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In a quiet neighborhood of the Irish capital, a person can be found in his driveway, wearing a vest and sharing his feelings. “I notice I'm becoming more silent. Harder to see,” says the protagonist, looking into the darkness. “Circumstances have evolved and now it seems unless I take action, I will continue in this quiet, unremarkable life.” Hungry Paul, his closest companion, reflects on the idea. “Nothing wrong with that,” he replies, his dressing gown flapping gently. “Superior to striving for recognition and causing harm instead.”

For anyone exhausted by the bluster and fast pace of current streaming landscape, the show comes as a warm cover and a comforting beverage of blackcurrant juice.

In line with its gentle leads, the series – a six-episode comedy created by the writing duo, based on the novelist’s subtle story – looks disapprovingly on contemporary society; looking disapprovingly through its prematurely middle-aged glasses at anything related to loud sounds, sudden movements or – heaven forfend – an abundance of ambition. The program on the contrary, a celebration of shyness; a subtle homage to people content to wander away from attention. However. Leonard (a further distinctly original portrayal by the actor) feels restless. He notices a creeping “urge to throw open the entryways in my existence … a little.” The recent death of his mother has yanked the floor out from under him and Leonard, an anonymous author, now finds himself reconsidering the paths which led him to his current situation (single; sporting facial hair; working on multiple kids' reference books for a man who concludes emails with the phrase “see you later”).

Therefore Leonard launches himself on a quest for emotional fulfilment, accompanied by the somewhat braver friend Paul (the actor) acting as his trusted friend, guide and co-conspirator during their regular gaming session functioning as both debate (“Is the water heated due to children urinating, or is it that kids pee as it's heated?”) and sanctuary.

(Why “Hungry” Paul? No idea. The source of the nickname appears lost in history. Perhaps Paul once ate some food unusually quickly, or answered to a socially fraught incident by hastily opening some food items using his teeth).

Into Leonard’s gentle world comes a new colleague (the actress), a new spring-loaded colleague who happily suggests to get rid of Leonard’s appalling boss (Paul Reid) at a fire practice. The swift movement audible signals Leonard's peaceful routine undergoing a shake-up.

In another part during the opening installment of a series not heavily plotted and more on what younger viewers might call “mood”, viewers encounter Hungry Paul’s dad (the ever-wonderful Lorcan Cranitch), a battered sofa of a man who secretly watches, saves and reviews daytime quiz shows to impress his devoted partner through his fact recall.

Shepherding viewers amidst this subtle warmth is a narrator that is unmistakably – and truly is – the famous actress. Indeed, the star. Should you wonder, “surely the inclusion of such a famous actor contradicts the show's modest approach and at first acts merely as an interruption?” you would be correct. However, Roberts acquits herself well, and phrases for example “Leonard's challenge is his absence of an expression of discovery” help ensure that initial doubts fade if not quite to appreciation, then certainly understanding.

But that’s enough grumbling currently. The series' spirit has good intentions: the right place being “sitting on a park bench next to the Detectorists, showing its preferred bird.” This is a show that ambles along wearing its simple clothes, sometimes gazing upward toward the sky, occasionally down at its feet, quietly confident that nothing is in the world as cheering as being with good friends.

Unlock the entryways in your existence, slightly, and let it in.