what some critics mean when they say it is old fashioned and labored - yet to me Mountain Goats still delivers when it matters most - in terms of its approachable feel and comedic moments. Yes some of them fall flat and there are moments that are disappointingly mundane, yet I would say that Mountain Goats, whilst certainly not there yet, is heading toward the more classic statuses of comedy rather than the old-fashioned. Its a subtle difference but a very important one.