'I'm not going anywhere, really. Apart from oblivion

The 'Horrible Histories' and 'Here We Go' actor Jim Howick talks to Ellie Harrison about British comedy, breaking the fourth wall on TV and why the BBC is worth fighting for

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“Am I, like, nude in it, at any point?” Jim Howick asks, with a wince.

The actor is referring to the festive special of the joyous family sitcom Here We Go, which he won't see until it’s broadcast to the nation on BBC One, in a primetime slot, on New Year’s Eve. I can confirm that there's a flash of torso in a blink-of-an-eye shot of him in his swimming trunks.

“Oh yes, I’ve got a boil on my face and I’m in a sauna. Great.” He lets out a pained chuckle. “Here We Go has one of those scripts that genuinely makes you laugh out loud, but you do read it with a sense of dread. I’m always thinking, what’s going to happen? Usually I’m the butt end of the joke. Being thrown in a lake or something. I’m a walking indignity.”

Here We Go, created by Tom Basden, the writer and star of this year’s The Ballad of Wallis Island’s Tom Basden, has quietly become one of the funniest shows on British television since it began in 2020. With three seasons now in the bag, the Jessops, the suburban Bedford family at its centre, have more or less become quirky distant relatives to those who know and love the comedy.

Howick plays Paul, the dad who takes everything far too seriously, from his almost-Olympic-glory in archery to this New Year’s Eve “fireworks fantasaganza”. Also among the Jessop clan is Alison Steadman’s Sue - Paul’s mum, a scouser and a chronic feeder - and Katherine Parkinson’s Rachel, Paul’s wife, who loves her husband dearly but suffers from near-constant ick whenever she's in his presence. “It really feels like the Jessops now, after series three, are a welcome part of the comedy landscape,” says Howick. “We know them as a family, we know how they’re going to react to certain things, and I think that’s when shows become a comfort.”