Parents

Lloyd Woolf interview

He almost became an actor. But TV writer Lloyd Woolf says he is more than happy with his new line of work.

Last in the series of this adorable sitcom starring Sally Phillips and the venerable Tom Conti. Jenny applies for a job at the local surgery, meaning that the family could finally be on their way back to independence from her parents. Becky gets a little over-excited and starts booking viewings with estate agents to look at posh, modernist flats with sleep pods and espresso taps in the kitchen. The whole thing has been beautifully written with a lightness of touch not seen since the last series of Rev. Let's hope there's more to come.

More family hijinks in this above-average comedy drama about a family of four who are forced to move in with the grandparents. Mother Jenny (the excellent Sally Phillips) gets into a spot of bother when she smokes an old cigarette she finds and leaves the butt in the garden - prompting grandmother Alma (Susie Blake) to blame teenager Becky (Jadie Rose Hobson).

A very enjoyable family sitcom that's already my favourite Sky comedy. Good performances, regular laughs, and a very pleasant atmosphere. It's nothing radical that I'm desperate for others to discover, but it's a nice half-hour of easygoing laughs and the occasional twist of emotion. Maybe the conceptual joke of a career-minded mum being forced to move back in with her old-fashioned parents, family in tow, will start to flag after awhile... but for now, this is working a treat.

The sitcom about "boomerang children" - adults who move back in with their parents - continues. When Jenny (Sally Phillips) stumbles across an old diary from her school days, feelings of resentment towards her mother Alma (Susie Blake) resurface. In a fit of 25-year-late teenage rebellion, she smokes a fossilised cigarette she finds inside the diary. Elsewhere, there are suspicions of an extra-marital affair.

Is it big and broad? Is it light and well observed? Sky's intergenerational sitcom is a bit
of both and the mix makes for a frustrating watch - one of those comedies you're willing to succeed instead of just enjoying.

The premise is a winner: when Jenny Pope (Sally Phillips) loses her London job, she and her family are forced to move in with her parents in parochial Kettering, Northamptonshire. Tom Conti adds a touch of class as her dad, but there are glaring lapses. At the climax of tonight's episode a blast of Adele signals that we've hit a plot point calling for Real Emotion. The crunch of gears could make your eyes water.

Review: Parents (Sky1)

Above all else, I laughed throughout Parents. Quite a few times, to be fair. Even if the jokes weren't particularly good, the performances made them work.

Parents review

The only downside of Parents? There's only 6 episodes, however I'm sure it won't be long before it's recommissioned and the second series airs.

Parents review: Sky hits gold with austerity comedy

This mix of wise-cracking youngsters, exasperated middle-agers and hip pensioners has become very en vogue of late but Sky have worked a good angle with all the old-timers treat everyone else like children. Coupled with a good script, it works.