Colin From Accounts review: Cult Aussie comedy is back . . . and it’s as hilariously heartless as ever, writes CHRISTOPHER STEVENS

Colin From Accounts (BBC2)

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Don’t believe what your eyes tell you — Colin, the border terrier with the wheels on his back end, might look like the cutest dog on telly, but it’s all done with camera trickery.

The credits at the end of the first episode, as the hilariously argumentative Aussie sitcom Colin From Accounts returned, reveal the star is played by two identical animals: Zac and Buster.

Yes, Colin has a stunt double!

If you missed the first series last year, you’ve got a treat waiting for you on iPlayer. This romantic comedy, created by its husband-and-wife stars Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall, started strongly and just gets funnier.

Lonely medical student Ashley and bone-idle bar owner ‘Flash’ Gordon met when she flirtatiously flashed a boob at him on a road crossing, as he drove to work — distracting him so much that he ran over a stray dog. How about that for a set-up?

The comedy starring husband-and-wife duo  Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall (Pictured in season one )  ‘started strongly and just gets funnier’ according to CHRISTOPHER STEVENS

Stricken with guilt, they scraped together 12,000 Australian dollars (£6,200) to pay the vet’s bill, and ended up living together. The dog was christened Colin, because his doleful eyes and unkempt moustache gave him the air of a middle manager in the accounts department.

In a wobbly moment, they allowed a couple with a young daughter to adopt him — and now they will do anything to get him back.

Clearly, new owners Angus and Phoebe don’t deserve Colin. They’ve renamed him Peppy, which is a stupid name for a pet who can’t walk without stabilisers.

Worse than that, their eight-year-old daughter is called Berlin, which conjures up sex bars and concrete bunkers. That’s a name for a neo-Nazi drag queen, not a schoolchild.

Since it first aired Down Under in 2022, Colin From Accounts has achieved a cult following. This is bound to attract A-list cameos, and Hollywood actor Kevin Bacon was the first to sign up with a birthday video message for one of Gordon’s co-workers, Brett.

‘Brett, it’s time to move out of your parents’ house,’ urged Kevin. ‘When I was your age, I had kids, dude. I was a grown up.’ Brett knew his mum and dad had paid for the message, but he was still flattered.

The first eight-part series saw their complex characters brought together following a fateful car accident and an injured dog (Pictured)

‘Pretty cool,’ he mused. ‘But it’s my home as much as it is theirs.’ Gordon asked if he was paying rent. ‘Not the point,’ Brett insisted.

Part of the show’s appeal is its inimitable Antipodean mixture of laidback laziness and loud indignation. Australians have two modes — shaking their fists or shrugging their shoulders. Random aggression can erupt at any moment, even in the middle of a safety talk in a hospital.

Gordon and Ashley almost came to blows with Colin’s adoptive owners, before a smiling jogger trotted over to spread some cosmic calm. ‘On such a beautiful day?’ he beamed. ‘No, you must smile. Enjoy this moment at every moment.’

Seconds later, he was run over by a truck. Heartless, I know, but that made me bellow.