Tamsin Greig

It was a slight surprise whenthis transatlantic sitcom was recommissioned for a second series. It had a clever enough concept. British screenwriters Sean and Beverly Lincoln (Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig) were excited to see their successful television show snapped up to be remade for an American audience. However, their Hollywood dream turned sour when their subtle comedy about a boarding school headmaster, Lyman's Boys, was turned into a brash sitcom about an ice hockey coach called Pucks!, a vehicle for former Friends star Matt LeBlanc (playing an exaggerated version of himself).

It was smartly written and beautifully played but not the broadest of subjects, perhaps too knowingly in-jokey, and duly saw its audience fall to just over one million. Still, critical acclaim and the calibre of its stars has seen Episodes return for another run. It's four months later and Bev's still separated from Sean after her fling with Matt. The two men's friendship also seems unsalvageable. However, when Pucks! gets its premiere on US TV, the tense trio must find a way of working together. With genuine laughs, bittersweet moments and two rather rude scenes, Episodes might now be hitting its stride.

Video: Stephen Mangan on the real Matt LeBlanc

Actor Stephen Mangan has told BBC Breakfast he expected his Episodes co-star Matt LeBlanc to be a "monster" but he insists Matt LeBlanc is "really nice".

Former Friends actor LeBlanc is back for a second season as himself in the TV series alongside Mangan and Tamsin Greig.

Mangan says it is hard to tell the actor apart from the character in the show, especially with the insights from former friends writer David Crane - who now writes for Episodes.

Did you stick with the first series of this show-within-a-show starring Matt LeBlanc, Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan? No, neither did I, although apparently it got better. This is the second season and it begins with the "prem-eer", as the Americans would have it, of Pucks! amid all the off-screen drama of Bev (Greig) having bonked the big US star. Sean (Mangan) reads out the first-night reviews, typical of which is: "I was totally prepared to hate Pucks! Well, the good news is I was prepared." That's pretty funny, as is "Pucks! sucks. LeBlanc shoots le blank", so maybe Episodes doesn't suck after all. Then the ratings come in: they're great. "No 1 show of the night," smirks LeBlanc. "This is gonna kill Schwimmer." But can the husband-and-wife writing team continue on a business-only footing?

We feel that this US/UK comedy-drama got a bit of an unfair reception first time round - it may have taken a little while, but Episodes grew more confident as it went on, and by the time the first series ended, it was firing on all cylinders. We're certainly glad to see it back - series two picks up four months after Beverly (Tamsin Greig) slept with Matt LeBlanc (the man himself) and that fight. Pucks is about to launch on US TV, but relations are frosty between the show's star and its creators. Will Matt's particular brand of charm win Beverly and Sean (Stephen Mangan) round?

Did you stick with the first series of this show-within-a-show starring Matt LeBlanc, Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan? No, neither did I, although apparently it got better. This is the second season and it begins with the "prem-eer", as the Americans would have it, of Pucks! amid all the off-screen drama of Bev (Greig) having bonked the big US star. Sean (Mangan) reads out the first-night reviews, typical of which is: "I was totally prepared to hate Pucks! Well, the good news is I was prepared." That's pretty funny, as is "Pucks! sucks. LeBlanc shoots le blank", so maybe Episodes doesn't suck after all. Then the ratings come in: they're great. "No 1 show of the night," smirks LeBlanc. "This is gonna kill Schwimmer." But can the husband-and-wife writing team continue on a business-only footing?

Episodes cast interview

Friends and Joey star Matt LeBlanc, Dirk Gently's Stephen Mangan and White Heat's Tamsin Greig are back for a second series of the Brits-in-Hollywood sitcom Episodes.

Episodes actress Tamsin Greig has revealed why she has given up on Hollywood - she looks too old.

The 45-year-old star of movie Tamara Drewe told how in LA women are not expected to grow old gracefully. She said: "I know I don't fit in LA because I look my age."

She revealed that she would not be tempted to go under the knife and is happy to "look pretty horrendous" when the part calls for it.

A satire on TV production, specifically when hit British comedies get remade into terrible US remakes, Episodes was a leaden and unfunny misfire on most levels. There were performances from Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig (as a British screenwriting couple trying to keep their principles in the face of adversity), with a fairly amusing turn from Friends' Matt Le Blanc playing "himself", but it simply wasn't enjoyable to watch all the way through. It limped along after a poor start, with perhaps two episodes that actually rose to an acceptable quality level, which isn't enough. Given the talent involved and subject-matter that felt like it could have something to say about Anglo-American cultural differences, Episodes was one of this year's bigger disappointments to me. A comedy that had its handful of targets in mind, and bludgeoned them over and over, week after week...

Gemma Arterton, in saucy hotpants, returns to her native Dorset village to wreak emotional havoc on the local menfolk, in Stephen Frears's take on Posy Simmons's update of Far From the Madding Crowd. It's diverting enough as tragi-comic Aga-saga soap, but Tamsin Greig is superb as a novelist's wife who runs a writers' rural retreat.

Now in their 21st year, the British Comedy Awards have long served as a bellwether for the state of British comedy, from the quirky satire of the early 1990s, through the energetic sketch shows of the mid- to late-90s, to the recent success of family-friendly stand-up comics like Peter Kay, Michael McIntyre and John Bishop. Thanks to a sharp host, a ready supply of funny clips and a suitably witty audience, they've also been one of the few live awards ceremonies actually worth watching.

Tonight's event is hosted live by Jonathan Ross. Leading the nominees is Miranda Hart, who is up for four awards, while Harry Hill gets three nods. Hart, last year's Queen of Comedy winner, is up for the award again, with David Mitchell, Telegraph agony uncle Graham Norton, Jack Whitehall, Jo Brand and Sarah Millican also in the running. Tamsin Greig and Tom Rosenthal are nominated for best TV comedy actress and best comedy breakthrough artist respectively for their roles in Friday Night Dinner, while Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner have been singled out for their contribution to Outnumbered. Downton Abbey's Hugh Bonneville receives a nomination for his role in the Olympic comedy Twenty Twelve.