Patrick Brammall makes awkward men worth spending time with. We rate his work with Harriet Dyer in Colin from Accounts highly: the affection survives the bickering, even when the coarser jokes strain for a laugh.
Fi1m perspective
In Colin from Accounts (2022), Patrick Brammall’s Gordon can make an ordinary conversation difficult without making us wish he would leave it. His defensiveness gives away more than he means to say. Opposite Harriet Dyer’s Ashley, he makes Gordon’s attraction clear even when their conversation suggests otherwise. We laughed at their awkward exchanges and then wanted them to give each other a chance. Neither actor asks us to despise the person making the mistake.
Comedy brought him notice in A Moody Christmas (2012) and Upper Middle Bogan (2013–2016). Dramatic work in Glitch (2015–2019) ran alongside that, so treating him solely as an awkward romantic lead misses part of the work. His move into writing and creating programmes matters more to our view of him. He co-created, co-wrote and starred in the US adaptation of No Activity (2017–2021). He then co-created and co-wrote Colin from Accounts with Dyer, giving both performers a say in how foolish their characters could be.
We particularly like the way their writing denies either partner the comfort of being permanently right. Gordon is allowed to be defensive and silly, but Ashley is not employed full-time to point this out. The series gives both of them room to reveal more than they intend, and their attraction remains believable through the embarrassment. Their bickering is funny without becoming a weekly contest between a sensible adult and an overgrown child.
Directors Matthew Moore and Trent O’Donnell keep our attention on the performers’ uneasy rapport. O’Donnell also worked with Brammall on No Activity; in Colin from Accounts, he and Moore let the conversational timing carry much of the comedy. The half-hour episodes help by limiting how long the characters can keep making an awkward situation worse. The coarser jokes sometimes strain, particularly beside exchanges that get a laugh simply because neither person quite wants to end the conversation. Start with Colin from Accounts, provided a little unnecessary coarseness will not spoil an evening.
Biography
Patrick Brammall is an Australian actor and writer. Born in Canberra, he trained at the Victorian College of the Arts and made his screen debut in the 2004 television film The Alice.
He is known for roles including Sean Moody in A Moody Christmas (2012), James Hayes in Glitch (2015–2019), Andy Bouchard in Evil (2019–2024), and Gordon in Colin from Accounts (2022–2026), which he co-created and co-wrote with his wife Harriet Dyer. He plays Peter in the film The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026).
