Coming Up: Doughnuts

Series eight, episode four
Adeel Akhtar (‘Utopia’) puts in a winning performance in this simple but charming short film from Simon Neal. He’s Baz, a supermarket worker who’s finally landed a promotion. Pregnant wife Roxy sees this as their opportunity to move out of Baz’s mother’s home; he’s less keen. ‘Doughnuts’ follows a short but significant time in Baz’s life when he’s subtly rebelling against the pressures of impending responsibilities.

Weighty personal issues are conveyed with a light, humourous touch and physical comedy abounds – minor incidents and accidents are played for big laughs and there’s a touch of stoner humour. Baz seems like one of those luckless types, but is he passively letting misfortune spiral around him?

This character isn’t unlike Akhtar's ‘Four Lions’ persona: indecisive, naive yet well-meaning – and very funny. Wahab Sheikh provides amusing support as his hapless workmate while Indira Joshi (‘The Kumars’) is the disapproving mother-in-law.