Daisy Haggard

The Persuasionists is a sitcom set in an advertising agency and all I can say is hats off to whoever sold this pup to the BBC.

Episode one saw the creative dynamos of HHHH&H attempting to market Cockney Cheese, brainchild of a tediously stereotypical East End entrepreneur.

Cockney Cheese was a sludgy brown, whilst his follow up product, Cockney Chocolate, pursued the scatological theme and was yellow. "It smells awfully familiar," observed the team, turning up their noses. Uncharitable viewers may be tempted to think a similar smell was emanating from the programme.

In the spirit of constructive criticism, let me say that The Persuasionists isn't as bad as the recent Amanda Holden debacle Big Top. Which isn't saying much, but is indicative of how low the sitcom bar now rests.

The Persuasionists is a mess, infused with that embarrassing mania that invariably takes hold of sitcoms free from humour, plot or characterisation. There is quite a zany foreigner called Keaton, but he is such a shameless - and pale - imitation of Kramer from Seinfeld that he doesn't really count.

The programme's only redeeming feature is Daisy Haggard as odious rich girl Emma. As all around her overact, shout and try out funny accents with increasing volume but to diminishing effect, Haggard somehow fashions a funny performance from the flimsiest of comic material.

Squandering a good cast that includes Adam Buxton, Daisy Haggard and Simon Farnaby, this is an unreconstructed office-based sitcom set in the world of advertising. Fearsome, insane boss, check; dimbulb secretary, check; comedy foreigner, check . . . This relentlessly ticks all the wrong boxes as the talented cast struggle bravely against a script containing almost no funny jokes. Until recently this was called The Scum Also Rises, but presumably that title was axed for containing some humour and wit, therefore making it an ill fit for what follows. False advertising.

Set in the world of advertising, this new sitcom has its own unique selling point: it's approximately one-third funny. The third succeeds because every time Simon Farnaby steps in as sex-crazed international fixer, Keaton, it's to do something hilarious with a big pencil. The rest fails because the other execs (Adam Buxton, Iain Lee, Jarred Christmas and Daisy Haggard) are something-and-nothing characters, and fail to add anything clever or convincing to the flabbier bits of the script. Nevertheless, there are some genuinely good ideas here, and the team's battle to put together a convincing campaign for a new product, cockney cheese, is leavened by the presence of guest star Lee Ross. He makes a marvellous cockney, possibly because until recently he played Denise's ex, Owen, in EastEnders.

Life was conducted at a similarly high voltage in Lucy Clark's Fabulous. In fact, Daisy Haggard's Faye sounded as if she was in the throes of some kind of electric shock therapy, as she went into convulsions at the prospect of going to work, speaking to her mother or having sex with her boyfriend.

She was clearly meant to be a loveable, dippy character with her Bridget Jones ability to air her big knickers at the most inopportune moment. As this was in the 11pm slot, and the only meal that would be spoilt was that assembled by late night fridge raiders, we were treated to a scatological account of her toilet troubles, complete with sound effects. The voluble Faye - like other characters much given to an irritating deadpan drawl - was suffering from constipation, but not, alas, of the mouth.