Plus One

Episode 1.5 Review

"One Love" was bitterly disappointing in most respects. After a superb build-up over the past four weeks, this episode felt terribly rushed and painfully predictable.

It is always a relief to come across a comedy that is fun to watch. And bearing in mind how much gloom is spread by unfunny comedies, it is doubly sad that this is the last in the series. Rob (Daniel Mays) has decided to release the poison in his soul by ditching his plan to upstage his former girlfriend (Miranda Raison) on her wedding day. Until, that is, he meets a girl who is capable of doing the upstaging with a vengeance. She's a multi-millionairess and a former model with a PhD in biochemistry, whose father invented Toilet Duck. When she says she'd like to sleep with him, he can't believe his luck. His eyes widen. He gulps. "That would be really... kind," he says. But if something seems too good to be true, it often is.

If you're a fan of Duncan from Blue, you'll absolutely love this episode. And if you can't stand the ice-skating b*****d (as this show likes to call him) then you'll probably enjoy it even more. Talk about a win-win situation.

It's the end of the sitcom based on the unlikely premise of a bloke trying to find an impressive enough date to take to the wedding of his ex-girlfriend who's dumped him for Duncan James. It's taken him five disaster-prone weeks, but, against all the odds, tonight it looks like Rob (Daniel Mays) has finally managed to pull it off when he meets Astrid, an honest to goodness blonde goddess.

An absolutely unforgettable wedding also features a great cameo from T4 hunk Steve Jones and an all-too-brief glimpse of the very lovely and very funny Nigel Harman. Even if you've not seen the rest of the series, make a date with this one.

We've thoroughly enjoyed Rob's doomed efforts, as well as Nigel Harman's turn as his knuckle-headed brother.

Episode 1.4 Review

The concept could easily run out of steam any second, but for now Plus One's doing a good job keeping itself alive.

Applause for Rob - no matter how badly he fails to land an amazing date for his ex's wedding to Duncan from Blue, he's ready to launch another devious plot. In reality, he'd be better sitting at home smacking a frying pan in his face, because his new ploy to snare Lisa 'Strictly George Clooney' Snowdon is bound to flop badly. Cheeky fun.

TV Review: Plus One

As a show, it does the job of passing 30 minutes, but really, there's not a great deal to love about it. There's simple solutions to all the problems which spiral out of control, but sadly, the whole thing feels a bit contrived.

Episode 1.3 Review

Oh, this is interesting: this probably the least funny episode of Plus One so far, but also its most compelling. A combination of winning performances and an unpredictable script glossed over a lack of belly-laughs; as it's just so enjoyable spending time with this bunch...

Episode 1.2 Review

Unlike last week's opener, this episode was less knotty when it came to engineering shocks, surprises and misunderstandings for Rob, which was good to see.

Dark and edgy is so last year, darling. New comedies must be warm, good-natured, a wee bit cuddly. They can still be silly, and surreal is good, but keep it basically nice, OK? Maybe the Government has been slipping something into the water supply or it's some strange collective reaction to the credit crunch, but Plus One is yet another sitcom featuring young people who are amiably daft. This week poor Rob Black (Daniel Mays) is still trying to find an impressive lady to be his 'plus one' at the wedding of his glamorous ex-girlfriend, Linsey (Miranda Raison) to the boy-band hunk Duncan from Blue.