Graham Linehan

Graham Linehan on the Lab Rats critics

Father Ted writer Graham Linehan hits out at the critics who have slated Lab Rats so quickly

Off The Telly Series 2 Review

It remains to be seen how the series will fare without Chris Morris, he's clearly going to be missing out on a lot of fun. The audience, meanwhile, aren't. The IT Crowd has gone beyond the novelty value of being a breath of comedic fresh air, and is establishing itself - or in fact probably already has - as a great series in its own right.

Big Train seems to be achieving belated cult status. There are several reasons for the delayed reaction, perhaps most notably the cast's subsequent successes: in the second series from 2002, which is showing this weekend, Shaun of the Dead star Simon Pegg and Green Wing's Mark Heap are joined by a pre-fame Catherine Tate and a pre-EastEnders Tracy-Ann Oberman. But it is the off-the-wall humour of the writers, Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews, the creators of Father Ted, that really makes this one comedy repeat worth devoting a significant part of your weekend to.

Off The Telly Series 1 Review

Linehan avoids the trap of simply mocking the two characters for being geeks, and instead makes them both sympathetic. Given that most viewers in real life are more likely to be on the side of the beautiful people rather than the IT department, it's a reasonably brave decision, particularly when the show mocks the lack of IT savvy among those viewers.

And the silliest programme is . . .

The IT Crowd (Channel 4) started on Friday night with a double bill -- a wholly unprecedented launch technique for a sitcom, and one that displayed Channel 4's understandable smugness in continuing to secure the oeuvre of Graham (Father Ted, Black Books) Linehan. Linehan's sitcom worlds are the most instantly recognisable of the last 20 years: very traditional set-ups, with very conventional characters (the eccentric, the buffoon, the drudge, the drunkard, the ditz, the geek, etc). However, all operate in an air of such concentrated silliness that it's a wonder their eyes don't roll into the back of their heads and they all just drop down dead.

The IT Crowd is the new Graham (Father Ted, Black Books) Linehan sitcom, and therefore of major importance to anyone who habitually throws themselves on the sofa and sighs, "Ah, I love telly". The ludicrously talented Richard Ayoade finally gets a lead role, Chris Morris returns as a wholly satisfying parody of manhood, and the whole thing seems comfortably bedded in within 15 minutes. All in all, no reason to lose faith in humanity just yet.