Jamie Demetriou's Stath is an English-Cypriot man-child who still lives with dad Vasos and sister Sophie, knocking over 'To Let' boards while rival Carole actually sells flats. Across three series and eighteen episodes, Channel 4 let the chaos breathe at 24 minutes a pop, allowing Demetriou and co-writer Robert Popper to turn every viewing into a small disaster: keys dropped down drains, tenants locked inside ovens, a musical finale staged in a warehouse that smells of chips.
The casting is pure family business. Jamie's real sister Natasia Demetriou plays Sophie, forever auditioning for parts she never gets, while Katy Wix's deadpan Carole steals scenes by simply checking her nails. Alex Beckett shot his scenes as weaselly senior agent Marcus before his death in 2018; the series carries a quiet dedication to him in the closing credits.
Critics called it "classic, unmistakably British, humour" and the BAFTAs agreed: the show took Best Scripted Comedy in 2020 and Jamie Demetriou pocketed Best Male Comedy Performance twice. An American remake, Bren Rents, was announced by Fox in 2020 but never materialised; Demetriou ruled out a fourth series in 2022, though the cast reunited for a Comic Relief sketch the following year.
Production Details
Channel 4 / 3 Seasons / 18 Episodes / 2018
Created by: Jamie Demetriou
Showrunner(s): Ash Atalla, Fiona McDermott, John Petrie
Writer(s): Jamie Demetriou
Producer(s): Seb Barwell
Cinematography: Will Hanke, Craig Dean Devine
Music: Erran Baron Cohen
Main Cast
Jamie Demetriou as Stath Charalambos
Natasia Demetriou as Sophie Charalambos
Christos Stergioglou as Vasos Charalambos
Katy Wix as Carole
Al Roberts as Al
Ellie White as Katia
Tom Stourton as Robbie
David Mumeni as Cem
Dustin Demri-Burns as Julian
Nick Mohammed as Anthony Stappan
Haruka Abe as Tomoko
Kiell Smith-Bynoe as Dean
