Stanley Park

Stanley Park clearly aspires to the E4 mould of teenage comedy like The Inbetweeners and Misfits. Though Morwenna Banks plays a mum, as in Skins, these are not the angst-ridden, articulate youths of that show, but more gormless, ordinary adolescents who snog people at the swing park and argue about Twitter.

It's hard to sum up the premise and the plot didn't seem to have much scope, as confident, doll-faced Debbie who believes that she's sex on legs got off with the virginal twit that her more gothic friend liked. The characters seem to have more going on than could be fitted in here, perhaps because they originate from a stage play. There were some funny lines though: when the boy's parents walked in on him and Debbie, who had been snacking on crisps during underwhelming kitchen sex, his mum wailed: "I've just had that table varnished... wait, are those my chargrilled chicken crinkles?" "I couldn't help myself, they were more-ish," shrugged the vamp.

Having had her own fine sitcom, Pulling, pulled by BBC3 for being too old for the channel's demographic, poor Sharon Horgan has had insult added to injury by being cast as the past-it, lonely auntie. Ouch.

Stanley Park review

Stanley Park is another of those wannabe-hip BBC3 comedies that think being relevant to teenagers just means including sex scenes and references to Facebook and Twitter. The sad thing is, they might be right. So if you're a 17-year-old nymphomaniac with calloused thumbs from tapping away on an iPhone all day, Stanley Park's the show for you.

Last Night's TV: Stanley Park, BBC3

Goodness, pilot season is fun.

This one-off comedy zooms in on the misadventures of three Croydon teenagers - Dirty Debbie, who's writing an erotic novel, Bent Ben, who loves Beyoncé, and Raggedy Ann, an "emo poet" who recites Lindsay Lohan disses on the swings. When it focuses on the kids, it feels a little Skins-lite, and the street talk is cringey - like, poking on Facebook, yeah? But there are smaller roles for Morwenna Banks and Sharon Horgan, who works the tragi-comedy angle well, and there's certainly some potential, if it gets picked up.

In the first of tonight's two BBC3 pilots, Leo Richardson's stage play transfers to the screen in a riot of txt speak, Lambrini and adolescent angst like a teenage Sex And The City set in the suburbs of Croydon.

Holliday Grainger plays the beautiful but slutty Dirty Debbie, whose scatter-gun approach to love wreaks havoc among her more sensitive friends and neighbours.

Among the grown-ups look out for Sharon Horgan, unrecognisable as Debbie's Auntie Pat, while the young cast are all eye-catching and plausible, like a walking manual to noughties etiquette. "I can't follow everyone who follows me (on Twitter)," complains the lovely Ben. "How would that look? That's like Facebook."

Sharon Horgan talks BBC pilot Stanley Park

Sharon Horgan is a comedian, writer and actor. She's best known for BBC Three's cult hit Pulling. You can next see her on screen in Stanley Park, in which she plays Aunty Pat.

Stanley Park - Pilot Episode Review

Overall Stanley Park delivered weighty emotional drama but kept its overall mood fairly cheery with plenty of subtle comedy.

Stanley Park writer introduces the show

Young creator Leo Richardson to tell us about writing the show and how it felt to adapt it for TV...