his Country began its final series on a bittersweet note by paying tribute to much-loved cast member Michael Sleggs. The 33-year-old played Michael "Slugs" Slugette - a character created with him in mind - but sadly died last summer, a mere three weeks before the new series began filming. Sleggs desperately wished to appear in person one last time, but it wasn’t to be. Instead he bookended the episode, which began with a photograph of Slugs (wearing an Ayia Napa T-shirt and clutching a giant funfair teddy bear) and ended on a round of applause for him. As tributes go, it was typically This Country: tongue-in-cheek, non-mawkish but really rather lovely. The Bafta-winning mockumentary returned for its third and final run, which might be sad news for us fans but is doubtless the correct decision by co-creators Daisy May and Charlie Cooper. After all, the comedies that inspired them - the likes of The Office, The Day Today and The Royle Family - left us wanting more. The siblings have also admitted their loss of anonymity has made it harder to people-watch and absorb the sort of real-life rural colour that informs their scripts. As we rejoined sportswear-clad cousins Kurtan and Kerry Mucklowe (played by the Coopers) in their somnambulant Cotswolds village, they were mourning their mate, both fictional and real-life. Well, in their own inimitable fashion. “The last words he ever said to us were, ‘Do you guys fancy doing a zombie escape room in Swindon on Saturday?’” recalled Kerry. “But unfortunately he passed away on the Friday.” “Which was sort of a relief, in a way,” added Kurtan. Kerry had got into financial difficulties - she’d rather not dwell on it but she’d spotted a gap in the market for pillow-stuffing and spent £500 on an alpaca from Gumtree - so had been forced to take an actual, proper job. Kurtan stepped in to support her on the domestic front by whipping up meals from The Hairy Bikers" Cookbook and occasionally turning over her bed-bound mother Sue, aka “HMS Lardarse”, with a snow shovel. Kerry’s gainful employment was at the local recycling centre, which she’d taken to like a duck to water. As she gave us a guided tour, she was like a waste-based David Brent. “I love the hubbub of the dump,” she enthused. “The drama of what goes where. I even love the sound of the wasps buzzing around the bottle bank.” Her new best friend and partner-in-crime was near-mute colleague Griff Crothers (Gareth Williams) - a “simple beast” who was “emotionally low-maintenance”. Together this decidedly non-dynamic duo had a scam going. They’d plunder the best loot from the charity bin - foot spas, novelty golf clocks, still-beeping Casio keyboards - and smuggle it home in the boot of Griff’s Datsun. As Kerry reasoned: “Why go Christmas shopping when the dump is my John Lewis?” However, high drama ensued when Kurtan received a letter that Slugs had written before he died, clearing his conscience by confessing that it wasn’t Kurtan who had broken a caravan bed in Newquay 12 years ago after all. It was Slugs and Kerry. Kurtan was incandescent with rage because he’d been forced to cut short his holiday and take a job in “a sausage factory with no air conditioning” to pay for the damage. It was Kerry’s treachery which stuck in his craw. “Her only loyalties are to herself, Staffies and the TV channel Dave,” he raged. Parish vicar Rev Francis Seaton (Paul Chahidi) tried to talk him down, but Kurtan’s lust for revenge was overwhelming. He made an anonymous phone call to Kerry’s supervisor, grassing her up for stealing the foot spa. She lost her job but not before desperately trying to shift blame onto her great mate Griff, who was duly sacked too. No honour among these thieves. As always, the family feud didn’t last. Kerry repaid Kurtan what she owed and the cousins were reconciled. They were soon strolling off together to play frisbee and examine a decomposing fox. Well, you take entertainment where you can get it in the countryside. This relatively low-key return might have lacked the explosive belly laughs of This Country at its very best, but it was as acutely observed and delightfully written as ever, with a tender and poignant undertow. There was no sign of cult favourites Big Mand or Grumpy Len, let alone Kerry’s ghastly father Martin, but we trust they’ll reappear for a swansong as the series unfolds. With just five episodes remaining, This Country should be cherished before it’s gone. A closing caption read: “In loving memory of Michael Sleggs, 1985-2019.” He’d got his wish and made a final appearance here, in spirit if not in body. As Kurtan acknowledged, Slugs was “still s--t-stirring from beyond the grave”. “Very funny,” concluded Kerry, applauding the blue Cotswolds sky. It made for a fitting tribute to a promising talent, gone far too soon.