Rik Mayall

Dan is still vainly trying to save his relationship with Naomi. He's engaging the services of "Mad Nobby" to fix his car seat and has planned a get-back-together meal of fried mince, as well as a dedicated programme of nostalgia where he lists their past good times. It goes as well as you can imagine, particularly as he manages to end up in a skin-tight salsa dancing outfit beforehand. Lovely to see Rik Mayall's mischievous face back on telly; as Dan's dad he tips his single scene into excellence with little more than his eyebrows.

Teacher man Dan (Greg Davies) may be down on the romantic front but he's not yet out for the count.

As the sitcom pratfalls continue, Dan fixates on winning back his ex - by collecting proof that she was wrong to dump him.

Meanwhile, the world around him continues to make as little sense as he does: an invitation from his dad (Rik Mayall) to play a game of swingball blasts open a whole new ball of confusion.

Strictly fans will find an extra treat tonight as Dan and his friend Jo perform a salsa to entertain some hospital patients.

It's all part of Dan's desperate scheme to try and convince his former girlfriend Naomi that he's a fun person with a fully rounded social life. Not much chance of that, as tonight he is also relying on the seductive power of mince to win her round. And what woman can resist mince?

Thanks to Greg Davies' towering energetic idiocy, Man Down offers reliable silliness - and it's the ideal vehicle for Davies to exploit his background in both teaching and stand-up. But he doesn't save all the best gags for himself and the support from Roisin Conaty and Mike Wozniak as his best mates Jo and Brian are outstanding.

The casting of Rik Mayall as Dan's father is inspired, and the kids who have the misfortune to be Dan's drama students are game, recognising he is a bigger kid than any of them.

Previously The Inbetweeners' grouchy headteacher, Greg Davies stars as Dan, a teacher capable of rivalling Jay, Neil et al for immaturity. Listlessly plodding through a life that has left him leeching off his parents and lumbered with dysfunctional friend Jo (Roisin Conaty), Dan spends much of this opener determined to win back his girlfriend by getting a mortgage, or at least a second pair of trousers. A pretty by-the-books start, but if we get more of Dan's eccentric dad (Rik Mayall), it's one to keep an eye on.

Greg Davies brings his gift for the deranged to a new sitcom that is so loaded with childish eccentricity it practically bludgeons us into laughter. Davies is the six-foot-eight comedian who made a name for himself as a comic actor in The Inbetweeners and Cuckoo. There he played exasperated adults; here he plays maddening man-child Dan, a hopeless oaf who in the opening scene fantasises about designing a fart-powered hovercraft while his girlfriend points out he still hasn't replaced their broken light bulb.

When she finally decides to leave him, Dan is driven to new lows, not helped by losing his trousers and being attacked by his dad (Rik Mayall) in a bear outfit. None of this is subtly nuanced or anything, but there are real, stupid laughs, not least at the sight of Dan driving round in an old banger with his seat so far back he has his arm out of the rear window.

Greg Davies's latest venture into sitcomland is comedy writ large, from the initial fart joke, to a pair of lost trousers and some slapstick scenes that are so preposterous as to be surreal.

The premise is a tried and tested traditional one - newly dumped, middle-aged teacher (Davies) lives in a flat attached to the house of his mum and dad (Rik Mayall, in a near-perfect piece of casting, if you overlook the fact that Davies and Mayall are roughly the same age), and is surrounded by idiosyncratic/idiotic 'fucking mental' friends who do things such as sing him out of bouts of angst under the disapproving gaze of a battleaxe café proprietor.

It's touches such as these - and Davies's utterly silly but joyous classroom scenes, and lines such as 'He's a good boy. He's normal. He's not into your rubber shorts, your plastic fists, your glory holes,' delivered by the local tailor discussing his work experience schoolboy - that could have you warming to both Davies and the series, particularly if you like puerile, juvenile, violent comedy. Ageing The Young Ones fans will love it.

If you were a fan of Greg Davies as the terrifying Mr Gilbert in The Inbetweeners, you'll love this new sitcom he's written... his dad (a brilliant Rik Mayall) bullies him, his girlfriend is sick of him and his friends are crazy. It's a promising debut.

Greg Davies: how to hire your hero

Routinely described as 'a fat Rik Mayall', comedian-actor Greg Davies explains how he got his doppelgänger-hero into his new show - sitcom Man Down.

Silly is something comedy shies away from now. If it's not a mockumentary, it's sarcastic verging on outright nastiness. Silly is a precious aspect to comedy, one that should be cherished and encouraged. This is certainly one of the silliest comedies for some time and what's even more endearing is that it's a silly sitcom, which is as rare as an open letter not being sent to Miley Cyrus. The extremely tall Greg Davies channels his time as a drama teacher (one in real life, not as Mr Gilbert in The Inbetweeners) to play a useless drama teacher who still hasn't grown up, which leads to generous servings of his bare legs and crotch. In a terrific piece of casting, Rik Mayall - someone Greg is routinely described as being a tall version of - plays his near-sadistic father, who delights in elaborate practical jokes. After the first episode, you'll check your back seat first before you climb into your car...