Steve Speirs

TV preview: Upstart Crow, Series Three, BBC2

David Mitchell returns as aspiring playwright/superstar William Shakespeare in Ben Elton's return-to-form sitcom. I say return-to-form with a couple of caveats.

New comedy Rovers sees the reunion of Royle Family members Craig Cash and Sue Johnston. Cash stars in the role of Pete Moat a die-hard fan of non-league football team Redbridge Rovers and a man who is part of a motley crew of supporters who huddle together in the team's clubhouse. Among them is his best friend Tel (Steve Spiers) who recently came out as gay and now Pete has to share him with super-stylish boyfriend Mel (Seb Cardinal). Then there's twin brothers Bruce and Lee (writers David Earl and Joe Wilkinson) who enjoy winding Pete up and the brilliant Ronnie (Mark Silcox) who runs Redbridge Rovers' very meagre club shop. Overseeing everything is Doreen (Johnston) the queen of the clubhouse who offers up pints alongside salubrious gossip about the team's captain. As well as playing Pete, Cash also serves as director as he has done on previous Sky sitcoms After Hours and The Cafe with Rovers sharing the gentle vibe that both of those comedies offered. Rovers is particularly reminiscent of The Cafe as it is set almost exclusively in one venue and features a variety of colourful characters having fairly mundane conversations with one another. Earl and Wilkinson's script is extremely anecdotal and at times is too low-key for its own good. I feel where it works the most is when the characters are discussing their love of the football team and what it would be like to get to the heady heights of the Evo-Stick Premier League. The small scale nature of the club shop was also a nice little running gag which was aided by Silcox's performance as the deadpan Ronnie. I do feel it's too early to judge whether Rovers will be a success or a failure especially seeing as Earl and Wilkinson had to introduce a cavalcade of characters in one fell swoop. But although there were some funny moments nestled within Rovers I have to say that there wasn't really one character who I wanted to root for. Whilst I'm assuming that Pete is meant to be the character we sympathise with his jealousy towards Mel coupled with his astounding stupidity meant that he was hard to warm to. It also didn't help that Craig Cash was essentially playing the same character we've seen him portray in both The Royle Family and Early Doors. In fact everyone from Johnston to Wilkinson to Spiers was playing a similar version of characters we've seen them play in superior shows which made Rovers feel a little low rent. So, while it's not without its charm, I feel Rovers is destined to nestle in the second division of British sitcoms and will never be promoted to the premier league.

Rovers: warm-hearted comedy with shades of Royle Family

Cash's work in the late Nineties paved the way for the success of Peter Kay's more raucous Phoenix Nights and subsequent sitcoms. The triumph of the recent Car Share might have reignited interest in warm-hearted comedy, but, at the moment, Rovers feels too mild. Yet character comedy such as this requires a long acquaintance - by the end of the run, we may have fallen in love with the gentle dreamers of the Redbridge Rovers' Clubhouse.

Rovers, Sky1, review

Lo-fi football sitcom starring Craig Cash and Sue Johnston has its heart in the right place.

Rovers review

Nothing much happens of note in this world, and it's the comedy of contented smiles rather than gut-busing belly laughs. But Rovers is warmly amusing throughout, with a strong whiff of authenticity and characters you like spending time with. "Everyone's really nice, aren't they?" says Sam after meeting the tiny fan club. Yep, Sam, they are.