Pete Versus Life

I'm not sure about Rafe Spall. There's surprisingly little ­difference between the way he plays shallow, self-interested, pathological liar Pete to the way he played the psychotic Jay Wratten in The Shadow Line.

So you might be a little concerned tonight as series two starts with Pete applying for a job as a dog walker.

After the cat-drowning incident in The Shadow Line, Spall's track record with pets is nothing to write home about.

It's not clear what's ­actually become of Pete's ambitions of being a sports journalist, but all that matters is that Colin and Terry are still on board to analyse his every move.

This week they're in the commentary box as Pete clumsily tackles his parents' new cleaner - a Polish art student who's not quite the heavenly Catholic girl that Pete's mum fondly imagines her to be.

This lightweight slacker comedy seems a world away from quality thriller The Shadow Line, in which Rafe Spall proved his acting chops as a psychopath. Still, it's a worthwhile watch and for the opening episode of this second series we have Spall's struggling sports journalist, Pete, crash from one ludicrous scenario to another as he tries to impress a Polish cleaner, while commentators Colin and Terry provide accompanying analysis and stats.

This laddish comedy starring Rafe Spall as hapless, struggling sports journalist Pete is back for a second series. It's improved. We're still bombarded by half-baked satirical commentary from the two boorish pundits who follow his every move. The rest of the script, however, is sharper and Spall's natural charm wins out over Pete's stupidity. In tonight's episode, Pete undertakes a disastrous stint as a dog walker. He also falls for foxy party girl Gracja (Jaleh Alp) - hired by his injured Mum (Sorcha Cusack) to help around the house.

With its rather awkward device of a sports anchorman and ex-footballer providing a running commentary on the life of sports journo and man-child Pete Griffiths (Rafe Spall), eyebrows were raised by some when this was commissioned for a second series. However, while it could still do without the sidebars and graphics that pop up, this is actually funny, and much of that is due to Spall. Here, he has to eke out a supplementary living as a dog walker, with fatal consequences, while romance possibly beckons with his parents' new Polish home help, the "good Catholic girl" Gracja.

This sitcom came and went without much fuss in the summer. But even if you were put off by the gimmicky premise (two sports announcers give a running analysis on a young man's life) or the fact that star Rafe Spall looks like Olly Murs, it's worth investigating. Spall is likable as the bumbling titular twentysomething and the episodes all have good momentum - there are only five, so you can whip through the whole series and still have plenty of time left to visit those relatives you don't really care about.

So far, Rafe Spall has done a fine job of portraying the ferrety bunkup- and strong lager-driven world of Pete, and his battle with life's challenges, whether they be posh trainers, or marriages of convenience with overweight South African ladies. For the final episode, the utterly untrustworthy sports writer gets his first decent professional break. Trouble is, it comes through the auspices of one of his best mates, the thoroughly decent Ollie. And the catch is he must pretend to be in a relationship with Ollie's girlfriend. Surely nothing can go wrong?

This sitcom, in which a budding journalist's personal life is continually analysed by a pair of omniscient sport commentators, is clearly aimed at the Men Behaving Badly audience with its reliance on cringe-inducing humour. There are some punchy moments in this final episode of the series, though. Feckless Pete Griffiths (Rafe Spall, star of Desperate Romantics and son of Timothy) finally gets a sports writing job, but it's reliant on pretending to be in a relationship with his friend Ollie's girlfriend, who works for the same magazine. It's fun, even if the format is forced.

It's the last in the series of this wittily observed comedy and Pete's finally got his hands on a decent sports writing job. But, as always, there's a catch and he must pretend to be in a relationship with his best friend's girlfriend first. Not the funniest thing you'll see all year, but well worth half an hour of your time.

It's the last in the series tonight, with Pete brilliantly managing once again to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. This week he has managed to land himself a proper job as a sports writer but only by pretending to be going out with his best mate's girlfriend who works for the same company. And he's also supposed to be mixed-race - which, needless to say, comes as a surprise to his doting mum and dad.

After only five brief episodes we hope this isn't the last we've seen of Pete and his mates. The interjections of sports commentators Colin King and Terry McIlroy (Simon Greenall and Ian Kirby) have provided a fresh twist on the sitcom format and we would welcome a rematch any time.