Reluctant Landlord Romesh Ranganathan has ‘deep admiration’ for pub operators

13-Nov-2018 - Last updated on 13-Nov-2018 at 17:09 GMT

Semi-autobiographical: Romesh Ranganathan's father was a pub operator in West Sussex for around 15 years

Writer, creator and star of Sky One series The Reluctant Landlord, Romesh Ranganathan, discusses his semi-autobiographical six-part series set in a pub.

Before the first episode aired on 30 October, broadcaster Sky confirmed that the Reluctant Landlord had been renewed for a second series.

The series was written by BAFTA Award-winning Steve Stamp, Emmy Award-winning Will Smith and Ranganathan, whose character, landlord Romesh, finds himself struggling to run the local pub after his father leaves it to him in his will.

Discussing the premise of the series, which features Sian Gibson as landlord Romesh’s wife Natasha, Ranganathan, explained: “I was told that the sign of a successful sitcom is if you can summarise it in one line.

“So: a man is forced to run a pub left to him by his late father and he struggles to balance the challenges of that with his family life. I’ve smashed that. Audiences should expect their lives to be changed.

“I think that there are two main elements to the sitcom: hanging out in a pub with the regulars; and the family sitcom element, when he is upstairs in the flat.

“When we sat down to write this we just told lots of stories about being in or working in a pub, as well as the various issues of having a family.

“Everything in this sitcom either happened exactly as it appears or like it.

“What you can glean from this is that it is hopefully relatable because it’s real. And also that we lack any imagination.”

‘Deep admiration’

“My dad was a pub landlord for about 15 years. He passed away and then we inherited his pub for a while.

“The sitcom comes from the idea of what might have happened had I carried on running the pub instead of sacking it off after a few months.

“This is a sitcom about a Romesh that has a better sense of family duty.”

Ranganathan, whose character's first love is hip hop, explains that he’d love to run a real-life venue.

“My pub would be called 'Closed Until Further Notice'.

“It’s really hard to run a pub well and I have deep admiration for those who do. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s not working for the NHS, but I still admire it.

"I would love to run a relaxed hip hop-themed bar, though.

"Maybe one day when I feel like jettisoning a tonne of money for no returns.”