British Comedy Guide

Press clippings

Will Arnett to star in Murder In Successville remake

Will Arnett has secured the rights to adapt the BAFTA award-winning BBC Three series Murder In Successville.

Hollywood Reporter, 13th January 2022

The penultimate episode of a football comedy that struggles to penetrate. The team have a caretaker manager, and chairman Will Arnett reacts to their opening loss by organising a doomed meet-and-greet with fans. The new sports psychologist, meanwhile, is predictably incompetent.

Jack Seale, The Guardian, 25th June 2020

TV review: The First Team, series 1 episode 4

I've gone from being unimpressed with the show, to mildly hating it.

Alex Finch, Comedy To Watch, 18th June 2020

The First Team review

On paper, this pitchside sitcom should be an open goal - but it isn't quite there yet.

Nick Reilly, NME, 29th May 2020

The First Team review

Unlikely lads make this slow-burn sitcom not just for football fans.

Susannah Butter, Evening Standard, 28th May 2020

TV review: The First Team, BBC2

We might have to wait a bit longer for the real Premier League to start but you can get an early football fix with this new sitcom set in the world of soccer's top flight written by Inbetweeners writers Iain Morris and Damon Beesley. Although a word of warning if you are having really bad withdrawal symptoms, there is no actual football shown. This is pretty much a workplace comedy that happens to be set in the football world. Same shit, shinier cars.

Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 28th May 2020

Review: The First Team

The Inbetweeners rightly raised Iain Morris and Damon Beesley to the comedy nobility. But with The First Team - another examination of young male relationships - they've missed the goal, certainly judging by a relatively flat opening episode.

Steve Bennett, Chortle, 28th May 2020

The First Team - a football sitcom fit for relegation

This new comedy from the writers of The Inbetweeners boasts Will Arnett and trademark 'banter' - but there's only so long you can watch bored footballers playing Fifa.

Rebecca Sayce, The Guardian, 28th May 2020

The First Team, review: second division comedy

The German Bundesliga and reruns of classic matches have been trying valiantly to fill the football-shaped hole in our lives. Could new pitchside sitcom The First Team (BBC Two) further plug the gap? No, it couldn't. Viewers were left sick as a parrot, rather than over the moon, Clive.

Michael Hogan, The Telegraph, 28th May 2020

The First Team review: boys, balls and banter

Is The First Team football's answer to The Inbetweeners? Luckily for the BBC Two sitcom, yes it is.

Louisa Mellor, Den Of Geek, 28th May 2020

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