Will Smith (I)

Review: Greed

As one wonders how much this film overlaps with Coogan and Winterbottom's upcoming Trip To Greece in terms of inspiration, one also wonders if the actor is keeping a little powder dry for his future #MeToo comedy-drama with Solemani on Channel 4.

Jo Brand's Damned is back on our screens; a sitcom whose first series I watched but struggle to remember any memorable moments. Brand writes the show alongside co-star Morwenna Banks and The Thick of It's Will Smith whilst also starring as Rose; the hapless social worker who spends most of the episode dealing with a shoe soiled by her family's new puppy. This week's episode was based on a tip-off the team the received which saw Al (Alan Davies) investigate the case of a sex-worker who was seeing clients whilst her two children were in the house. Rose and Al believed her children were truanting although the investigation later revealed that Elena was working to put her kids through private school. This story was an involving one, especially the conclusion which saw Elena's children taken from her despite Al's belief that she was a good mother. However, it didn't fit in with an episode which also saw Rose dealing with dog faeces on her shoe and the newly-promoted Martin (Kevin Eldon) making vegan fudge for his colleagues which was predictably inedible. Unlike her previous caring-focused comedy Getting On, Brand struggles to incorporate the gags in Damned with the darker elements of the plot such as the investigation into Elena and her children. I think this is because the jokes are more obvious in Damned and it's almost as if Brand, Smith and Banks feel that they have to create lowest common denominator humour for the Channel 4 audience. This is a shame as Damned is a sitcom that I want to succeed as I like everyone involved and the subject matter is one that I'm interested in. Damned's best moment are the sequences where we hear the calls that the team at Elm Heath Children Services field on a daily basis. Meanwhile, the introduction of social work student Mimi (Lolly Adefope) provides another authentic subplot as Brand and company are able to demonstrate the disparity between her studies and the reality of children's services. The pursuit of Mimi by the office's oddball Nitin (Himesh Patel) also provides some humorous moments as he attempts to persuade boss Denise (Georgie Glen) then he should be Mimi's mentor, a plea that falls on deaf ears. Overall, the first episode of Damned's second series had its moments but I found that the obvious gags didn't gel with the darker nature of the central storyline. However, I'm going to keep watching as it's a comedy that never outstays its welcome and features likeable characters played by an ensemble cast of actors who I really like.

TV review, Damned, C4

Are sexual abuse and sex trafficking suitable subjects for comedy? My gut instinct would say no but the first episode of the second series of social worker comedy Damned somehow managed to incorporate these subjects and make serious points along with succesful jokes. The writers - Jo Brand, Morwenna Banks and Will Smith - and the cast - deserve full credit for going where few programmes fear to tread. Imagine Ken Loach collaborating with Ricky Gervais.

Damned: this gentle comedy is a rare gem

Damned is a rare achievement: noble in his depiction of human weakness, soaringly ambitious while trapped in humdrum surroundings, and deeply empathic in prising laughs from desperate circumstances.

TV preview, Damned

Human degradation was never so funny.

Damned is the third comedy drama in what could be termed Jo Brand's social/healthcare triptych (after Getting On, set in a geriatric hospital ward, and Going Forward, in which she appeared as care-home worker); Damned, in which she also stars, is set in a child protection social services unit.

Co-created with Morwenna Banks (who appears as co-worker Ingrid), Damned follows in Getting On and Going Forward's tracks by being low-key, dark-humoured and full of throwaway lines, but - on the evidence of last-night's opening episode (of six), has yet to reach the former's superb heights of pathos and bathos.

The opener was essentially an office comedy, with the social services aspect merely a faint hum in the background. The people staffing this department alongside Brand and Alan Davies as caring and care-worn social workers Rose and Al would be recognisable in any workplace; Ingrid, telling everyone about her upcoming hysterectomy, ditzy temp Nat (Isy Suttie) - "they call us interim workers now" - well-meaning busybody Martin (Kevin Eldon); office snitch Nitin (Himesh Patel) and manager Denise (Georgie Glen), fluent in management-speak, as she has been "tasked with" creating "streamlined cluster teams".

Add to the mix Aisling Bea's single mother, who has a stalkery crush on Al, and Rose's waste-of-space ex (Nick Hancock), and there are any number of permutations to be worked. The writers certainly nailed the irritations of office life - broken lifts and out-of-order loos, incomprehensible phone systems and smelly communal fridges - but there was very little in the way of social commentary or bittersweet comedy.

It's early days, though, and it could be that Brand, Banks and co-writer Will Smith are softening us up for some comedy with a real emotional punch, glimpses of which we saw only very late in the first episode, when Rose came into contact with an old flame, whose family is now mired in ill health and drug abuse. I certainly hope so as the performances, perhaps needless to say with such a talented cast, were wonderful.

TV review Damned, Channel 4

A very funny show, thanks to bravura performances from Jo Brand, Himesh Patel, Kevin Eldon and Isy Suttie.