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In a calm area of the city, a person can be found on the pavement, dressed in a vest and voicing his feelings. “It seems like I'm becoming more silent. Harder to see,” says the protagonist, staring into the darkness. “Circumstances have evolved and now it seems if I don’t do something, my life will proceed in this simple, peaceful routine.” Hungry Paul, his closest companion, considers this statement. “Nothing wrong with that,” he responds, his robe swaying with the wind. “Superior to striving for recognition only to wind up defacing it.”

For those weary by the bluster and fast pace of today’s TV terrain, Leonard and Hungry Paul steps in like a foil blanket with a hot drink of a sweet cordial.

Like its quiet characters, Leonard and Hungry Paul – a six-episode show created by the writing duo, based on the novelist’s understated story – looks disapprovingly on contemporary society; peering skeptically through its eyewear toward anything in the way of unnecessary noise, sudden movements or – heaven forfend – an abundance of ambition. The series is, instead, an ode to introversion; a gentle tribute to people satisfied to pootle around below the parapet. But. The character (another distinctly original turn by the actor) is unsettled. He notices an increasing “need to open the entryways within my world … slightly.” The loss of his parent has pulled the carpet out from under him and this young man, an anonymous author, now finds himself reconsidering the decisions that have brought him to this point (alone; sporting facial hair; working on multiple children’s encyclopedias for a man who concludes emails saying “see you later”).

Therefore Leonard launches on a journey for personal satisfaction, alongside his more outgoing Hungry Paul (the performer) serving as his close companion, mentor and partner in a weekly board games evening functioning as both symposium (“Does the pool feel warm because kids pee in it, or is it that kids pee since it's warm?”) and safe space.

(Why “Hungry” Paul? No idea. The source of the nickname seems forgotten in history. Perhaps Paul previously devoured some food very fast, or reacted to a tense moment by nervously peeling some food items by biting into them).

Into Leonard’s gentle world comes Shelley (the performer), a recent energetic co-worker who happily suggests to get rid of his terrible supervisor (the character) during the office fire drill. The swift movement noticeable signals Leonard's peaceful routine being turned upside down.

Elsewhere in the first episode of a series driven less by plot and centered around what a modern audience could describe as “atmosphere”, we meet Hungry Paul’s dad (the brilliant Lorcan Cranitch), a worn-out individual who privately views, tapes and rewatches trivia competitions to impress his devoted partner with his general knowledge.

Leading us through all this gentle kindness there is a voiceover that is unmistakably – and actually is – the famous actress. Truly, the celebrity. In case you're considering, “surely the inclusion of a big-name celebrity contradicts the program's low-key style and initially serves only as an interruption?” you're right. Still, the actress performs admirably, and lines like “The issue with Leonard is the missing an expression of discovery” contribute to ensuring that early misgivings yield if not full admiration, then certainly understanding.

No more criticism for now. Leonard and Hungry Paul’s heart has good intentions: which is “resting on a bench in the company of gentle comedies, indicating its favourite duck.” The program that ambles along in its sleeveless jumper, sometimes gazing upward toward the sky, at other times looking at its slippers, quietly confident that no experience is in life as heartening as spending time alongside close companions.

Open the doors and windows in your existence, slightly, and let it in.