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In a quiet suburb of Dublin, a person is standing outside his home, sporting a sleeveless jumper and sharing his feelings. “I feel I'm becoming more silent. More invisible,” states the main character, looking up at the night sky. “One thing’s led to another and currently it seems if I don’t do something, my life will proceed in this quiet, unremarkable life.” Paul, his closest and only friend, considers the idea. “There's no harm in that,” he answers, his bathrobe flapping with the wind. “Preferable to attempting to leave an impact only to wind up defacing it.”

For anyone tired by the bluster and constant stimulation of today’s TV offerings, Leonard and Hungry Paul steps in like a cozy wrap and a comforting beverage of blackcurrant juice.

Like its harmless protagonists, this comedy – a six-episode program written by its authors, adapted from Rónán Hession’s understated 2019 novel – looks disapprovingly on contemporary society; looking disapprovingly over its prematurely middle-aged glasses at anything that involves loud sounds, abrupt changes or – goodness forbid – too much drive. The series is, instead, a celebration of shyness; a subtle homage of those happy to amble along below the parapet. However. The character (a further sublimely idiosyncratic turn from Alex Lawther) is uneasy. He notices a creeping “urge to throw open the entryways within my world … a little.” The passing of his parent has pulled the carpet from under his slippers and the 32-year-old, an anonymous author, now finds himself doubting the decisions that directed him to this point (alone; with a protective mustache; writing a range of educational volumes for a boss who ends emails using the words “goodbye for now”).

And so Leonard begins himself on a quest to find happiness, with the slightly bolder Paul (the actor) acting as his confidante, mentor and partner in a weekly board games evening functioning as both symposium (“Is the pool warm due to children urinating, or do kids pee in it since it's warm?”) and sanctuary.

(What's the origin of "Hungry" Paul? The reason is unknown. The origin of this name is shrouded in mystery. Maybe the postal worker on one occasion consumed a sandwich unusually quickly, or answered to an awkward situation by hastily opening four scotch eggs using his teeth).

Arriving in Leonard's calm existence cartwheels a new colleague (the performer), a new lively associate who happily suggests to kill Leonard’s appalling boss (the character) in a workplace safety exercise. The swift movement audible represents Leonard's calm life undergoing a shake-up.

In other scenes in the first episode of the comedy not heavily plotted and centered around what younger viewers might call “atmosphere”, we meet Hungry Paul’s dad (the brilliant Lorcan Cranitch), a tired character who privately views, saves and reviews trivia competitions to dazzle his loving spouse using his trivia skills.

Leading the audience throughout this subtle warmth we hear a narrator that sounds very much like – and actually is – the Hollywood icon. Indeed, the celebrity. In case you're considering, “certainly the inclusion of such a famous actor is at odds with the program's low-key style and at first acts merely as an interruption?” that's accurate. However, the actress performs admirably, and dialogue such as “Leonard’s problem is that he lacks an expression of discovery” assist in making sure that early misgivings give way if not full admiration, then at minimum tolerance.

No more criticism for now. Leonard and Hungry Paul’s heart has good intentions: that place is “located on a seat alongside similar shows, showing the duck it loves.” The program that strolls leisurely wearing its simple clothes, occasionally looking up toward the sky, at other times looking at its feet, quietly confident that no experience is on Earth as heartening as spending time with dear pals.

Open the doors and windows of your life, a little, and let it in.