Niky Wardley

In With The Flynns

In With The Flynns is a new family comedy for BBC One. Will Mellor and Niky Wardley play Liam and Caroline Flynn, Mancunians in their early thirties who are raising their three children and holding down jobs. It's tough - and even tougher because they're still growing up themselves.

No sooner does Life of Riley finish than In with the Flynns starts - this is clearly the Beeb's designated slot for a family sitcom with an Irish surname in the title. This new effort stars Will Mellor and Niky Wardley as over-stretched Mancunian parents with an unruly brood. There's the odd witty one-liner, but overall it makes My Family look like Frasier.

Warren Clarke interview

Warren Clarke co-stars with Will Mellor, Niky Wardley and Craig Parkinson in a Manchester-based family sitcom, In With The Flynns...

A new family drama for BBC1, created by Jimmy Nail and Tarquin Gotch, in which a trio of teenagers form a rock band in order to lark around and attract some girls. So far, so CBBC; the primetime addition comes from the parents, an ambitious bunch who are keen to turn their boys into money-spinning starlets. They include a pop star turned cabinet maker played by Nail; an entrepreneurial single mother played by Niky Wardley, and - by far the best turn in the show - a lawyer with haute couture pretensions played by Colin McFarlane. Judging by this first episode, the series is more a situation in search of a comedy than anything else, aiming simultaneously for Skins and Desperate Housewives viewers, and falling a little short of both.