Sean Maguire

If you like your comedy very silly and rude then make sure you give this a try. It's a sword-and-sorcery spoof starring ex-EastEnder Sean Maguire as Krod, the vain leader of a completely useless band of rebels. There's his girlfriend who uses sex as a weapon, a sorcerer who can't do magic and a very clumsy servant. But the star of the show is Matt Lucas as Krod's enemy, the evil Dongalor.

I don't know what to make of Krod Mandoon - but it doesn't matter, because Sean Maguire looks absolutely amazing. I haven't been keeping a close eye on his career lately and I realise now that this was a mistake.

After EastEnders he went off to become a pop star and mope about in Dangerfield before becoming massive - in every sense - enjoying a successful TV career in the States and bulking up for movie spoof Meet The Spartans. All I can say is - wow! - in a professional sense, of course.

Krod Mandoon - also starring Matt Lucas as evil Chancellor Dongalor - is a medieval spoof. A bit Robin Hood, a bit Blackadder, a bit Shrek, a bit Monty Python And The Holy Grail - although sadly with much, much weaker jokes. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise as it was written by Peter Knight, whose CV includes something called Big Wolf On Campus. What is a surprise though is that the best thing about it is Maguire, who stars as the extremely buff, sword-carrying freedom fighter Krod Mandoon.

Just to underline the cheesiness of it all, he plays it with a flawless American accent, and his girlfriend, pagan warrior Aneka (India de Beaufort) will definitely get the guy vote too. You'll love it or hate it, but you'll be driven mad trying to work out who's under the pageboy bob of Chancellor Dongalor's henchman. Take a bow Holby City's snide (and bald) anaesthetist Keith Greene (Alex MacQueen).

Sean Maguire Interview

Sean Maguire chats about breaking the States, working with Matt Lucas and smacking himself with a flaming sword...

Sean Maguire, last seen in 300 spoof Meet The Spartans, rolls out his splendid torso again for this good-looking TV series parodying ancient times. Now we're in the realm of the Meconian Empire and he's a freedom fighter trying to vanquish evil Chancellor Dongalor (Matt Lucas) before he figures out how to work a baffling weapon of mass destruction called the Eye of Gulga Grymna. Maguire is on good form but the rotund, baby-faced Lucas steals the show; he's contrary, powerful, bloodthirsty, ridiculously attired - and clearly loving every minute of it.

Thumb up or thumb down? I'm going to be really courageous and go with a... thumb sideways.

There's definitely some funny stuff here, but not nearly enough; also, some first-rate comic actors, too, like Matt Lucas (Little Britain USA) and Sean Maguire - he's Krod - is good here too. It's a nearly-all-Brit cast, and as you know, the Brits do genre satire better 'n anyone else in the solar system... the holy grail being Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

As mentioned, Matt Lucas as the evil Chancellor Dongalor is the standout; also good, Philly comic Kevin Hart as hapless magician Zezelryck.

But the series needs to be funnier, much funnier. Maybe in time...

Despite its glorious title, Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire, this new fantasy-comedy series is unfortunately not that funny. For starters, the title character is an American even though he played by a real-life British hunk (Sean Maguire). This bothers me. British actors have a tendency to get a little cheesy when morphing into Americans.

I see the most potential with Chancellor Dungalor because Lucas is a winner. His inflection in itself is hilarious. Don't get me wrong; there were moments where I laughed. But Krod Mandoon seems to dumb everything down too much; the writing in general needs improvement. The incessant arguing between Aneka and Krod is tiresome. And I want better lines for Lucas. And Krod, while they're at it. Sometimes I wonder if Maguire is a little too over-the-top and off with timing.

Here's the deal: it's trying to be Monty Python silly but it's not coming across. Later episodes have some funny moments that could keep me watching, and you do have to allow shows to grow. There's potential here - I just hope they're not targeting a 13 year-old boy demographic ... and nobody else.

Sean Maguire Interview

An interview with Sean Maguire, who plays the title role of Krod.