A Channel 4 Comedy Showcase pilot featuring Inbetweeners stars Simon Bird and Joe Thomas and their comedy partner Jonny Sweet, which is now due to become a six-part series on Sky1 in 2013.

Chickens is a comedy about three young men who avoid combat in the First World War: George is a conscientious objector, Cecil would love to be fighting for queen and country but his flat feet mean the army won't have him - and then there's Bert, a philandering scaredicat on the run.

In the eyes of their neighbours they're all the same: Chickens. So in a world of (quite sexy) women, children and the infirm these twenty-something chaps have only each other for company - and nothing else in common.

The women of the village are bound to treat them with the contempt they deserve - any man worth their salt should be doing their duty for the war effort abroad. But with pretty much every other man away, can George, Cecil and Bert claw themselves back into the good books of the ladies on the home front?

Chickens is a sitcom about three young guys in a woman's world, trying to prove their manhood. Every day they live in fear of being labelled as cowards - an argument they've already lost in the mere act of still being in England.

Our Review: As was the case with war-set sitcoms such as Dad's Army and 'Allo 'Allo! before it, concerns were raised regarding Chickens and its depiction of the war and its weighty issues. However, as in all those cases, such worries are unwarranted; Chickens deals with the grave issues of war both respectfully and sensitively so as to make a clear distinction between the brave fighting men of Britain, their families, and the various non-combatants left at home.

What resulted was a highly pleasing piece. This pilot was not without faults - notably, some of the dialogue jars as anachronistic, and Jonny Sweet's character seems just a little too objectionable - but it's very funny, and we think it well deserving of a full series commission... which Sky have now given it. The full series will be on Sky1 in 2013.