Martin Freeman

After the success of Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes and Lost in Austen, it's obvious TV types realise they are on to a good thing with high-concept series about characters plucked from their ordinary lives to be sent back in time. Though Boy Meets Girl has nothing to do with time travel, it does have the same supernatural "What am I doing here and how do I get back?" subtext, though its unique selling point is accidental gender-swapping. Strangers Danny (Martin Freeman) and Veronica (Rachael Stirling) become trapped in one another's bodies after an accident during a storm. Now, Boy Meets Girl could simply die of cliche, but it's rescued by the leads, particularly Stirling as Veronica/Danny, who, in the nicest possible way, is thoroughly believable as a man trapped inside a woman's body. And though the genders are painted in broad strokes - men are slobs and women are preoccupied with lipstick - Boy Meets Girl manages to be both warm and quite sweet.

Here's a fun proposition: likeable duo Martin Freeman and Rachael Stirling as two strangers who wind up trapped in each other's bodies. Cue some Life On Mars-style existential crises as the pair grapple with each other's lives and endeavour to return to a normal state of affairs in the first of this surreal but promising four-parter.

Here's a turn-up for the books: a new ITV comedy miniseries that is both funnier and more original than its plot description - a woman and a man swapping bodies after being struck by lightning - suggests. Much of the credit for that goes to the leads, Martin Freeman and Rachael Stirling, both of whom play their alter-ego roles with enough aplomb to keep the plot afloat - he as a successful fashion journalist called Veronica trapped inside the body of a lazy conspiracy theorist called Danny; she as the reverse. The focus in this opening episode is more on Stirling's character (female body, male mind) as she attempts to use her new journalistic contacts to find Danny, while simultaneously fending off the advances of her boyfriend Jay (Paterson Joseph).

It couldn't matter less if a drama kicks off with an improbability at the outset, while viewers are still settling down and re-arranging the cushions. What matters is that everything follows on logically from there. David Allison's strangely fascinating comedy-drama begins with just such an improbability, as two people (Martin Freeman and Rachael Stirling) exchange bodies and lives after a freak accident involving an electricity pylon. The man is trapped inside a woman's body and is forced to wear high heels all day, write articles for a newspaper on fashion and gossip about other men over lunch. The woman has to slob around in a track suit, never tidying up, smoking roll-ups, eating junk food and behaving like a semi-housetrained Neanderthal. Both end up looking at the world afresh and not entirely liking what they see. It is nothing if not unusual - and for that alone it is worth watching.

Engaging, light-hearted drama with Martin Freeman and Rachael Stirling very winning as strangers who inhabit each other's bodies after a freak accident.

This week sees the start of a new four part comedy-drama series, in which Danny a drop-out DIY employee and Veronica, a glamorous fashion journalist, inexplicably swap bodies following a bizarre lightning strike.

Starring Martin Freeman and Rachael Stirling, the story initially focuses on Danny as he attempts to discover what happened to his old self whilst coming to terms with his new body, social circle and career. This adaption not only includes learning how to walk in stilettos, apply make-up and put on a bra, but also how to pass off as a respected fashion writer and deal with Veronica's boyfriend who is confused by her sudden change of personality. Meanwhile a completely disorientated Veronica is left with little choice but to beg on the streets whilst she tries to establish her true identity.

The body-swap concept may have been covered previously in movies such as Freaky Friday and Vice Versa, not to mention various other small screen versions, but this quirky series somehow manages to distinguish itself, thanks largely to the charismatic lead performances, especially Stirling who is excellent in her duel role. Funny and charming throughout, Boy Meets Girl is one of the more entertaining comedy-dramas of this year so far.

Strangers in strange skins

Martin Freeman and Rachael Stirling exchange genders in a new ITV comedy. They tell The Independent how difficult they found it to swap high heels and belch without shame.

Post The Office, as it were, Martin Freeman hasn't quite found his vehicle. Hardware had its moments, but there weren't enough of them, however, in a C4 Comedy Showcase - effectively a short series of pilots - entitled Other People, he might have it. As a 1980s child magician Greg Wilson tasted fame, of the Royal Variety variety, before having his career destroyed by being called a 'fucking wanker' in a live phone-in during kids' TV show 'Crikey! It's Saturday'. Now, bitter and thirtysomething, working in a sofa shop, he copes with the reverse in fortunes by being, mostly, bitter.

'Do you know who gets to choose Employee of the Month?' asks his up-tight boss. 'Ant and Dec? People get to text-in?'

I don't know who gets to choose Pilot of the Month at C4 but there's surely some mileage in a Big Brother-style interactive public vote, in which case Other People gets mine. Come to think of it, perhaps all TV comedy should be commissioned by text? Or, failing that, Ant and Dec.

As ex-magician Greg Wilson's solicitor tells him after he's been charged with assaulting a woman in the Kingdom of Couches-esque sofa warehouse in which he works, "The law can be a very sexist environment. It's very difficult for women to prove themselves. Especially the ugly ones." Written by Toby Whithouse, whose CV includes Doctor Who and No Angels, this chucklesome, misanthropic comedy has Martin Freeman as Greg and features the excellent Siobhan Finneran and Phil Davis.

Martin Freeman Interview

He was the long-suffering everyman in The Office. Now he's a warehouseman with a chip on his shoulder. The Independent talks to Martin Freeman.