In the Long Run review Sky 1

Best known for his brooding roles in the likes of Luther and The Wire, actor Idris Elba is trying his hand at something altogether different this March.

In the Long Run, a comedy based loosely on Elba’s own adolescence in 80’s London, is the heartwarming Sky1 comedy following a young Black British family making do in a multicultural but fractious London, set against a backdrop of enduring Brixton riots and awkward racist terminology.

Walter (played by Elba), his wife Evelyn, and their teen son Akuna, have been living happily in a rather grubby estate since their arrival from Sierra Leone 13 years ago. Unfortunately, a letter arrives from Walter's mother informing him that his wayward brother, Valentine, is on his way and will need picking up from the frosty London airport wearing only a t-shirt.

TV is overflowing with fluffy period comedies this March – from Call the Midwife to The Durrells – and although In the Long Run's humour is less ferociously funny and more gentle, lilting and charming, it offers a rare and fresh perspective on London life and Black-British culture with warmth and good humour.

The close quarters of tower-block life give us meaningful family drama that encompasses growing-up in the 80s with good humour and a view of Black-British culture divorced of bleakness – plus it stars the pop-eyed, disheveled and downtrodden Bill Bailey (always a winner),

Soft, gentle and timelessly enduring: this is the sweet and gentle comedy to pass the miserable spring days with. Just don't expect any belly laughs.