Jamie Laing

In some respects, Murder in Successville reminds me of a sort of Beadle's About programme in which a number of celebrities becoming the unwitting foil to the fictional DI Sleet (Tom Davis). Sleet is a detective in the fictional town of Successville; which is populated by a group of famous faces none of whom act how they do in the public eye. The fact that a group of impressionists populate the show also makes it feel akin to a comedy show such as Stella Street or Dead Ringers. The problem is that, unlike those two programmes, none of the impressions in Murder in Successville are particularly accurate. Whilst I suppose this is meant to aid the comedy not one of the supporting cast members impressed me in the least bit. The lack of any decent impressions would lead me to believe that Murder in Successville is attempting to spoof both celebrity culture and the cop show in general. Unfortunately, I didn't find that there was one laugh during Murder in Successville's first half hour in which Made in Chelsea non-entity Jamie Lang is paired up with Sleet. In fact I found Lang incredibly annoying as he employed a bout of nervous laughter as the situations he experienced became more bizarre. Only Davis' deadpan performance as the Sam Spade-esque Sleet was worthy of praise as he at least tried to pull of the spoof element of the show. Murder in Successville built up to Lang attempting to solve the murder of Bruno Torlioni by shooting the person he thought was responsible for the crime. Due to this conclusion, Murder in Successville felt like one of those murder mystery weekends which I'm sure Lang and his Chelsea pals have been on in the past. However, aside from Davis' performance, I haven't got one positive thing to say about Murder in Successville as I found it be a programme that never really knew what it wanted to be.

Murder in Successville is ridiculous. Each week it takes a real-life celebrity, and places them in the middle of a fictional murder mystery, which they must help to solve. Successville, where these crimes take place, is populated by celebrities doing ordinary jobs, only these "celebrities" are impressionists doing their versions of those celebrities doing ordinary jobs. It's part sketch show, part structured reality show and part quiz show. Its jokes are largely crude and scatological. Everyone is on the verge of laughter throughout.

In the opening episode, the celebrity stooge is Jamie Laing from Made in Chelsea. I've never seen Made in Chelsea, so he well could have been the impressionist's version of Jamie Laing, though a passing colleague saw him on my screen, confirmed it was the real Jamie Laing and declared him to be "the worst". Laing plays a rookie cop tasked with cracking the murder of Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli, who, in Successville, is a chef married to chief suspect Darcy Bussell. Neither are played by themselves. Local gangsters Alan Carr and Harry Styles are not themselves, either. Nor, disappointingly, is ballistics expert Taylor Swift actually played by Taylor Swift.

This is a very, very silly show. For the first half I was torn between feeling extremely pleased something so anarchic and daft had been commissioned by the BBC in the first place, and willing it to be just that little bit funnier, and less reliant on jokes about bumming. But eventually, it got me. Laing gamely plays along as he is directed towards increasingly absurd situations, such as interrogating Alan Carr's underworld "sister" Jimmy Carr, who communicates only in that seal-bark laugh.

If Laing really is a villain in Made in Chelsea, then Murder in Successville is a remarkable act of rehabilitation for him. He just can't stop giggling, and it's helplessly contagious. This is the same silly joy that comes from sitcom blooper reels, or performers corpsing during live comedy, or trying not to laugh when you're getting told off. It's not particularly sophisticated, but it is surprisingly charming, and perhaps some of those remaining BBC Three-on-TV viewers might have stumbled across it and been charmed by it, too.

The premise goes something like this: each week a celebrity participates in a sort-of immersive theatre production, based around a murder investigation. Teaming up with detective DI Sleet (Tom Davis), the famous person (in this opener, Made in Chelsea's Jamie Laing) meets warped, Stella Street-style versions of celebrities involved in the case, and from these encounters must work out who the culprit is. Possibly the most high-concept show television comedy has ever seen, it's bewildering but occasionally very funny, in a slightly frenzied way.

What to expect from Murder in Successville

Dermot O'Leary, Greg James and Jamie Laing are among the brave celebrities playing detective in BBC Three's new improvised comedy.

Radio Times review

This is silly. Very silly indeed. Successville is a town populated by celebrities - Gordon Ramsay's the chief of police; Mary Berry runs the strip joint - and policed by maverick DI Sleet. All these people are played by actors (Tom Davis is hilarious as Sleet). But when restaurateur Bruno Tonioli is found dead, Sleet is partnered with a celebrity rookie, Made in Chelsea's Jamie Laing, who's parachuted in to help solve the case.

It's a mixed-up structured reality comedy cop drama impressions show. Yet it boils down to a bunch of comedians saying increasingly ridiculous things to make Laing corpse, which he does a lot. Brilliantly silly.

Does BBC Three have another hit on its hands?

Jamie Laing was the first famous face to be thrown into the wacky world of Successville to solve a murder in the creepiest, funniest and downright weirdest of ways.

Jamie Laing's best facial expressions

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