Colin from Accounts: Get set for more laughs with Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyer
The ‘funniest couple on TV’ and their screen dog Colin have big news – and it’s not just the three Logies Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyer took home last week.
Entertainment
Don't miss out on the headlines from Entertainment. Followed categories will be added to My News.
They’ve been labelled the funniest couple on TV and are taking the world by storm – and now with three Logies under Colin’s collar, Insider has some great news for Colin from Accounts fans – the Binge runaway hit is coming back for season two.
And its stars, creators, writers, LA-based husband and wife team and fierce dog-lovers Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall say you’ll never guess what happens next.
“Not to spoil too much, but in season two, episode one, we hit a cat,” Brammall jokes.
“Yeah – and we call the cat Diedree from marketing,” laughs Dyer.
“And then a kangaroo in episode two – and we just cycle through all the animals, really,” Brammall continues.
The show is based around strangers who meet on the street when Brammall’s character, Gordon, hits a stray dog after a distracting boob-flash by Dyer’s character, Ash.
The rarely-serious pair met filming Stan series No Activity in 2015 and married in Florida five days after Brammall proposed in 2021. Five months after that, they adopted beautiful daughter Joni.
Dyer had written Colin From Accounts back in 2017, but a case of impostor syndrome saw it stuck in a drawer until she serendipitously used it as a writing example and a persistent producer and friend Rob Gibson insisted they do it.
Today, after winning the Logies trifecta of Most Outstanding Comedy, Most Outstanding Actress for Dyer and Most Outstanding Actor for Brammall, that impostor syndrome is no more.
“It was the first thing that Harri had written, so there was a fair bit of impostor syndrome going on – she didn’t think she was a writer, and then she got all this feedback going, ‘you’re not just a good writer, you’re a very good writer’,” Brammall explains.
“Now in season two you’ll see me be an absolute asshole,” Dyer interrupts.
“Yeah, it’ll be ‘oh Harri’s upset, tiptoe around the genius’,” Brammall laughs.
“We'll have colour-coded lanyards for who can talk to her.”
“Yeah, don’t look at her in the eye between 12 and 2,” Dyer joins in.
“From impostor syndrome to complete … what’s that word …”
“Tyrant?” suggests Brammall.
“Sure. Yeah, tyrant.”
Despite being one half of ‘the funniest couple on TV’, Dyer says they’re finding it hard to make jokes at the moment.
There’s a lot going on, and flying into Sydney last Friday for the Logies and back to LA a few hours after leaving the dance floor in the wee hours of Monday morning was a whirlwind. But all is not lost – Sonia Kruger hailed them as ‘partying the hardest’ – and for parents of a toddler, that’s quite the feat.
“It was so good,” Dyer says.
“We went to bed at 3am on Monday morning after dancing – because we left our child here with a babysitter we were free – and there was a dance floor and I was like … come onnnnnn.
“I’m not changing a nappy at 7am in the morning – I am dancinggggggg.
“At one point I saw Paddy talking to our very good friends, Robyn Butler and Wayne Pope, and I thought, if he’s not careful, he’s gonna talk his way through this entire after-party, and not dance.
“So I went up to him and was like, ‘I’m so sorry Wayne and Robyn – this guy just has to dance’ – and he was like ‘she’s right, I do’ … and we all danced and it was so good.
“And because of Covid, and we became parents in Covid, the opportunity to just get sweaty with a bunch of randoms doesn’t happen that often.”
Due to the US writer’s strike, the next season of Colin From Accounts will start being developed when it’s over – and, like the rest of Hollywood, they’re hoping that’s soon. Because as much as they love Colin the dog, they also love the fact that the show keeps them connected to Australia and Sydney’s inner west, where it’s lovingly shot.
In fact, getting the green light for season two and the fact American Auto, a show Dyer’s been doing in the States for the last few years, was recently cancelled, has left them wondering what they’re doing in LA at all. But their own dog Walter stirring on the couch behind them is a timely reminder.
“As is the thing that happens every time an Australian loses a job in LA, they go ‘why do we live here again? What are we doing here?’,” Dyer says.
“But because (Colin) did well in the UK and we’ve got everyone that we love in Australia, LA doesn’t feel like such a weird spot right now because it’s kind of halfway between the two.
“If you wanted to work in the UK, it’s 10 hours from here and home is 14 hours from here.
“But our main source of work at this point now is Colin, so it’s like why are we here?
“But the truth is, our dog is here.
“And our house is here, and we’ve got a car and health insurance.
“We don’t have anything in Australia, except for two storage containers.”
“And all our family and friends,” adds Brammall.
“Right – which is totally unquantifiable, sure,” finishes Dyer.
“But we aren’t set up there.”
Brammall concedes LA is a good base “for now”.
“I don’t think it’s forever, and we love coming back obviously,” he says.
“Fortunately, as we were writing (Colin) and shooting and editing season one, we had so many ideas of extra stuff … and a whole treasure chest of ideas that we didn’t even get around to do.
“And the actors we got were so good that we can just sit here and think of a million things for each of them to do. We feel very blessed that whenever we’re able to put pen to paper – and it’s a bit awkward because of the writer’s strike right now – but when we can do it, we’ve got so much ready to go.
“And we were also working on it a little bit pre-emptively of a pick-up because we wanted to keep the momentum going.”
The Binge original series is Foxtel Group’s most watched original scripted series of all time, with season one sold to multiple territories around the world, most recently to the BBC where it was launched to international praise.
Brammall and Dyer say the show has been so successful because it’s relatable. And it’s relatable because of their use of “texture” or observational humour they will often get from each other or things around them. As Brammall says, putting recognisable human behaviour on a screen is always funny.
When asked if they always knew Colin would be a hit with comedy-craving audiences, the answer was a resounding no, with the dreaded impostor syndrome rearing it’s ugly head again.
“We were listening to that song the other day from Romeo and Juliet (Everybody’s Free to Wear Sunscreen) where it’s really just some chords and this guy doing a chat to a graduating class – and one of the lines is so good, because it was ‘everything good that happens in your life is half chance’,” Dyer says.
“And that’s how I feel about this.
“It was something that I wrote to keep busy – and then, by chance, I wanted to be in a writer’s room, and by chance, that’s the writing sample I sent.
“And, by chance, Rob Gibson happened to hold on to it and then move to (production company) Easy Tiger – and here we are.
“I can’t call it sheer determination, because it’s more of Rob’s – and a bit of luck.
“We were sitting back going, no one wants to watch two white, straight people fall in love.”
But audiences did. And the UK fell in love with Colin too. Brammall and Dyer were invited to present an award at the BAFTA’s this year – although they did wonder whether they really had fans there, or would stand out like “shags on a rock”.
“You can never tell, especially in LA where it’s lip service and everyone blows smoke up your ass,” Dyer says.
“And the day before the BAFTAs, we were going around bars in Covent Garden and we just became so thirsty for anyone to say anything to us,” she joked.
“Because no one looked twice at us,” laughs Brammall.
“I was like – I think they’ve lied to us.
“And we were at this old pub in Covent Garden and there was someone taking a photo in our direction – and I was like ‘we’ve been spotted, it’s finally happened, that’s nice isn’t it?’
“And then more people started doing it, and more people …”
“And it turned out it was the oldest pub in Covent Garden – and lots of people just take pictures of it,” Dyer says.
“But then we went to a restaurant and, as we were leaving, I was putting our kid in the stroller who was having a meltdown – and these two older ladies were like ‘oh, I don’t mean to bother you, but we love your show’.
“And we were like ‘no, bother me – what did you like, what did you think?’
“I threw the baby at Patrick and was like ‘just give it to me, give it to me,” she laughed.
“But then when we arrived at the BAFTAs, all the industry people had seen it and loved it in a way that I’ve never experienced before,” Brammall admits.
So, how do they feel about being called the funniest couple on TV?
“I won’t rest until I’m Australia’s sweetheart,” Dyer jokes.
“Well I won’t rest until I’m Australia’s villain,” Brammall fires back.
“I mean there’s not a lot of funny couples on tele really, let’s be honest,” Dyer laughs.
“And there’s probably not a lot of married couples that write and star and produce together. it’s a lot.
“But we like each other.
“And we are also trusting the tone of the show more.
“And I’m certainly trusting myself more as a writer – because I second guessed everything the first season, and I think when we go into really working on the second one, I just feel a little bit more confident.
“Not arrogant, by any means.
“But just trusting my voice a little more, a little less impostor-y – and that’s a good thing.”
Celebrity matches and hatches in 2024
It’s been a year of new babies and lavish wedding ceremonies for many Aussie celebrities — and most couldn’t wait to tell the world.
How Australia’s celebrities celebrated Christmas
Some of Australia’s most recognisable faces gave us a glimpse of how they celebrated Christmas on social media. See what they got up to here.