Fresh Meat

Series two of the excellent student comedy comes to a close as the end of the academic year approaches and the housemates face big decisions regarding the future. With Oregon's (Charlotte Ritchie) past sins about to catch up with her, Kingsley (Joe Thomas) determined to move out, a shock revelation about Howard (Greg McHugh), and an oinking new cast member - it's no wonder JP (Jack Whitehall) is worried that his dream of domestic bliss is about to crumble forever.

With the academic year (and series two) coming to a close, it's decision time for the Rusholme Rat Pack. Should Kingsley move into a shoebox-sized flat with Heather? Should Howard be taking so much work home with him after Sabine's revelation? Can Oregon finally tell Dylan the truth? Will Josie finally grasp that maybe dentistry isn't for her? And, most mind-bogglingly of all, is JP really the voice of reason for once? Truly, these are the End Times. At least until series three.

No sign of a slump for Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain's student sitcom, which concludes this week. Quite the opposite, in fact: the gags have been sharper, the characterisation stronger and the few missteps of the first series - Howard's shift from singular oddball to cliched geek, for example - have been corrected. It's up on 4OD until forever for your delectation.

Fresh Meat series 2 episode 7 review

Watching this episode, I noticed Joe Thomas miming along to Blur guitarist Graham Coxon's vocals. The disconnect between what I was seeing and hearing was as jarring as the inconsistencies littered all the way through. Every half decent moment is lost in the mire of half-formed ideas and lazy structuring.

The housemates are on glorious form this week as various long-running storylines build nicely. It's one of the joys of Fresh Meat that it doesn't only do zinging comedy; it also makes us buy into series-long plotlines such as Josie's slow, sad disintegration (which takes a turn for the worse tonight: "She's on the last train to Smackville" is Vod's assessment).

Meanwhile, Oregon still hasn't levelled with Dylan about her previous affair with his dad, leading to a hilariously awkward lunch. But it's Oregon's musical talents that set the episode alight.

Heather enters Kingsley for a gig night where he can debut his prog dirge The Implodium Implodes (in fact written, the credits tell us, by Graham Coxon from Blur!) and Oregon offers to join him as vocalist. It turns out the girl can sing.

Much as it did last series, Fresh Meat is beginning to display a heart to match its humour as it approaches the end. Tonight, Josie's brittleness and denial comes to a head - university is over for her and it's not certain how she'll handle this disturbing fact. And once again, JP makes a terrible decision based on his inability to say no to the awful Ralph and reveals some genuine vulnerability along the way. Still, light relief is at hand in the shape of Kingsley's songwriting which gets a first public airing tonight. Look out for an opus called The Implodium Implodes and shudder at the horror of a university open mic night. Oh, and Vod kills a storied American poet, much to Shales's eventual delight. This series has felt a little directionless at times but it shows every sign being able to manage a strong finish.

Has Fresh Meat's second series surpassed its first?

The Channel 4 comedy show has delivered a masterclass in how to follow up a successful first series. Downtown Abbey and Homeland creators take note.

I know Fresh Meat didn't start out as a rom-com and writers Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong still might be horrified to find their creation described as such. But that is undoubtedly what it has become, albeit in a very street-smart, sharp and funny way. It's amazing how many rom-coms forget to add the com part.

But if it was the humour that initially caught people's attention, it has long since become just one element in a show of increasing depth. Much as I admired the performances of Derek Jacobi, Anne Reid et al in Last Tango, I wasn't greatly involved with their characters and I wasn't at all put out when their hour was up. With Fresh Meat, I am. I feel a sense of loss when the closing credits roll. I've come to care about these people. I love the way they move from the deadly serious to the totally absurd mid-sentence, in the way only university students can. I love the awkwardness of their relationships. Or rather, entanglements.

As JP - his Stowe chums call him JPaedo, but be careful what you tweet - Jack Whitehall is in danger of making posh boys sympathetic and Josie's attempts to make the housemates believe she hasn't been kicked off the course were becoming more and more poignant. Only Vod could imagine Josie must have acquired a smack habit. Don't ever change, Vod. Nor you, Kingsley and Oregon. And as for Howard ...? How could Sabine have gone back to Holland?

Even the minor characters - the geology lecturer excepted - are well drawn. Professor Shales (Tony Gardner), Oregon's ex - she has now got off with his son - is a case in point. As John, the slightly seedy man having a midlife crisis in Last Tango, Gardner was fairly one-dimensional: as Shales, the slightly seedy man having a midlife crisis, his desperate sadness is almost touching. Almost. When rom-coms are this good, what's not to love?

Glory of glories, we finally get to hear Kingsley's music tonight, as his girlfriend pressures him into trying out an open-mic night. Unfortunately, his sub-Radiohead stylings are undermined by a strange thing he insists on doing with his neck. Meanwhile, Oregon reveals a surprisingly tuneful aptitude and Kingsley invites her to join forces with him, despite her singer-songwritery warblings being at odds with his own morose style. Elsewhere, Josie keeps up the pretence of going to her seminars each day, though on-street sightings of her lead the house to the wrong conclusion.