“Only Child” — Proof That Scottish Dads Are Basically Unsupervised Toddlers

Right. Let’s get one thing straight. I don’t normally go in for sentimental television. I prefer my entertainment loud, slightly dangerous, and preferably involving an engine somewhere. But Only Child managed to sneak past all my defences and hit me right in the chest like a shopping trolley with no brakes.

This little Scottish sitcom is heartwarming, hilarious, and wonderfully human. And honestly, any show featuring a man driving around the Highlands with a child-size doll called Percy strapped into a motorcycle sidecar already deserves some sort of cultural award.

Set in Forres in Moray, the series follows Richard Pritchard (Greg McHugh), a struggling actor from London who heads back home after the death of his mother to check on his widowed father, Ken (Gregor Fisher). Richard clearly expects a quick visit and a fast escape back to civilisation. Instead, he finds his dad slowly descending into glorious eccentricity — hoarding sausage rolls at funerals, shouting at cats, storing birdseed in an old potty, and generally behaving like a retired Bond villain who’s misplaced both the plot and his trousers.

And it is absolutely brilliant.

I laughed properly within the first few minutes. Not the polite “air-through-the-nose” sort of laugh people do in cafés when they want to seem sociable. I mean real laughter. The kind where you pause the telly because you missed the next line.

Gregor Fisher and Greg McHugh are outstanding together. Their chemistry feels completely natural, like two men who’ve spent years annoying each other but secretly wouldn’t survive without one another. Every exchange feels real. Funny, awkward, affectionate, and painfully familiar all at once.

But what really makes Only Child special is the heart underneath all the chaos.

Beneath the jokes and madness, there’s a genuinely touching story about ageing, loneliness, grief, and the strange way men often struggle to express love without wrapping it in sarcasm or complaining about the heating bill. Richard slowly shifts from frustrated son to reluctant carer, and the whole thing feels incredibly honest. Most people watching will recognise parts of their own family in it.

The supporting cast are brilliant too. Paul Rattray as Digsy — Richard’s delightfully dishonest childhood friend — steals almost every scene he’s in, usually while stealing something else as well. Jennifer Saunders, voicing Richard’s useless agent from a wine bar somewhere in Soho, is perfect. Even the smaller characters feel properly alive.

And then there’s Scotland itself. The Highlands aren’t just a backdrop here; they’re part of the soul of the show. Quiet roads, cold skies, tiny villages, old houses full of memories — it all adds this bittersweet warmth that sits underneath the comedy beautifully.

What I loved most, though, is that Only Child understands something very important: home isn’t really a place. It’s the people you keep returning to, even when they drive you completely mad.

So yes, it’s funny. Very funny. But it’s also honest, emotional, and full of those little moments that quietly punch you in the gut when you’re not expecting it.

A sitcom about family, grief, ageing, sausage rolls, emotional awkwardness, and a doll in a motorcycle sidecar should not work this well.

But somehow, magnificently, it does.

10/10. I’d happily watch it again while driving through the Scottish Highlands in an old Aston Martin with Percy strapped to the passenger seat beside me.