Spy

Darren Boyd & Rebekah Staton interview

Darren Boyd and Rebekah Staton talk to TV Choice ahead of Series 2...

The season closes on one of the better of Sky's new comedies, the Spook spoof Spy, which features former Green Wing actor Darren Boyd as hapless loser Tim, who has somehow managed to land a job at MI5. Tonight's closer finds Tim receiving two intriguing offers from his boss, The Examiner (Robert Lindsay), while also facing a custody hearing over his son.

For a series called Spy, there's precious little actual spying going on in this sitcom - unless you count its trademark camera trick of having characters suddenly appear out of thin air.

But there's something quite heroic about the way the performances stretch to cover the gaps in logic.

Jude Wright, who plays Tim's precocious son Marcus, continues to get all the best scenes but the sheer number of scenes featuring school-kids is starting to make me think this show should really be pitched at the Horrible Histories generation.

Take out all the sex and drugs and Spy would be the perfect comedy for any discerning nine-year-old.

Review: Spy, 1.4 - "Codename: Bookclub"

It's still lame and ill-conceived on so many levels, but I hope someone recognises Jude Wright's skills as a young actor and gives him a sitcom to headline.

Review: Spy, 1.3 - "Codename: Grades"

I'm a glutton for punishment, you might say, but I'm fascinated by terrible shows that other people seem to like. Or perhaps just tolerate better because their tastes are "peculiar", don't care to see how something can be improved, or don't notice the many mistakes it's making. Spy's third episode was certainly the best of the bunch-so it's improving every week, which is something to be grateful for.

Ex-computer salesman turned accidental spy Tim finds his luck is in this week when The Examiner trains the new spies on hacking. Tim's knowledge of basic computing marks him out as the class Top Gun, but unfortunately basic computing is as far as his "expertise" goes. He also manages to get himself into strife with his son when he doctors his school records, downgrading the precocious little tyke as revenge. Spy performs some reliably familiar comedy moves but it's all held together nicely by Darren Boyd's likable turn as Tim, who's only the lead in this show because his character is marginally less stupid than those around him.

Review: Spy, 1.2 - "Codename: Tramp"

Vaguely better than the awful premiere, but that's strangely because most of episode 2 didn't have anything to do with the actual spy conceit.

Darren Boyd was super as John Cleese in Holy Flying Circus on Wednesday but he makes less of an impact here as the single dad accidentally recruited by MI5. Today is his first day in the office, but his training mission - retrieve a red bag from some scaffolding - is scuppered by an unexpected source. This is more worth catching for Rebekah 'Pulling' Staton's ambitious secret agent, Caitlin, who is becoming something of a show-stealer.