British Comedy Guide
Taskmaster. Greg Davies. Copyright: Avalon Television
Greg Davies

Greg Davies (I)

  • 56 years old
  • English
  • Actor, writer and stand-up comedian

Press clippings Page 44

The plot of Cuckoo revolved around Rachel - an 18-year-old who initially had a touch of the Saffy-from-Ab-Fab about her - who returned from her gap year married to our eponymous hero after meeting him at a Full Moon Party.

Hearing your daughter wed a hirsute hippy in a 'genuine Thai ceremony on a beach' and that you could have known about it earlier, if only you'd checked your Facebook messages, is not exactly every parent's dream. In fact, it's something of a nightmare. The reaction of Greg Davies and Helen Baxendale's characters was a little off in this sense, as you'd imagine the revulsion of such involved, middle-class parents at such a situation would be slightly more hysterical than the script seemed to allow for.

But generally, this inaugural episode was pretty hard to fault. It wasn't side-splitting at all times, but as amusing, smart and inventive comedies go, it worked. Tamla Kari as Rachel was the weak link here, but that's fine, because despite her story being at the centre of Cuckoo, it's not Rachel who is the point of this series; it's her parents and her new husband.

And by the looks of things, the strong performances by Samberg, Davies and Baxendale will be enough to carry this amusing effort throughout the entire series.

Metro, 26th September 2012

Ken and Lorna are two upstanding parents who want the best for their daughter so you can imagine their horror when she comes home from a gap year with a surprise husband - an idiotic American hippy - in tow. Helen Baxendale and Greg Davies (aka Mr Gilbert from The Inbetweeners) star in this promising new sitcom, with Saturday Night Live's Andy Samberg joining them as the antagonistic new son-in-law.

Sharon Lougher and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh, Metro, 25th September 2012

Chances are you won't know the star of this new sitcom, but Andy Samberg is well known in the US as a regular on Saturday Night Live and as part of the comedy troupe The Lonely Island.

Here he plays an American hippie called Cuckoo, perhaps not the last person on Earth you'd want your ­brilliant daughter to bring home from her gap year in Thailand, but not your first choice for ­son-in-law material, either.

Thanks to Samberg's subtly distracted performance, this is even funnier than it must have been on the page.

Cuckoo is new-age nonsense personified, but still cheesy enough to nick a chat-up line from Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Helen Baxendale and Greg Davies play shocked parents Lorna and Ken, with Tamla Kari as their smitten daughter Rachel and Tyger Drew-Honey from Outnumbered as Rachel's brother.

The scene when he ridicules Cuckoo over his name is even funnier when you remember his own name is Tyger.

Jane Simon, The Mirror, 25th September 2012

Cuckoo is an American hippy who spends his days sleeping, meditating to whale music and spouting new age nonsense. Imagine the horror of Ken and Lorna, a very conventional couple from Lichfield, when their darling daughter returns from her gap year with a ring on her finger and this dreadlocked idler on her arm.

Stand-up comedian Greg Davies (best known as the vindictive headmaster Mr Gilbert in The Inbetweeners) plays Ken and is a joy to watch: all boggling eyes and flared nostrils. Helen Baxendale is more restrained as Lorna, Outnumbered star Tyger Drew-Honey plays the petulant younger brother and US actor Andy Samberg, a former Saturday Night Live regular, is brilliantly barmy as Cuckoo. This first episode takes a while to find its feet but the final scene is a corker.

Claire Webb, Radio Times, 25th September 2012

A stint on Saturday Night Live is the TV equivalent of an Oxbridge degree. Successful alumni are expected to bring Hollywood to its knees, not crash-land straight into a BBC3 sitcom set in the Midlands. It's odd, therefore, to see one of its brightest stars of recent years, Andy Samberg, playing hippy doucheboat Cuckoo in the first episode of this of this gentle comedy. When gap-year student Rachel marries layabout traveller Cuckoo in Thailand and brings him back to the family home, he ends up doing for dad (Greg Davies) what Mike did for Alf Garnett - eating his food and making him look like a buffoon. The Inbetweeners star is forced to play it straight while Samberg effortlessly steals every scene. There's potential here, but anyone hoping for some SNL gold dust will be disappointed.

Oliver Keens, Time Out, 25th September 2012

New sitcom starring giant actor Greg Davies as patriarch Ken who is introduced to his new son-in-law Cuckoo for the first time in the arrivals lounge on his daughter Rachel's return from her gap year in Thailand. It's an understandable shock, particularly as Cuckoo is a colossal bellend. This travelling hippy (Andy Samberg) has spiritual psychobabble up the wazoo and hopes to loaf around his new family home while he writes a book. All but Ken and his son Dylan (Tyger Drew-Honey) are taken in by his cod philosophy, even his wife Lorna (Helen Baxendale); it's a pretty promising start.

Ben Arnold, The Guardian, 24th September 2012

British and American humour clash head-on in Robin French and Kieron Quirke's comedy which, on the evidence of the opener, manages to be both funny and annoying. When Rachel (Tamla Kari) arrives home from her gap year in Thailand, she surprises her doting, quirky parents, Ken and Lorna (the excellent Greg Davies and Helen Baxendale), by introducing them to her new husband, Cuckoo (American actor/comic Andy Samberg), claiming she told everyone about the wedding on Facebook. "I don't do Facebook, I'm 45," replies her dad. Cuckoo describes himself as "part teacher, part visionary, part firebrand". Needless to say, Ken isn't exactly enamoured with the goonish Cuckoo and wonders how her new man is going to support his impressionable daughter.

Simon Horsford, The Telegraph, 24th September 2012

Greg Davies talks his favourite TV

The stand-up comedian and actor reveals his viewing habits, from BBC News 24 to The Young Ones.

Gwilym Mumford, The Guardian, 22nd September 2012

Greg Davies was an acclaimed live sketch show performer long before he shot to fame as Mr Gilbert in The Inbetweeners. His 2010 show Firing Cheeseballs At A Dog was his first attempt at a full stand-up show - and what a good attempt it was. Davies wooed us with stories about his time as a drama teacher before getting to the show's heart - celebrating life's silly moments.

Sharon Lougher and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh, Metro, 14th September 2012

The topical comedy panel quiz returns after its summer break. Joining host Dara O Briain and regulars Hugh Dennis, Andy Parsons and Chris Addison are guests Greg Davies, Andi Osho and Stewart Francis - the laconic Canadian one-liner specialist who won the award for best joke at this year'' Edinburgh Fringe Festival with his gag about Posh and Becks giving children a bad name.

Michael Hogan, The Telegraph, 5th September 2012

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