The sadist in you will derive cathartic pleasure from the creative and unrelenting misery and indignity she subjects her (often unsympathetic) victims to. The masochist will then spend the next few hours wondering if you are a bad person to have laughed so loudly. Basically, you will wince and cringe and curl your toes...and enjoy every second of it.
Part of the reason I chose Davis to be the first comedian in my Wunderkammer is this great article in the Guardian. I particularly enjoyed it because it gives a very frank insight into what drives her to plumb the very darkest depths of the human psyche. It seems her fascination for what she describes as "wrong relationships" is her natural sensitivity to life's cruelties.
In the best comic tradition, Davis' villains - and the scenarios they find themselves in - are absurd amplifications of reality. Trying to find the good in them is futile - these are unambiguously despicable people. Even so, they are still complex enough to avoid being clumsy pastiches. I think one reason for this is that her victims can generally be seen as complicit in their abuse. Take Nighty Night's Cathy: an insipid, hopelessly naive doormat who is too painfully polite to stand up to neighbour - and narcissistic sociopath - Jill. These willing victims were gloriously abundant in her earlier series, Human Remains, which she co-wrote with the equally pathos-attuned Rob Brydon. The excruciatingly submissive Pete in "An English Squeak", for example, and the tragic Michelle in "All Over My Glasses". However cruel the villain is, there is a certain sadistic satisfaction at watching them play with their quarry.
I'd be interested to hear your take on Julia Davis. Does she make you long for more, or just leave you cold? If you never seen her, this scene from Nighty Night will give you a good idea of what you're missing.
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