Press clippings Page 30
Greg Davies interview
I was lucky enough to catch up with Greg Davies at the official press launch for the second series of Taskmaster.
Ben Drummond, TV Rage, 11th June 2016Tony Robinson returns to comedy in Man Down
Sir Tony Robinson is returning to comedy acting, with a regular role in Channel 4 sitcom Man Down.
British Comedy Guide, 20th May 2016Cuckoo returns with 2 more series
Hit BBC Three sitcom Cuckoo has been recommissioned for a further two series, taking it to at least five series in length. All the cast are due to return for the new runs.
British Comedy Guide, 4th April 2016Lloyd Langford on fun and sustenance
Ahead of his visit to Glasgow International Comedy Festival, Lloyd Langford chats about how the blues can be joyous, wrestling with Greg Davies and what makes a true friendship.
Jay Richardson, The Skinny, 11th March 2016Taskmaster Series 2 contestants announced
Jon Richardson, Richard Osman, Joe Wilkinson, Katherine Ryan and Doc Brown will be the contestants joining Greg Davies and Alex Horne for Series 2 of Taskmaster.
British Comedy Guide, 11th March 2016Maybe if Cuckoo had started life on BBC1, audiences would have grown to love it. There are funny moments, both when Greg Davies' efforts at parenting flounder, and when Taylor Lautner is hopelessly bemused by British customs. But a lot of viewers will have switched off wondering: 'What on earth was that supposed to be about?'
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail, 22nd February 2016BBC Three have brought back Cuckoo, a sitcom that is still named after a character who flew off into the sunset after the show's first series. I personally thought that Robin French and Kieran Quirke's comedy improved during its second run thanks to Twilight star Taylor Lautner whose Dale replaced Andy Samberg's irritating title character. I was surprised how good Lautner was in his role of the straight man up against Greg Davies' frantic lawyer Ken as the two formed a perfect odd couple relationship. We see Dale living in Shanghai and having to defend himself after conducting an illicit relationship with his boss's daughter. Forced to return to Lichfield, Dale seeks sanctuary in the home of Ken and his pregnant wife Lorna (Helen Baxendale) the latter of whom is expecting her baby any day now. As we're now on the third series of Cuckoo I do feel the cast are comfortable in each other's company and therefore the chemistry between the main players is superb. Davies and Baxendale are especially believable as the central down-to-Earth couple even if they both struggle with their West Midlands accents from time to time. Lautner is also great in the role of the rather simple Dale however I'm not quite sure how much of a stretch it is for him to play a good-looking simpleton. Whilst the cast are on form, the material is sadly lacking and there were very few moments during this first episode of series three that actually raised more than a titter from me. In fact the central storyline, in which Ken dreaded the fact that he would have to go on paternity leave, to be quite old-fashioned. In fact the central joke that it would be beneath Ken to look after his child whilst his wife deigned to go back to work felt like something from another decade and felt especially dated when you consider that this series is one of the first to debut on the BBC's new online platform. The final set piece, which involves Ken getting stuck in the hospital while Lorna gives birth, feels like something out of Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em rather than a contemporary sitcom aimed at a young audience. So, whilst the cast deserve some praise for working with what they've been given, overall the third series of Cuckoo hasn't exactly got off to the best of starts which begs the question why it got brought back at all in the first place.
Matt, The Custard TV, 19th February 2016Taylor Lautner and Greg Davies interview
Greg Davies tells us that he's "glad" Cuckoo is debuting on the newly online channel.
Tom Eames, Digital Spy, 16th February 2016Radio Times review
There's a chance to meet the man behind Citizen Khan, Adil Ray. And perhaps because Ray's professional life is spent permanently masked by fake facial hair, he selects "beards" as his first pet hate. His case against them is clearly flimsy, but slightly more convincing than his case against something central to our national culture: tomato ketchup. The audience is never on board for that one.
Elsewhere, in "the Great British Bellyache-Off", Greg Davies has a terrific rant about people who give their dogs very specific instructions ("...and the same can be applied, while I'm on the subject, to toddlers") before telling a story about dressing his dog in his dad's underpants.
David Butcher, Radio Times, 26th January 2016Radio Times review
Radio Times Top 40 TV Shows of 2015, #30:
Rik Mayall's deranged dad character was one of the joys of Man Down's first series. How would it work without him? He left an unfillable hole, but Greg Davies skirted around it to deliver a second series as absurdly, tastelessly enjoyable as the first. Man-child Dan was if anything more oafish and disaster-prone, his misadventures more far-fetched, but now with the added peril of a mad aunt played by Stephanie Cole. Davies's scripts were never afraid to push daft ideas almost to breaking point, but he and a superb cast cartwheeled through the comic minefield.
David Butcher, Radio Times, 28th December 2015