Zawe Ashton

Against her better judgment, Katherine (the excellent Zawe Ashton) helps department head Danny out of a pickle after he emerges from a sturdy and comprehensive bender with Angela to a looming grilling from the minister about what he's been up to, work-wise, for the past year. Meanwhile, a drinks do welcoming Katherine and Nat to the department turns out to be ill-timed, particularly after she reveals a shocking secret to Anthony. A series straddling comedy and drama that is better than anything else around at the moment.

Comparisons have been drawn between Not Safe For Work and The Office, and W1A, even The Thick Of It. But I tend to think the roots of this workplace comedy-drama extend even Britishly further, to Lucky Jim, and to Billy Liar. It is deeply, slowly, funny. Zawe Ashton (Fresh Meat) is rightly the star, but may be show-stolen by her old nemesis Danny, the fake Muslim, and perhaps the least appealing fictional character to have hit our screens since they had to make up George Osborne. It's triffic.

Zawe Ashton shines in this promising comedy drama

I think it'll be interesting to see where DC Moore takes the programme now that he's established the main characters, and there's definitely enough intrigue for me to stick with the show for another episode.

Centred on the savvy, straight-talking Katherine (Zawe Ashton), who, to her dismay, is reshuffled to her workplace's Northampton outpost, this first TV series from playwright D. C. Moore hovers uncomfortably between comedy and drama for much of its opener. Katherine's new trope-based colleagues - from the non-London bumpkins to her ketamine-addled boss - are as cartoonish as you'd find in any sitcom, yet as an ulterior story about Katherine's previous life slowly surfaces, this transforms into a refreshing and substantial drama.

By the end of the first episode, NSFW (as the kids will call it) definitely seems like it's got the potential to be a strong comedy addition for Channel 4. And it's in good time too, after the end of Paul Abbott's sizzlingly brilliant No Offence last week.

The idea behind this show is that everyone has three parts to their life - work, social life and love. We can survive if two are dire, but what happens when all three go down the pan?

With Zawe Ashton, one of the stand-out stars of Fresh Meat, giving a strong comic performance, this six-parter looks set to have us in hysterics.

Zawe Ashton on her role in Not Safe For Work

"The emotional journey does belong to a woman and I thought that was something I hadn't read for a long time... That's what felt so refreshing and exciting when I read the script."

Zawe Ashton interview

The actress is moving on from Fresh Meat with a starring role in Channel 4's comedy drama Not Safe for Work.

After playing one of TV's most vivid characters - the cool/cruel student Vod in Fresh Meat - Zawe Ashton had earned the chance of a leading role in this highly anticipated six-parter by promising dramatist DC Moore. The recession-sensitive plot has Ashton as one of a group of civil servants unwillingly relocated from London to Northampton as part of government cuts who are finding that money and love are no easier in the provinces.

After it became one of my favourite programmes of last year, I was a little disappointed by the first episode of this series of Fresh Meat. I personally felt that there was far too much of a focus on JP, who's need to find a sexual partner made the character feel fairly one-dimensional. Additionally, Josie and Kingsley's relationship woes seem a little tired and I'm a bit fed up of this story that's been continuing since series one.

Luckily, the character of Howard seems to be heading in a new direction after finding a potential partner in the attractive Sam (Hannah Britland).

Once again, it was up to Zawe Ashton to provide the laughs as Vod's lost in translation romance was the highlight of the episode for me. The introduction of a new housemate, the home-schooled Candice (Faye Marsay), offered up some new comic possibilities and it seemed she'd been fully integrated into the group by the end of the first episode after being introduced to the wonders of cocaine by Vod.

While this first episode may not have been of the quality that I expect from Fresh Meat, it was still head and shoulders above most of the comedies that TV has offered us this year.