Theo Barklem-Biggs

Sliced shows the real South East London

Samson Kayo's crazy experiences as a South London pizza delivery driver have been brought to the small screen in Sliced.

Royal Television Society, 10th May 2019

Before Crims aired on Thursday, several people had been tweeting about how good it was so my expectations were high. Imagine my disappointment then that this sitcom, set in a young offender's institute, was both clichéd and unfunny.

Crims' story focuses on mild-mannered Luke (Elis James) who finds himself locked up at Sunnybank View after unwittingly acting as the getaway driver for his girlfriend's dim-witted brother Jason (Kadiff Kirwan). I found it very hard to believe that Luke would be convicted alongside Jason and from then on things just got worse.

Nothing had been done to make the characters any different from those seen in previous prison comedies as we had the snitch, the inmate who could smuggle anything into the institution and of course Sunnybank's tough man Marcel (Theo Barklem-Biggs).

The jokes, if you can call them that, were repetitive at best, as Jason kept getting Luke into scrapes that meant he was always being beaten up or embarrassed in front of the guards.

I personally feel that the most annoying element of Crims was the character of Jason and in particular Kirwin's awful performance. Although Jason is meant to be a bit annoying, his manner is so irritating that you fail to believe that this sort of person actually exists.

At times I found myself winding the programme along just so I didn't have to watch another excruciating scene featuring one of the worst comedy characters in recent memory.

The presence of Ricky Champ, from the brilliant Him & Her, as the head guard just reminded me how good BBC Three sitcoms can be.

Whilst not as painful as Some Girls, Crims was still a hard show to sit through and I wonder why the usually reliable BBC Three took a punt on this rather annoying sitcom.

Matt Donnelly, The Custard TV, 11th January 2015