Fabulous FRASIER!

We first encountered psychiatrist Dr Frasier Crane, played by Kelsey Grammer, in a Boston bar in the US sitcom Cheers way back in 1984. A hugely popular Seattle-set spin-off series, Frasier, then ran for 11 seasons. And now, nearly 20 years after that finished, the Doc is heading back to where it all started.

- IAN MACEWAN

NEW COMEDY
Frasier
From Fri 13 Oct, Paramount+ (first two eps from 13 Oct, then weekly)

The eagerly anticipated Paramount+ reboot sees Frasier returning to Boston, with his nephew David (Anders Keith) in tow, to deliver a lecture at Harvard, where his old University of Oxford pal Alan (Nicholas Lyndhurst) is a professor.

The trip is also an opportunity for Frasier to try to reconnect with his son Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott), who works for the Boston Fire Department and, to his father’s surprise, is living with a woman called Eve (Jess Salgueiro).

So what’s in store for the cerebral shrink as he comes home?

Here, Grammer, 68, who’s also voiced Sideshow Bob in The Simpsons, gives his take on the return of one of the all-time great sitcom characters… 

What’s it like returning to this role that you played for so many years?

I’ve always been amused by the people who used to say: ‘How do you play a character for that long?’ I would jokingly say: ‘Well, honestly, how do you live for that long?’ You see, every day in this life is a surprise and a new experience that you can actually hone if you keep your eyes open and allow yourself to see the world around you through fresh eyes. And that’s who Frasier is.

Frasier Crane is such a popular character. What’s his appeal, and how has he changed?