Sam Bain

There's nothing particularly, ah, fresh about Fresh Meat, but this new teen comedy drama has an inbuilt likability which ensures that it's instantly preferable to the likes of Skins.

Created by Peep Show overlords Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, it stars Joe Thomas from The Inbetweeners as a hapless first-year student sharing a house in Manchester with a gaggle of contrasting characters, including a quietly scene-stealing Greg McHugh (star of BBC Scotland's Gary: Tank Commander) and - this will take some swallowing, I know - hitherto useless comedian Jack Whitehall proving perfectly acceptable in his first acting role. Mind you, he's playing an objectionable posh twit, so it's hardly a stretch.

The distinctive fingerprints of Armstrong and Bain are all over the opening episode, which leans more towards comedy than drama, as the various misfits get to know each other while desperately trying to reinvent themselves.

Rather sweet at heart, it should be applauded for generally eschewing the puerility, moralising and self-conscious "edge" which usually blights this genre. And if all it achieves is in some way vaguely justifying the existence of Jack Whitehall, then that has to count for something. Doesn't it?

Peep Show creators go back to college for Fresh Meat

Jack Whitehall, Greg McHugh and The Inbetweeners' Joe Thomas are among the stars of Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong's new C4 university-set comedy.

Sam Bain: New comedy writers have no place to cut teeth

Peep Show co-creator Sam Bain has warned that a "dearth of big, audience-friendly" TV comedies and a trend towards shows created by and starring well-known performers is denying opportunities to new writers.

Live Q&A: Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong

The writers of Peep Show and Four Lions return to Channel 4 next week with their new student comedy drama, Fresh Meat. They will be live online on Thursday between 1pm and 2pm - leave your questions for them here.

Writers surprised no-one made such a show for 27 years

Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, creators of new Channel 4 comedy Fresh Meat, say they are surprised no one has written about house sharing at university since The Young Ones.

BBC2's Rev reborn for second series

Peep Show co-creator Sam Bain to take over as script editor on sitcom praised by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Peep Show 7.4 review

Overall, this was a highlight of Series 7 and a great way to focus the talent of writers Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong.

The fourth episode of the seventh series of Peep Show airs tonight - for those who haven't cheated and watched it online already. The cult sitcom is perfect communal viewing so it's really worth waiting until it airs every Friday on Channel 4. Tonight's is a corker. It's the day of baby Ian's Christening. Will Mark (David Mitchell) and Jeremy (Robert Webb) get there in time? Well, no... They are trapped in the air-locked corridor of Jez's love interest Zahra's apartment block with no obvious way to escape. Farce ensues, while the hilarious friction between the two main characters once again reveals the brilliance of Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong's scriptwriting.

Now in its seventh series, Peep Show is officially Channel 4's longest-running sitcom. It's also one of its best, although a brisk scan of my brain archive reveals that it doesn't have much competition. If you discount US imports such as Cheers, in 2 years Channel 4 has broadcast few outstanding sitcoms: Father Ted, Spaced and, at a push, Phoenix Nights and Black Books are the only ones that spring to mind. Still, that's five more than BBC3 will ever produce in twice that time.

In any case, this comedy about two dysfunctional, co-dependent losers is assured of its place in the pantheon. And if the last couple of series haven't felt quite as consistent as before, that's only because the standard set by writers Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain was so high in its earlier years. But a variable Peep Show is still funnier than most other British sitcoms of recent times.

The latest series began with Mark (David Mitchell) and Jez (Robert Webb) anxiously awaiting the birth of Mark's first child. Correction: Jez wasn't remotely anxious, as is befitting of a feckless, immature, amoral idiot whose only concerns are for himself.

As the hopelessly neurotic Mark fretted over his role in the birthing process, Jez occupied himself with chatting up an attractive woman whose partner lay in a coma: a typically black subplot, just as it was when Seinfeld used it first in 1992. Let's charitably assume that it was unconscious theft on the writers' part.

Though still enjoyable as always, this wasn't the funniest Peep Show episode by any means. Some of Mark's inner monologues felt laboured to the point of self-parody, although his out-of-body fleeing from the hospital was an undoubted highlight.

I was also surprised and warmed by the poignant final moments, where Mark and Jez shared a rare moment of mutual happiness over the birth. It was all the more effective for being so atypical of the series.

In terms of performance, Mitchell and Webb continue to excel in roles they must know intimately by now. Webb in particular gets laughs with his innately amusing facial expressions alone. For all its deserved reputation as a sharply dialogue-orientated comedy, Peep Show remains an ideal vehicle for his clownish physicality.