Greg McHugh

Fresh Meat review

When I first watched Fresh Meat I had no idea what to expect from the show or that over four years on it would still be going strong. However somehow Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong's university-based comedy drama has gone from strength to strength and they've been given the rare opportunity to end the series in the way they want to.

Gary Tank Commander's Greg McHugh ready for big stage

'We flopped in front of 50 people now show has an army of fans'

Ha Ha Hamilton unveil acts for 2015 comedy festival

Performances from Des Clarke, Robert Florence, Iain Connell, Greg McHugh, Sanjeev Kohli, Michael Redmond, Jane Godley and Tom Stade.

Greg McHugh set to fly to LA to discuss remake

Greg McHugh will fly out to Los Angeles this month for meetings with top industry figures to discuss a remake of Gary: Tank Commander for an American network audience.

Greg McHugh takes leading role in Peter Pan panto

Karen Dunbar and Des Clarke have been dropped for the 2014 production of Peter Pan at the King's Theatre. Instead TV favourite Greg McHugh will take the leading role. He will be joined by King's theatre stalwart and Still Game star Gavin Mitchell, who will take on the role of Captain Hook.

So was there a political edge to scheduling the rambunctious, booze-soaked Two Doors Down on the national network during New Year's Eve primetime? Viewers in the rest of the UK might have their suspicions or preconceptions about what happens at a traditional Scottish Hogmanay house party - underage drinking, sexual promiscuity, almost aggressive sentimentality, the single-minded pursuit of steak pie - and this one-off comedy reinforced and celebrated the best and worst of them.

With a conspiracy bunnet on, you could point to Alex Norton and Arabella Weir's harried hosts being called "the Bairds" and infer that this was intended as a tongue-in-cheek reflection of modern Scotland, bared for all to see. The guest list included middle-class neighbours obsessed with designer labels, a young returning soldier and a Scandinavian couple who looked a lot more attractive than everyone else, but were also a lot duller. In truth, any search for political subtext was overshadowed by the combination of Royle Family-style domestic comedy and rapidly escalating farce. Weir's brilliantly sustained accent, one of the best Kirsty Wark impressions I've ever heard, was just the maraschino cherry on top.

The younger generation of Scottish acting talent was well represented by My Mad Fat Diary's Sharon Rooney and Greg McHugh, the hardest-working man in sitcom-land. It was also good to see Jonathan Watson smoothly integrate himself into an ensemble, even if his malt-obsessed golf club bore veered into caricature. The showiest role, though, went to Daniela Nardini as the predatory Aunt Caroline back up from "that London". A blowsy vision in LBD and heels, Caroline's single-minded pursuit of hunky Thor-alike Henning culminated in a memorable gazebo disaster. For fans of This Life, Caroline felt like an alternate-universe version of Anna after almost two decades of questionable life choices.

Bad Education's Christmas special saw Alfie Wickers facing another big problem, as he'd been tasked by the headmaster (Matthew Horne) to direct the school play or face being sacked by the governors. Inevitably his ramshackle group of students are roped in to be the stars of the show with Stephen (Layton Williams) being the only one with any discernible talent to speak of. Alfie is then shocked when school bully Frank (Jack Bence) auditions for his production and delivers an incredibly awful audition. But because Alfie is incredibly scared of Frank he casts him as the human lead opposite Stephen in his original production Robocracker a combination of Robocop and The Nutcracker.

Elsewhere, Alfie is attempting to impress Miss Guilver (Sarah Solemani) by volunteering at a soup kitchen where his class are insulted by a mouthy tramp (played by Whitehall's Fresh Meat colleague Greg McHugh).

Right at the start of the Bad Education Christmas Special, Horne and Whitehall warn us that festive editions of shows are often sloppily written with a loose seasonal feel. I would say that was true of Bad Education to an extent as it just didn't have the energy the sitcom normally possesses. The funniest moments were provided by Steven, whether it be his one-man production of Precious or his performance in the incredibly entertaining Robocracker.

Overall, while I can't say I wasn't entertained, I just expect a little bit more from Whitehall and his class of talented young actors.

Jack Whitehall, fresh from retaining his crown as King of Comedy, takes a crack at that old favourite, the school nativity play, with the help of his Bad Education reprobates. A somewhat uneasy marriage of Robocop and The Nutcracker, teacher Alfie's ambitious production finds room for tolerance channelled through the medium of expressive dance, guest turns from Frances Barber as Alfie's mum and Howard from Fresh Meat (Greg McHugh) as a thespian tramp, and no shortage of near-the-knuckle humour. Not forgetting some clinches with no need of mistletoe to pack some heat.

Radio Times review

The ubiquitous Jack Whitehall wrote and stars in this school-based comedy, back for a badly behaved Christmas special. Fed up with the nativity, his hapless history teacher invents a new festive story, a cross between Robocop and Nutcracker: Robocracker.

Sitcom staple Sarah Solemani plays the altruistic art teacher, while Mathew Horne sports an elf costume as the immature headmaster fond of tragic puns ("Snow-k?" "Yes sir, yours-elf?") Look out for Greg McHugh, Whitehall's co-star in Fresh Meat, as an expletive-spewing tramp.

The Nutcracker is a delightful festive tale, but wouldn't it be better if it were more like Robocop? Mat Horne's deranged wordplay-loving headmaster certainly thinks so, and it's up to Jack Whitehall's bumbling educator Alfie Wickers to make his vision a reality.

While bonkers school play Robocracker is the focus of the Bad Education Christmas special, there's plenty more going on in the halls of Abbey Grove, as Mitchell (Charlie Wernham) attempts to get Alfie's estranged mother back from Spain for the holidays and Miss Gulliver (Sarah Solemani) encourages her class to volunteer at a soup kitchen, making way for a guest appearance by Whitehall's Fresh Meat co-star Greg McHugh as a foul-mouthed hobo.