Paul Doolan’s move from ensemble sitcoms to cosy crime keeps character comedy at the centre. We like the company in Death Valley, though its central partnership is more dependable than the mysteries and some of the jokes.
Fi1m perspective
In Death Valley (2025), John Chapel and Janie Mallowan are worth watching even when the case gives us little to puzzle over. Paul Doolan, its creator and writer, gives Timothy Spall and Gwyneth Keyworth a partnership that makes the familiar cosy-crime business enjoyable. We warmed to the pair because their exchanges never feel obliged to produce a polished double act. Doolan gives their relationship enough attention to make spending time with them a reason to watch, even when the investigation is less rewarding.
The ensemble work came first. Doolan co-created the supermarket sitcom Trollied (2011) with Anne Marie O’Connor and Ash Atalla, then wrote for Bloods (2021) and co-wrote Mammoth (2024), created by Mike Bubbins. Those credits trace a career in comedy built around groups of characters and the friction between them. The move to Death Valley adds a mystery to that work, while keeping the relationship between its leads at the centre.
Doolan has described setting up a joke and laying a clue as related jobs: both require preparation, misdirection and a later payoff. It is a sensible account of the craft, though Death Valley is more reliable at making its partnership appealing than making its cases satisfying. The puzzles can be flimsy, and some of the comedy tries too hard. The warmth is welcome, but it cannot quite do the work of a convincing mystery. A viewer who comes chiefly to solve the crime has reason to feel short-changed.
There is a limit to what we can credit to a writer when two performers work this well together, and Spall and Keyworth deserve their share. Doolan’s sound decision is to make their developing partnership the attraction, giving the actors something worth sustaining between cases. We would welcome firmer plotting from him, not a demand that everyone become more miserable. Try Death Valley for the company; if solving the case is the point of the evening, its weaknesses will matter more.
Biography
Paul Doolan is a television writer and creator. He co-created the Sky One sitcom Trollied (2011–2018) and has written episodes of Bloods (2021–2022), Party's Over (2019–2022) and other series including Cuckoo, Hospital People and The Adventures of Paddington.
Doolan created and wrote the BBC comedy-drama Death Valley (2025), also serving as executive producer, and co-wrote Mammoth (2024) for BBC One. He has been nominated for a BAFTA Award.
