Undercover

It's day 274 of Operation Piccolo, with doofus copper Chris (Daniel Rigby) no closer to bringing down the Sarkissian crime family from within. But the attempted assassination of patriarch Ara suddenly sows suspicion throughout the entire clan, endangering his flimsy cover. With the end of the first series looming, there's a distinct sense of escalation, with Rigby's go-for-broke performance - with echoes of Simon Pegg at his most endearingly panicky - helping punch up nods to movie classics Reservoir Dogs and Miller's Crossing.

Episode three of the likable, sometimes surreal fish-out-of-water comedy about a neurotic traffic cop (Daniel Rigby) embedded in an Armenian crime family. If keeping up with the Sarkissians was starting to seem too easy for Operation Piccolo's puppyish double agent, there's a injection of menace when notorious enforcer Tommi Lylozian is released from jail. A volatile loose cannon in the convincing form of Keith Allen, Tommi twigs that something's not quite pukka with the crew's newest, twitchiest recruit.

Undercover is "edgier" than your average sitcom

Dave is about to launch its first wholly original sitcom - and star Daniel Rigby has promised that Undercover is "edgier" than your average comedy.

Chris (Daniel Rigby) is an undercover policeman, currently on a mission to ingratiate himself into a violent Armenian family and gain evidence of their criminal dealings. A mild cop show spoof at times borrowing the mock-dramatic pacing of Charlie Brooker and Daniel Maier's police procedural parody A Touch Of Cloth - but not, sadly, the jokes - what this feels most like is a comedy vehicle for Rigby, otherwise known as the awkward one from the BT adverts. Which would be no bad thing if it weren't such a feeble effort.

Radio Times review

This original scripted comedy is an attempt by Dave to break out of its reputation for just peddling Mock the Week repeats, and it's certainly an ambitious beginning. Daniel Rigby headlines the series as Chris, a bumbling and allergy-ridden cop sent undercover into the Armenian Mafia who must try to keep his cover without actually committing any crimes.

The series has a strong cast - Coupling's Sarah Alexander is good as Chris's no-nonsense police handler and Sherlock's Yasmine Akram excels as the femme fatale who may suspect Chris's secret - but generally speaking, Undercover's high concept is a little too ambitious to be supported by the weak plotting and thin jokes on offer.

Interview with director Dave Lambert

At the helm is Dave Lambert: a director who cut his teeth making behind-the-scenes features for The Mighty Boosh and Gavin & Stacey before taking on Alan Partridge in Welcome To The Places Of My Life, and helming Sky Atlantic's brilliant series of shorts, Common Ground. With Undercover, he shares the channel's sitcom virginity, in spite of a long legacy of great comedic output.

Daniel Rigby chooses his perfect playlist

Normally in life I wait for people to tell me what I think about something before I offer my thoughts. I was delighted to do this and discover I did actually have some thoughts. The fact that I appear to have copied previous contestant's answers may undermine my previous statement. Anyway, time will be my judge. Fingers crossed that I win.

TV Preview: Undercover, Dave

Undercover was produced by Baby Cow, who know a thing or three about comedy. This is an ambitious stab at putting a new spin on the sitcom format, but a misfire. The writers might want to go undercover for a while.

The screen journey of Daniel Rigby

The comedian and actor stars in Dave's first scripted comedy tonight - but you might be surprised by where you've seen him before...

Newcastle-filmed Undercover to premiere in June

North East producer and co-writer are part of creative team behind series, starring Bafta-winning Daniel Rigby, which is about to air on Dave channel.