Sophia Di Martino

Radio Times review

Within minutes of the start, Robert Popper's sitcom has contrived to get eccentric dad Martin covered in ketchup, half naked and shaking hands with his son's new girlfriend while his foot is in a toilet bowl.

This kind of wince-making farce is what Popper is good at. The confines of a sitcom where the one setting is a Jewish suburban home and the time frame is limited to the meal of the title only serves to boost his powers of invention.

Martin (Paul Ritter) is a consistently awful but just-recognisable creation. "Has anyone in your family been murdered?" is his idea of small talk with Adam's girlfriend, but he later concludes, "That Emma's a smashing female." (She is beautifully played by Sophia Di Martino, barely recognisable from her Casualty days.)

Ordinarily the comedy revolves around Adam and his brother Johnny's sparring but here Adam manages to sabotage his date himself, with just a little help from an eight-year-old neighbour. The laughs are excruciating, but they're big and real.

David Butcher, Radio Times, 20th June 2014

After something of a hiatus (the last series screened in 2012) we're back at the North London home of the bickering Goodman family for more middle-class Jewish mayhem. Writer and producer Robert Popper's sitcom may have a modest canvas - it rarely strays beyond its four suburban walls and plot development is minimal - but the show packs plenty of colourful farce into its frantic half-hour slot.

The opener of tonight's third run is no exception, hinging on a premise rife with comic opportunity. Eldest son Adam (Simon Bird) is bringing his new girlfriend Emma (Sophia Di Martino) round for dinner. As expected Mum (Tamsin Greig) has an eye on marriage potential, brother Jonny (Tom Rosenthal) sets out to embarrass and Dad (Paul Ritter) makes no attempt to curb his eccentricities.

Whilst the family dynamics are sharply observed and pleasingly quirky, this is soft-centred, amiable stuff bolstered by some top-notch performances. Ritter, as ever, is superb as shamelessly shirtless Martin, imbuing the character's oddities with pathos. A witty Di Martino also stands out, sweetly unfazed by the chaotic clan she's been invited into.

One-liners are thin on the ground but Popper's real skill is in his structuring, pulling together the episode's separate comic strands into a satisfying, climactic whole. There's no breaking new ground here and a fourth series might stretch things too far, but for now the Goodmans are still worth spending part of your evening with.

The Telegraph, 20th June 2014

Tonight, on top of the increasingly good main cast, we get a gift-box of guest stars: Keith Allen, Kevin Eldon and Phil Cornwell all drop by - enough comic talent to power a series on their own. Allen plays a mad comedy farmer (with shotgun and ukulele) in whose field our bunch of friends go to camp. And as his saucy daughter, it's a barely recognisable Sophia Di Martino (Polly from Casualty). She coaxes Beggsy into an assignation in the hay-barn that could be a mistake.

Meanwhile, Glyn is on a promise with Julie, which in this sort of show means everything that can go wrong, will. It's lovably silly, knockabout farce and it puts a smile on your face.

David Butcher, Radio Times, 8th February 2013