Ann Droid Review: Diane Morgan and Sue Johnston shine in the BBC's warm AI comedy

A fresh, warm and heartfelt comedy about an ageing population and the growing role of AI in supporting an overstretched health and care system.

Ann Droid is the BBC's latest comedy-drama about an older woman's unlikely friendship with her new robot carer. But beneath the laughs, it's about far more than that.

It's 2029 and, after a recent fall, widow Sue (Sue Johnston) needs extra help around the house. Her self-centred, perpetually complaining son Michael (Motherland's Paul Ready) decides the solution is to buy her a second-hand robot carer after moving back in with his estranged wife.

Credit: Sue Johnston and Diane Morgan in Ann Droid, BBC

Appalled, offended and reluctant, Sue names her new robot companion Linda (Diane Morgan) after her sister, who she hates. Sue trials Linda for a day, before deciding to ship her back to wherever she came from. But after the robot shows an unexpected flash of compassion, Sue reluctantly changes her mind, and the pair soon form an unlikely friendship.

What begins as an odd-couple comedy gradually becomes something far more thoughtful. Ann Droid explores an overstretched care system, our growing dependence on artificial intelligence and the uncomfortable question of what happens when technology becomes capable not just of caring for us, but of making us feel cared for.

Diane Morgan is perfectly cast. Having built a career on brilliantly deadpan performances in Motherland and Mandy, she fully commits to Linda's robotic mannerisms. She barely blinks, speaks in clipped monotones and moves with mechanical precision, yet somehow still manages to make Linda surprisingly endearing. It's an impressively restrained performance that never slips into caricature.

Credit: Sue Johnston and Diane Morgan in Ann Droid, BBC

There are echoes of Channel 4's 2015 Humans in its exploration of AI, whilst Diane Morgan and

Paul Ready's on-screen chemistry recalls their work together in Motherland. Yet, Ann Droid still manages to feel refreshingly original, blending science fiction with gentle comedy and genuine emotional warmth.

The idea of robot carers may sound dystopian to some, but they're already becoming a reality in countries with ageing populations such as Japan. Rather than presenting technology as something to fear, Ann Droid asks whether compassion can exist in unexpected places. In doing so, it becomes less a story about artificial intelligence and more one about loneliness, connection and what it truly means to care for another person.

Ann Droid is now available on BBC Iplayer.