The Wrong Door

I really enjoyed episode one but by this one (episode 5?) I think it's just all got a bit stale. Initally, seeing realistic-looking planes flap their wings was new and exciting, and CG monsters stamping London to bits looking for their keys was different. But seeing them yet again is... well, just not surprising any more. Ditto with a flock of buses migrating - they did it with scooters last week. Yawn. It proves how hard it is to get these repeated sketches right.

The Wrong Door Review

Every sketch show needs a hook. The Wrong Door's hook is that it makes use of CGI. There is no denying that some of the CGI in The Wrong Door is of a surprisingly high quality for a BBC Three sketch show. Sadly, the writing doesn't come up to the same standards.

The Wrong Door was advertised as a sketch show set in a parallel universe, but from the two episodes so far, it seems that in this new universe jokes do not exist. Instead, you have so-so CGI effects and the words 'cock' and 'piss' repeated at regular intervals.

Congratulations to BBC3 for bagging Non-Terrestrial Channel of the Year at the Edinburgh Festival TV Awards. I was going to say it was hard to begrudge the spiritual home of Gavin & Stacey the odd gong, but that was before I had to sit through The Wrong Door, the latest in a rapidly growing list of BBC3 comedy turkeys.

To give it some credit, The Wrong Door boasts some neat sci-fi special effects that wouldn't look out of place in Doctor Who. But fancy monsters and floaty fairies can't carry a show where eating dogs and peeing on people are substitutes for punchlines. Or am I missing something?

A dinosaur was the star turn of The Wrong Door, an entertaining new sketch show set, for lack of a more plausible explanation, in a parallel universe. Mum, Dad, Nan, this is Philip, says Melanie, introducing her new boyfriend. Philip is a Tyrannosaurus Rex, who devours the family dachshund. No one mentions that he is a reptile. Well, you don't, do you? Philip will, I hope, be a recurring delight.

Personally, I liked the robot. Where, he roared in a towering temper, beheading skyscrapers and peering into their innards, were his fucking keys? Denis Norden once said that, if he could find his spectacles in the morning, that was happiness enough for one day.

It took two viewings to appreciate The Wrong Door. First time round, we didn't find many laughs from this CGI-enhanced sketch show. A repeat viewing helped it make sense and, while it's not hilarious, writers Ben Wheatley and Jack Cheshire have come up with a programme that does exhibit inventiveness and darkness.

Pick of the Day: Back in the early 90s, the likes of Terminator 2 made cinema-goers' eyes pop out, with their incredible CGI effects. Years later, this BBC3 sketch show can afford extensive computerised images. They're put to good comedic use too, on characters like Philip the dinosaur.

What would you do if a dinosaur came to tea? That's just one of the scenarios played out in this new sketch show, which adds a dash of CGI to everyday events. The results are a little hit and miss - especially when an office meeting turns into a shoot-'em-up video game.

With its CGI effects, BBC3's new sketch show has obviously had money spent on it. A shame then that so many of the skits lack the killer touch; far better to have extended the ones that do work and cut the rubbish. The evil 'drink fairies', the dance mat, the sex fantasists and the lovestruck dinosaur at least show degrees of inspiration, but the other sketches reveal none.

A lovestruck dinosaur, a gigantic robot and an accident at a genetic bio-weapons lab - you certainly can't accuse the writers of this new sketch show of lacking imagination. Set in a bizarre parallel universe using a healthy dose of CGI, its laughs may be a little hit and miss, but it shows encouraging signs of potential.