Ben Miller: 'Cancel culture can ruin or boost careers – that’s worth making fun of'

The man himself chuckles when I share Phillips’s recollections of that heady time. “That’s the comedian in Sally. She was brilliant – the only woman I knew then who was doing comedy.”

Three decades later, via his own comedy success as one half of a sketch show partnership with Alexander Armstrong, dramatic roles in series such as Death in Paradise and Professor T, and a string of bestselling children’s books, the physics has rather fallen by the wayside.

What happened? “I’d always loved comedy. I met all these brilliant people, and it suddenly seemed possible,” he says. “I’m not entirely sure why I gave up physics for comedy, but I’m glad I did. Although I feel science has been a huge help working in the arts. Film and TV are very technical, so it comes in handy.”

Cambridge alumnus, children’s author, familiar face across the globe – it’s almost like Miller is playing himself in Austin. His character, Julian Hartswood, is a similarly successful writer enjoying the perks of an Australian book tour, his illustrator wife Ingrid (played by Phillips) along for the ride, when an errant tweet sees him swiftly cancelled in the first scene.

On the same day, a son he didn’t know existed appears – the Austin of the title. He is played by Michael Theo, the breakout star of the Australian dating show Love on the Spectrum, in his first acting role. After the initial shock – and some explaining to do with Ingrid – it occurs to Julian that, with the right leverage, an autistic son could prove his pathway to public redemption.

Miller, who co-wrote the series, comes across as far too thoughtful in word and deed ever to face cancellation himself, but as he points out: “It seems to mean different things to different people. Some people get cancelled and you never hear from them again, while for others it only seems to increase their popularity. Name one person who’s been cancelled, and everyone would have a different opinion about whether they should, or in fact have been. There’s an online mob, to be sure, who can take against someone – sometimes for the right reasons, sometimes not – while others get away with the most heinous things. It’s definitely a thing worth making fun of. Anything we’re supposed to be frightened of, we should make fun of.”

Initially, the plan was to have the cast playing themselves, until Miller and his co-writers realised “moving Julian and the others just a few clicks of the dial away felt funnier”. “Julian gives very little thought to anyone but himself, which is great fun to play. I think he’s a bit dense. Not saying that I’m not, but… He’s a self-obsessed, midlife-crisis children’s author. Throw a rock in the Groucho Club and you’ll hit one.”

Austin’s comedy relies on Julian’s innate cynicism and self-interest rubbing up against his newly discovered son’s palpable purity. Miller is delighted if Theo’s appearance helps advance screen representation for those with autism, but the 59-year-old remains clear on his intentions going into the project. “Michael’s autism is not the story,” he says. “He’s a very talented actor.

"I saw him on Love on the Spectrum and I thought it would be fun to lark about with him. My aim was just to make a funny show, not to campaign, not to be worthy. I’m allergic to things like that.”

Miller’s TV career has seen him move away from the comedy of his youth to the straight, sometimes dark, drama of such roles as Jasper Tempest, a Cambridge criminologist living with an overbearing mother and OCD, in Professor T Miller says of his alter ego: “Professor T is very emotional, psychological, and he has a tragic story behind him. I was always scared of emotion. That’s why I did comedy; you get to hide how you feel. But I got to a point after Armstrong and Miller where I wanted to learn more about drama, how to show emotion and open myself up to being more vulnerable. I wanted to tell stories that could be more than funny.

“I stopped doing comedy for a while, but I realised I wanted to take everything I’ve learnt in drama, go back to comedy and put some heart in what I do. With Austin, I’m trying to combine the two, to play the drama and truth of things while still being funny. And being with Michael makes it as real as possible.”

Miller originally thought Austin might work best if it was mostly improvised, which was why he contacted his old friend Sally Phillips. “I’d seen her do it before, and she seemed a natural choice. I’d wanted to work with Sally for decades. She came on board really early, and for a while it was just the three of us, working out what the story was. It ended up being really close to Michael’s life, as he embarks on his journey through the world, finding out who he really is.”

Filming on the other side of the world has been a challenge for Miller, who quit the role of DI Richard Poole in Death in Paradise in 2014 after two series, as he was about to start a family with his wife Jessica. Now a father of three, he recently spent a further seven weeks filming a second series of Austin in Canberra. “We could FaceTime in the mornings and evenings – various conversations when one person had no news because they’d spent that time in between fast asleep.”

The first series of Austin has already been shown in Australia, where it has proved a big hit. What’s the secret? “Australian humour has always worked here, and vice versa,” says Miller. “They still have comedy in all their ads, which we used to have. Their humour is very daring. They’re not afraid to take risks with their jokes, but there’s also tremendous heart. It’s a great place to visit and work.”

However, back home in Gloucestershire, living in the countryside clearly suits Miller. He sounds like a contented man as he describes stepping outside when he finishes work for the day. “Playing outdoors with my kids, I don’t think life gets much better than that. I was out there yesterday with my son. I’d brought home a boomerang.”

Did it come back? “Yes. I bought a returning boomerang, with a very sharp angle. If you throw it along the ground, it will pick up energy so it rises and then falls back down on us. Or you can loop it round. We were out there for hours.”

Sounds like the PhD knowledge still comes in handy? Not so much. “I’m a physicist,” Miller laughs, “but I have no idea how it works.”

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Austin will premiere on Friday 4th April at 9:30pm on BBC One, with all episodes available to stream on iPlayer.

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