Trollied

It's nearly Christmas at Valco and fruit-recognition training is in full swing, while a poisonous spider is on the loose. In the second of the double bill, the supermarket's staff celebrate its birthday in 1960s fancy dress as the series bows out. There are some real gems in the ensemble cast, most notably Jason Watkins and Sarah Parish playing out Gavin's bittersweet romance with rival supermarket manager Cheryl in the store's freezer. Trollied is from the Stella school of comedy: not always hilarious, but gently watchable.

This is the start of Trollied's fifth series. It's a sitcom set in a fictional supermarket called Valco which has the slogan "SERVES YOU RIGHT!"

I'd never watched it before - Sky1's comedy rarely tempts me - so I was pleasantly surprised to see so many famous faces in it, including Jason Watkins whom I'd last seen in the brilliant ITV drama about Christopher Jefferies. He's joined by Sarah Parrish, Stephen Tompkinson and another actor, playing the store security guard, whom I recognised but just couldn't place till it suddenly hit me: he was in Bread. That's a blast from the past!

The episodes opens with bad news: a new supermarket is opening next door and it's "one of them dead cheap Yugoslavian places" whose name translates as, "we're all gonna lose our jobs."

It annoyed me that the checkout staff are all simpletons or overweight, whilst the middle-class management are impeccably groomed and tailored, but I had to shrug off thoughts of exploitation of the workers and remind myself it's a comedy - although there weren't many reminders of its comic status with jokes such as, "Can you tell me where I can find eggs?". "Chickens," comes the reply.

Radio Times review

Is there any life left in Trollied? After all, when loads of original cast members leave a show, it usually ends up being the kiss of death. Look what happened to ER, New Tricks and - of course - the greatest ensemble drama of all time: Monarch of the Glen.

But despite the fact that the likes of Jane Horrocks and Mark Addy are now long gone, there's still some fun to be had in this series opener, mainly thanks to the introduction of Sarah Parish as the owner of a budget supermarket called Lauda (hmmm, wonder what the inspiration for that could be?), which looks set to be a rival for the mighty Valco.

Filming starts in Bristol on Series 5 of Trollied

Filming for the new series of Sky1's comedy Trollied began at Bristol's Bottle Yard Studios today.

With Miriam Margolyes on the checkout, you would think this supermarket comedy would be funny, but despite a strong ensemble cast, Trollied is still short-changing viewers in the laughs department. Samuel Anderson is great as the exasperated boss battling his way through first-aid training, as Brian (Stephen Tompkinson) spouts David Brent-esque words of wisdom. Elsewhere, Neville (Dominic Coleman) is desperate to stand up to his evil ex-wife, and when Linda (Faye McKeever) gets involved it produces moderately slapstick results.

Miriam Margolyes interview

Miriam Margolyes on her "hothouse" relationship with her parents, playing around, and "still being fat".

Miriam Margolyes gets Trollied

Outspoken actress Miriam Margolyes is rarely short of conversation, as Keeley Bolger finds out when she meets the sparkling actress to chat about her new role in Trollied, scrapping with Arnold Schwarzenegger and why she'll never use Twitter.

Miriam Margolyes interview

She doesn't like Tony Abbott's swimwear or policies, thinks Nigel Farage is frightening, loves Australia - mostly - and thinks Israel can be blind to its own faults. Anything else to add to the list?

Radio Times review

An exodus of cast members in the last series means that we have lots of new employees to meet. Some, like Colin's nan Rose (Miriam Margolyes) feel too caricatured to be credible, but Stephen Tompkinson as thwarted doctor-turned-pharmacist Brian hits the right note.

On the whole, though, Trollied is now a shadow of its former self: the comedy is far too broad and the warmth seems to have left along with most of the original line-up. But at least the seedy Colin is still clocking on. He's been promoted, but is struggling with knotting a tie. Apparently, it's because all the ones he wore for his court appearances were clip-ons.