Richard O'Sullivan

50 years of Man About The House, the sitcom that introduced sex to British TV

The groundbreaking flat-sharing comedy's very concept terrified ITV. Its writer and actors reflect on its smashing of gender stereotypes and the wildly successful spin-offs it launched.

Coming Of Age is one of those shows that, patently, you either love or loathe. One thing was for certain - BBC Three was obviously aiming at its new, laser-like precision demographic. I was intrigued and was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. I strapped myself in... and was amazed.

So, the first joke. Drama teacher: Chloe, your character hasn't seen Dick since the war broke out. And Matt, your character is desperate... for Fanny. Oh dear. That was just the tip of the double entendre iceberg in that scene. The very first scene in the show. It was like watching TV from the 1970s. But with teenagers delivering the lines and not Richard O'Sullivan. It was weird.

The rest of the episode was a blur. Not necessarily a blur, but more of a smear. It was just one long smear of a knob joke. Every single line was peppered with both single and double entendres - it was like a teenage Carry On film. Without the finesse.

Honestly, after the first 10 minutes I realised I had never felt such rancour towards a television programme. It's just so insulting to the viewer. E4's The Inbetweeners proved you can do a teen gross-out comedy with style, but this missed the mark like a blind archer.