‘I was the oldest person on set’: how a doomsday comedy lured Inbetweener Simon Bird back to TV

Ambitious, warm, funny: Channel 4’s great new comedy about an apocalyptic cult was irresistible to the longtime sitcom actor – even if his castmates’ clubbing chat went over his head …
Dillon Mapletoft and Oliver Taylor have just endured one of the most nerve-racking experiences any writer can go through. Everyone Else Burns, their debut television programme, has been screened in public for the very first time. And now, crammed beneath a stairwell in the east London cinema where the screening took place, they are decompressing.
“I can’t get over it,” says Mapletoft, still jangling with nerves. “It wasn’t until the first laugh that I could relax.” Taylor adds: “I actually enjoyed myself!” But it turns out that their worries may be far from over.