Walter

Walter: a comedy-drama that's neither comic or dramatic

ITV boss Kevin Lygo wrote this aimless, unfunny cop drama under a pseudonym. Don't give up the day job, Kevin.

Review: BBC1's Walter - a loose charm, but zero laughs

Walter won't be back next week, as this was a pilot the BBC have aired to test the water. For me, it was a resounding flop, but a Friday night BBC audience at 9pm may think otherwise. If a series is forthcoming, maybe employing some comedy writers would help wrestle the basic idea into something fun for a Sunday evening. But if we never hear another peep from DI Walter Gambon, I won't lose any sleep over it.

Walter: a wry new detective for BBC One?

Line of Duty's Adrian Dunbar is excellent in tonight's one-off detective drama Walter.

New comedy-drama starring Adrian Dunbar as old-school DI Walter Gambon, struggling with debt, life as a widower and the technological implications of Policing 2.0. As the Met transmogrifies into a branch of PC World around him, Walt finds himself handed an exhaustingly enthusiastic partner and a hefty workload bequeathed by a deceased colleague. It's a bit light on laughs but there's still just enough to keep your interest contained in custody.

Radio Times review

It's a truth universally acknowledged that broadcasters don't put good new stuff on Friday nights at the height of summer. Which doubtless explains why Walter has washed up here where it will probably die quietly, alone and unnoticed.

It's a woefully under-written comedy/drama about a decent cop, the Walter of the title played by Adrian Dunbar, that's neither funny nor dramatic. So why are we reviewing it, you might ask, dear reader? Well, because it's new and the cast give their hearts and souls to material that doesn't deserve it.

Dunbar in particular (so brilliant as Line of Duty's closed, troubled anti-corruption cop Ted Hastings) is winning as the hapless Walter, a widower with money troubles and a really annoying teenage daughter. And he has a dippy but endearing sidekick (Alexandra Roach, from Utopia). Walter is obviously angling for a series, but I wouldn't bother.

Walter, BBC One, review: 'suspense and laughter'

The BBC's new police comedy drama manages to be both profoundly silly and gripping, writes Jake Wallis Simons.

Review: Walter is the worst thing I've seen this year

If a tree falls in a forest with no-one to hear it, does it still make a sound? Philosophers remain divided on that one, so here's another puzzler: if a comedy appears on the BBC, but isn't funny, is it still a comedy? Approach it from a different angle: if the BBC fail to acknowledge good, new writers, whom I'm assuming are out there and pitching to the Beeb, should we still dutifully pay our licence fee?

Walter: A confident, amiable and intriguing pilot

If BBC One commissions a full series of Walter - and I really hope it does - then I'll happily tune in on Friday nights in August, and that is praise indeed.

ITV Studios boss Kevin Lygo writes under pseudonym

ITV Studios boss Kevin Lygo has emerged as the author of forthcoming BBC1 police drama Walter.