Greg Davies returns for a fourth series of Man Down and I sense a bit of a theme emerging. He has previously had a run-in with a turkey and in the first episode of the new run of this tragic, anarchic sitcom he has an oversized chicken thrown at him. But that is just a small indignity compared to some of his other issues in this opening instalment.
The main problem for hapless Dan (Davies) is finding a home for his pregnant girlfriend Emma (Jeany Spark) who is landing at the airport at any moment. There is the faint possibility of getting hold of a family trust fund if only he can persuade the local building society to have some sympathy for him.
And after a number of attempts he does seem to be making some progress at getting the cash, only to fail in a corny, sitcomy way. As you would expect, this being Dan. Poor Dan. All he wants is to have a family like the family on the front of the Twister box. Instead he spends the episode getting his knickers increasingly in a twist.
Meanwhile the rest of the cast are back on comic form too. Aunt Nesta (Stephanie Cole) and mum (Gwyneth Powell) are in a retirement home squandering the inheritance on snooker lessons with Dennis Taylor. "Your brain is folding in on itself," screams Dan in despair.
Elsewhere would-be entrepreneur Jo (Roisin Conaty) is up to her usual tricks again. She has come up a nice little earner selling unclaimed lost property items. There is a reason they are unclaimed of course, they are all knackered or rubbish so maybe it isn't such a useful sideline. I can't see her getting onto The Apprentice in the foreseeable future.
Only Dan's friend Ally played by Isy Suttie and Brian (Mike Wozniak) seem to bring a semblance of normality to proceedings. And this means that whenever someone is homeless Brian is the first person they turn to. There's a deliciously daft montage showing Dan turning houseproud Brian's lounge into a pigsty only for Brian to clean it before the process starts all over again. Trigger warning 1 - don't watch this bit if farting upsets you. Trigger warning 2 - watch out for a painful pun involving snooker and DJ Trevor Nelson.
Man Down, Wednesdays from October 25, C4, 10pm.
