Stag, BBC2: four things you need to know about the dark comedy thriller starring Jim Howick and Reece Shearsmith

Things get messy as a stag do go hunting – and quickly become the hunted
Ben Travis26 February 2016

It’s the perfect set-up for a messy weekend: blokes, hunting, the woods, stag do.

Except, in BBC Two’s new comedy horror-thriller Stag, that’s not quite the recipe for a brilliant time, as the pink deer-suited groom-to-be and his mates are about to find out.

In fact, anyone who’s seen the likes of An American Werewolf in London or Severance will have some kind of idea of how this is going to go.

Here’s four things you need to know.

1) It’s got Gerrard from Peep Show in the lead role

Or, Jim Howick as he’s known in the real world.

If he didn’t get to stand up for himself as Gerrard – the feeble nerd who fell in love with Mark’s girlfriend Dobby and died of the flu – Howick is also the odd-one-out in the stag group.

He’s the brother-in-law of the rowdy stag and his banker mates, who doesn’t know anyone else in the group and quickly learns that he doesn’t really like any of them.

2) Reece Shearsmith is in it

Who better to take part in a pitch-black comedy on the BBC than the twisted mind behind The League of Gentlemen, Psychoville, and Inside No 9? Shearsmith plays Wendy, a member of the stag do who seems like he could be one of several shifty characters.

Best TV dramas 2016

1/29

3) It’s from the people behind The Wrong Mans

Which should tell you what you need to know about the genre balance here.

While the James Corden-starring series was undeniably funny, creator Jim Field Smith took the action and thriller elements just as seriously as the laughs.

4) It’s brilliantly shot

There’s a palpable moody atmosphere and filmic quality at play in Stag, bolstered by the inherent drama of the Scottish landscapes. In fact, with three hour-long episodes it’s almost like a film divvied up into parts.

BBC Two, 9pm

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in