Michaela Coel

Chewing Gum leaves a bad taste in the mouth

So E4 have re-commissioned a second series of Michaela Coel's Chewing Gum. What were they thinking? Normally I would be pleased for a new young writer being commissioned for a second series. Heck, I've been campaigning for this for some time now. However I would never just give my backing to any show and Chewing Gum does not have my support and quite frankly it beggars belief that it got aired in the first place, never mind re-commissioned.

While Catastrophe and the final series of Peep Show were predictably brilliant, but they had nothing on the youthful zing of this filthily funny comedy that managed to make life on a Hackney estate seem highly appealing. Michaela Coel, already known to the Royal Court, is a welcome new voice for TV and a fabulously expressive face as the comedy's reluctant 24-year-old virgin.

Last in the series of Michaela Coel's sitcom. As Ronald's wedding day approaches, Tracey (Coel) tries to warn his bride-to-be about the gayness, to no avail. Meanwhile, her relationship reaches a crossroads. What a blast of menthol through the collective comedy nostril. Theatrical, certainly, but pumped full of ideas and madly lovable, largely thanks to Coel's never-still face. Pity anything that has to share the screen with it. She has a distinct comedy voice and really uses it to say something. More her, please.

Why Chewing Gum so deserves a second series

This E4 comedy is getting better, funnier and weirder. Come on Channel 4, give Michaela Coel's brilliant show a series two, says Kasia Delgado.

Michaela Coel's warm, riotous comedy about a sheltered and sexually frustrated 24-year-old from east London reaches episode four. Tracey has fallen for awkward Connor, but their attempts at intimacy soon flounder. Desperate to lose her virginity, she does the logical thing and sets up a threesome. Meanwhile, Bible-bashing sister Cynthia borrows Tracey's computer for the evening, with surprising consequences. A laugh-a-second portrait of life as a black British twentysomething that's both authentic and surreal.

This sassy comedy about Tracey Gordon, a girl exploring sex and friendship on a council estate, has been one of the sleeper hits of the year. It's the handiwork of Michaela Coel who has adapted the series from her play Chewing Gum Dreams. Expect whipsmart dialogue and hard-won revelation as Tracey deals with her wet weekend of a boyfriend and her raunchy best mate.

Michaela Coel's sparkling comedy continues and Tracey is worried she might be pregnant after last week's moment of lust with Connor. Off she goes to find a contraceptive, just in case her nose-sucking technique isn't enough to put him off. Also on Tracey's agenda is to dump chaste boyfriend Ronald, but a chat with his mum (the brilliant Tanya Franks) reveals a few secrets about his past. The likable characters and risque jokes should help Chewing Gum appeal to the older generation as well as knowing teenagers.

A sitcom that didn't really find its feet in the first episode was E4's Chewing Gum and I personally struggled to get to grips with the uneven tone that the sitcom presented. One thing that I did like about the show was the narration by the show's writer; award winning playwright Michaela Coel, who also took the leading role of Tracey. The first episode of Chewing Gum saw 24-year-old Tracey try to loose her virginity to boyfriend of several years Ronald (John MacMillan). The audience can see early on that Tracey is a kindly, if rather horny, soul whilst Ronald looks down his nose at his common girlfriend. Tracey's efforts to seduce Ronald are later rebuffed and leave her temporarily heartbroken until she realises what an idiot her now ex-lover was. It's also rather obvious that Tracey will soon end up in the arms of rubbish poet Connor (Robert Lonsdale) who has several encounters with her during the first episode. I do think that my problems with Chewing Gum mainly stem from the fact that I'm not part of the key demographic. Although I found Tracey a likeable protagonist everything about the central story felt rather predictable and there were very few laughs littered throughout the episode. The supporting characters were also thinly drawn especially in the case of Tracey's new love interest Connor and her abrasive friend Candice. Talking of Candice, the subplot which involved her trying to get her boyfriend to be rougher with her in the bedroom just didn't work for me. Furthermore it felt like it had been tacked onto the episode after Cole realised that the central story wouldn't fill up twenty-two minutes on its own. Ultimately Chewing Gum was the least funny of the three sitcoms airing on Tuesday night and it's one that I feel will struggle to find an audience. However I do feel that Cole is a star in the making and so I hope she isn't tainted by the mediocre Chewing Gum as I'd like to see more from her in the future.

Michaela Coel talks race, class, comedy sex... & more sex

"When I grew up, my race was not a thing. My identity was in my class."