Paul Nicholls

You'll never look at a Toblerone the same way after seeing our quartet of Stockport thirtysomethings in the run-up to a pub quiz night. Joining in the endearing comedy chaos is Paul Nicholls as an old mate who takes Glyn off for a spot of waxing at the local spa. And the shadowy presence of Bev (Isy Suttie, Peep Show's Dobby) - so far seen only when Daz visits Col - emerges with a creepy crush on Beggsy (William Ash). Can he resist her cupcakes?

Some series are about the ­characters' struggle to achieve something. Great Night Out, on the other hand, is about four blokes desperate to maintain the status quo for as long as possible.

They really don't like change, which is why in their mid-30s they're still best mates and drink in the same pub. You can be pretty confident that in another 30 years they'll still be there at the Admiral Nelson, slightly fatter, balder, but still feeling like they're 15.

This week they're temporarily jolted out of their comfortable little ruts when an old schoolmate Scott (guest star Paul Nicholls) arrives with some threatening ­opinions about male grooming and proper orange juice after tasting life beyond Stockport. Glyn's little head is turned to the extent that he even buys a pair of espadrilles. This will never do.

Meanwhile, Hodge is thrown into panic when wife Kath decides she wants a baby, but best of all Beggsy discovers he has an admirer in Colleen's weirdo flatmate Bev.

We haven't seen much of Isy Suttie, who plays Bev, before now but her aggressive pursuit of Beggsy tonight - armed and ready with cupcakes - is one of the highlights of the whole series.

ITV's Stockport-set comedy continues to rattle along nicely. Yes, it feels old-fashioned for a series about 30-somethings and yes, the storylines move with the predictability of Swiss railways. But there's an oomph to it, a likeability that comes partly from the writers' unashamed love of the comic mishap (this week, a flooded living room and the world's most embarrassing pub quiz) and partly from a cast who give the characters plenty of heart under the daftness.

Scene of the night must be the moment where Daz's bathroom comes flooding through his lounge ceiling while he's enjoying fish and chips - a tour de force. But the meat of the plot comes when Glyn bumps into an old schoolfriend (guest star Paul Nicholls) who's done well for himself and become a bit flash. He drinks latte. He waxes. But why is he so keen to befriend gormless Glyn?

Meanwhile, Kath suggests that she and Hodge try for a baby, an idea that leaves Hodge struggling to, as it were, keep up.

Four episodes in, and the Stockport-set comedy is still struggling to catch fire - but there are enough flickering signs of life to merit a look. Hodge (Lee Boardman) gets the jitters when his wife Kath (Rebekah Staton) suggests starting a family, not helped when his plumbing results in disaster at Daz's (Stephen Walters) house. Meanwhile, Beggsy (Will Ash) isn't happy about being used as bait for Colleen's (Naomi Bentley) peculiar flatmate Bev (Isy Suttie); and an old schoolmate (Paul Nicholls) of Glyn's attempts to renew their acquaintance.

An ensemble comedy-drama about plucky northern women? It's a crazy idea but it might just work.

This breezy new bit of fun set around a Women's-Only taxi company is very much in the same vein as Fat Friends and Cutting It with a dash of Carry On Cabby chucked in for good luck.

And as you'd expect, those taxis - a lovely fleet of hot-pink Citroen Berlingos - take a back seat to the even hotter relationship dramas which are the airport runs of shows like this.

In this opening episode alone we have a funeral, a broken marriage, several panic attacks and some serious flirting.

Candy Cabs' trump card is Joy Joyner with the same hair she has as Tanya in EastEnders but a decent enough accent, that only occasionally seems to get lost somewhere in the services on the way up the M6. And her new love interest is another ex-Eastender, Paul Nicholls playing a council official. As Jackie O'Sullivan, Joyner's the lynch pin of the operation, as she and her hyper-ventilating partner Elaine (Lisa Millett) decide to carry on with the business when their best friend dies just before the big launch.

The script, by Hollyoaks writers Johanne McAndrew and Elliot Hope, ticks over on a mixture of wit, sparkle and memorable one-liners while the cast also boasts Claire Sweeney, Paul Kaye - in leopard-skin speedos - Melanie Hill and Jodie "I'd Do Anything" Prenger who gets to sing the theme tune too.

The BBC has made only three episodes so far, but we reckon there's plenty more mileage to be got out of this.

Candy Cabs: BBC Comedy Drama

Jo Joyner, Lisa Millett and Paul Nicholls star in Candy Cabs, a three-part BBC comedy about an all-female cab firm and due to start on Tuesday 5 April 2011.