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"We’re a bit like conjoined twins"
The real-life couple behind Colin from Accounts write, star and watch together
Paramount+
- Kelly-Anne Taylor
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What’s the view from your sofa?
Harriet Dyer: We thought long and hard about that. It’s a good set-up. We are a two-couch family: the couches face each other with a nice coffee table in the middle. It’s a sitting room for when we have guests. But when they leave and it’s just us, we get to lie down on a sofa each, like the animals we are, and watch the telly.
Patrick Brammall: Let’s face it, that’s 90 per cent of its use.
What have you enjoyed watching recently?
Harriet: The Olympics! You know, medals per capita, per population, means that Australia won!
Patrick: We also like Below Deck.
Harriet: We ate up Baby Reindeer…
Patrick: And love Hey Duggee and Love, Diana…
So is it actually your toddler who has control of the remote?
Patrick: It happens! She likes old-school Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse cartoons – the ones that look creepy!
Do you two share the same taste in TV programmes?
Harriet: I have learned to be OK with Paddy wanting to watch something that I don’t want to watch. I’ll just go to bed with my laptop or read a book. We have learned that we don’t have to…
Patrick: …do all things together, at all times.
Harriet: Yes, because we do so much together in parenting and writing the show and doing press and meetings. We’re a bit like conjoined twins.
Patrick Brammall as Gordon and Harriet Dyer as Ashley in Colin from Accounts. BBC/CBS Studios/Paramount+ ©2024/Joel Pratley
What’s it like co-writing and co-starring in Colin from Accounts?
Harriet: It does get intense! Sometimes you realise that this is more time spent with someone than is the design. But it’s also lovely because we are each other’s favourite person and each other’s champion, and we have a very similar sense of humour. So, if it’s going to be anyone, thank God it’s him!
Patrick: It really helps that we like each other or it would be a real bummer.
What do you do if you don’t like the other person’s idea or you don’t think that it’s funny?
Harriet: We have to be gentle with each other. It’s vulnerable showing your art!
Patrick: And respectful. Having said that, I think because we’ve got experience doing it now, we’re a bit more robust!
Harriet, you previously spoke out about how the success of Colin has made you feel more equal with Patrick. In what sense?
Harriet: In season one, there were certain people on set who would just talk to Paddy and I’d be standing right there, which really gave me the s**ts. In season two, if that happened, I’d just walk away. Paddy had written a bunch of stuff before Colin – and Colin was the only thing I’d written. He’s also 13 years older than me – and a man. I grew up in a small town which is still a little traditional and I had to fight against a few of those metrics. In season two, I felt like I could take the same-sized seat at the table.
Patrick: Also, whatever the conversation, it would have to go through Harriet anyway!
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Your canine Colin from Accounts co-star — whose name is Zach — has become quite a star himself. What was he like to work with?
Patrick: He was always the most professional!
Harriet: There was one time he was so good, he looked like a robot. He looked like he’d been computer-generated and added in later!
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Patrick: We had to get the trainer to walk behind the camera so he would move his eyes!
Authors
Kelly-Anne Taylor
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