Darren Boyd

The Delivery Man is that most endangered of animals, a seriously funny ITV comedy, as in I laughed out loud, and I very seldom do that. The premise is simple. He's a copper who's suddenly retrained as a male midwife, and that's every bit as funny as it sounds, and must have been enough to get it past at least two phalanxes of ITV comedy bods deluded enough to give money to Keith Lemon rather than taking him behind a barn and hitting him with an axe.

Turns out it's quiet genius. This is partly down to Darren Boyd's pitch-perfect stutter-timing. Half way through his early watercooler moment with putative love interest Lisa (Aisling Bea), he compliments her gauchely on her selection of Dr Pepper - "Good choice. Did you know that Vietnamese prostitutes favoured this for its antispermicidal qualities?" On he stutters, with his tallness, insisting on comparing her favourably to a Vietnamese prostitute but still managing to insert the phrase "vaginal douche". And I suddenly knew I had to record the whole series. Others in the cast - Alex McQueen, Llewella Gideon - add gleeful panache. How ever did they get through the ITV "comedy" net?

I was slightly hopeful going into The Delivery Man primarily as director Victoria Pile created Green Wing whilst writers Robert Harley and James Henry also worked on the classic Channel 4 sitcom. Unfortunately, The Delivery Man has none of the surreal wit or classic characters of Green Wing and instead feels like it's been lifted from the 1970s. The central premise of The Delivery Man sees another Green Wing veteran in Darren Boyd play Matthew, a newly qualified midwife attempting to navigate his way through a female-dominated environment. I think I would've had more time for The Delivery Man if Matthew had proved his female colleagues wrong by proving himself to be a valuable member of the team and changing their expectations of him. But instead he was presented as a bumbling fool who was constantly lying to his patients, their families and the rest of the hospital staff whilst struggling with the simplest of tasks. Whilst watching The Delivery Man I kept wondering what would've happened if their was a sitcom about a bumbling woman entering a male-dominated environment and doing a really bad job. I personally think there would be a general outcry but nobody appeared to bat an eyelid when that was the central joke of the piece. A potential romance between Matthew and fellow midwife Lisa (Aisling Bea) already has little interest whilst the supporting characters all feel a little one-dimensional. This is a shame when the cast includes such heavyweights as Alex MacQueen and Fay Ripley, the latter of whom at least tried her best as well-meaning senior midwife Caitlin. The biggest problem though was that The Delivery Man didn't provoke a sufficient amount of laughter from yours truly. In fact the only real laugh I had was during a joke about Claire's Accessories whilst a scene involving a birthing pool also raised a brief titter. Ultimately I was disappointed with a programme that felt like it had been severely watered down by ITV who seem to favour the sort of broad humour which The Delivery Man had in droves.

Possibly UK television's first sitcom set in an obstetrics and gynaecology ward, this comes from Green Wing creator Victoria Pile. Darren Boyd stars as Matthew, the sole male midwife at a busy maternity ward. Despite his presence ruffling a few traditionalist feathers, Matthew's chipper demeanour remains unchiselled. A situation certainly fit to deliver, though when an "overweight woman isn't pregnant after all" clunker lands within minutes, enthusiasm may well be curbed. On the plus side, Alex Macqueen impresses as icy obstetrician Luke.

Radio Times review

"I have had the same training as all the women," protests Darren Boyd's male midwife Matthew, a bloke in a very female-centred environment. In Green Wing writers Robert Harley and James Henry's old-fashioned comedy he has to cope with quite a lot of sexism, but doesn't help himself by being quite an irritant, which detracts a little from a sitcom packed with decent lines and excellent supporting stars (Fay Ripley and Aisling Bea among them).

There is also little sense of Matthew's back story - apart from the fact he used to be a policeman - although the signs are that we will be seeing a lot more of Paddy McGuinness as his even more annoying (and slightly unhinged) former colleague and flatmate.

New comedy saw Darren Boyd delivering unfamilar lines

Darren Boyd has said there were some tricky conversations on the set of his new TV series about a delivery ward as he needed coaching in how to pronounce some of the more intimate terms.

Strong cast star in new comedy from Green Wing team

Fortitude's Darren Boyd takes on a very different role as he is joined by Fay Ripley, Paddy McGuinness and Aisling Bea for new sitcom.

Radio Times review

With the World Cup lurking enticingly on the horizon, this animated sitcom about a hapless everyman football freak is pitched somewhere between Family Guy, Uncle and Soccer AM. Unfortunately, it's not as funny as any of them.

There's no shortage of talent involved: Spy's Darren Boyd stars as Warren; Johnny Vegas is the imaginatively monikered coach Fat Baz; and Morwenna Banks (or Peppa Pig's mum to the UK's entire toddler population) plays drippy son Harrison. But the stereotypical main protagonist lacks the satirical edge of a Homer Simpson or a Peter Griffin, and you might find yourself yearning to slap him out of his soccercentric stupor.

Darren Boyd and Johnny Vegas interview

Darren Boyd, who plays Warren, and Johnny Vegas, who plays club manager Fat Baz, talk about their roles.