Main News Stories About 'Fresh Meat':

• Fresh Meat and Peep Show films in development (13/03/13)
• Third series of Fresh Meat ordered (22/11/12)
• Channel 4 orders more Fresh Meat and Beaver Falls (25/10/11)

Comic Relief: Fresh Meat cast on University Challenge

The cast of hit comedy Fresh Meat are taking up a university challenge with a difference to raise money for Red Nose Day.

Written by Robert Dex. The Independent, 27th February 2013

Fresh Meat set to be turned into a movie

Student sitcom Fresh Meat is getting its own big-screen release.

Written by Gordon Smart. The Sun, 26th January 2013

The British Comedy Awards dared to ignore our favourite student sitcom: the jury deserve to have their cheeks drilled through by a hungover dentistry undergrad forthwith. Series two was rich with spiky one-liners and involving story arcs. Into the former category falls JP (Jack Whitehall) in his sick bed with mumps, deploying a rape alarm to summon soup and justifying himself with: "I am sort of being raped by my lack of soup." The storyline award goes to Oregon falling for the son of the lecturer she slept with - and working for his wife.

David Butcher, Radio Times, 28th December 2012

Thank goodness for Fresh Meat, where the whole Prof Shales-Oregon-his son love triangle finally combusted, with the setting of a literary garden party ensuring this was as excruciating as we dared hope.

I was underwhelmed by the start to the second run and unconvinced the whole way through by the additions to the student house, Heather and Sabine, who only seemed to be there to disapprove of the original six, a wholly unnecessary function given we already know how juvenile, berkish, slovenly and psychotic they could be, and how much we enjoyed that. They would not be denied, though, and there have been many priceless moments in this run, not least the Bullingdon Club-style initiation ceremony where JP was required to smoke a "pipe of pubes".

Just before his world collapsed, Shales tried to move Oregon to another uni, suggesting York and offering to find a place for the equally troublesome Vod as well. "There's a rail museum," he said, to which Vod replied: "You're a rail museum." It's not all about the yoof. Fresh Meat wouldn't be as funny as it is if the lecturers weren't lecherous, cynical, vain, bitchy and pretentious, just like The History Man's Howard Kirk - although Kirk reckoned he was cool and Shales, played by Tony Gard­ner, will never be that. (By the way, that's two mentions in consecutive weeks for Gardner; I assume the cheque's in the post).

Where does the show go from here? At the end, there was a touching speech from JP: "Dad's dead, Mum's sold up, I've been deserted by all my friends in purple trousers and, yah, when I first met you guys I thought you were a bunch of freaks, losers and pinheads - but I need you." By the natural order of undergraduate life some should drop out, but let's hope Howard stays. The very first scene where Greg McHugh turned a hair dryer on Peking ducks strung up on a kitchen pulley while wearing a Killing jumper and nothing on his bottom half was one of the all-time great entrances by a Scotsman. "Sorry," he said, "but I've got used to wearing trousers of the mind."

Aidan Smith, Scotland on Sunday, 2nd December 2012

If Peep Show has settled into a groove, Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong's other hit, Fresh Meat, has come of age with the end of its second run. First time round, the student sitcom was chipper but clunky fare. But, just as its fresher gang have grown up, so the whole thing has become sharper, wiser, and more lovable. Now here's hoping it doesn't mirror the classic uni trajectory too closely and succumb to a third year of soft drinks and solipsism.

Hugh Montgomery, The Independent on Sunday, 2nd December 2012

TV Ratings: Fresh Meat Series 2 goes out with a whimper

The second series of Fresh Meat came to an end with a modest audience last night (Tuesday, November 27). The Channel 4 sitcom, which has apparently been recommissioned for a third series, sank to 781,000 and a share of 4.2% at 10pm, adding 170k on +1.

Written by Paul Millar. Digital Spy, 28th November 2012

Fresh Meat series 2 finale review

The recently announced third series will have to up its game considerably if Fresh Meat is to last further beyond that. What's sorely needed is an experienced head writer to take charge and iron out the kinks and unnecessary plots.

Written by Jake Laverde. Den of Geek, 28th November 2012

Fresh Meat hasn't enjoyed anything like the ratings it deserves, perhaps because its target audience is more likely to be watching it on catchup on 4oD on their laptops instead of on their TVs. But, if this is the last we see of Fresh Meat, I'll miss all of them as much as I would my own friends.

Especially Vod, who could perform an entire stand-up routine using just her eyes. Her costumes alone are worth tuning in for and tonight is no exception as she reinvents herself as a poet.

Meanwhile, Kingsley and hipster girlfriend Heather have found a new flat, Howard has adopted a pig and Oregon is hoping to go ­travelling with her new boyfriend Dylan - ideally before he can find out she had an affair with his father. As for dental disaster Josie, her final day is going to be a ­memorable one.

Jane Simon, The Mirror, 27th November 2012

The final episode of this series certainly goes out with a bang. With the end of the academic year fast-approaching, JP is desperate to keep the flat together despite various forces working against him. With Kingsley, Heather and Josie in their palpably awkward love triangle, Oregon keeping a huge secret from Dylan and Howard receiving some surprising news from Sabine, the future is far from certain. With secrets to come out, relationships to resolve and decisions to make, there's plenty of room for the show to exercise its comedy muscle, and it does so with aplomb. After a slightly slow start, it soon gathers pace, and the denouement is frantic and, at times, sensational. Fresh Meat has been that rarest thing: a comedy-drama that succeeds on both counts.

Jon Lynes, Time Out, 27th November 2012

I won't hear a word against this series of Fresh Meat. It has blended rich performances with fizzing scripts so that even the odd slow patch (that episode at JP's country house?) has parts to treasure. It has, in short, been a blast, and it ends tonight with a suitably nuts swansong.

The house-share is splitting apart. JP is fighting to prevent it, buying giant TVs and hot tubs, but it's a losing battle. Howard is still lovelorn over Sabine in his own strange way, and Vod is flogging literary titbits to Shales. But it's Oregon who is in the worst mess (Dylan still doesn't know about her and his dad), a mess that explodes brilliantly over a literary garden party.

David Butcher, Radio Times, 27th November 2012

With the exams over and the end of the series nigh, our beloved students are all over the shop. As JP struggles to hold the house together, Vod is living off the last words of John Frobisher (the world-famous poet she sort of killed), Howard (Greg McHugh) gets over Sabine with a baby pig (no, not like that) and Kingsley and Josie, well, we could see where that was going. But it's Oregon who's in the biggest fix: father-and-son love triangles never work out. Hurry back for series three, guys.

Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and Carol Carter, Metro, 27th November 2012

With the academic year (and series two) coming to a close, it's decision time for the Rusholme Rat Pack. Should Kingsley move into a shoebox-sized flat with Heather? Should Howard be taking so much work home with him after Sabine's revelation? Can Oregon finally tell Dylan the truth? Will Josie finally grasp that maybe dentistry isn't for her? And, most mind-bogglingly of all, is JP really the voice of reason for once? Truly, these are the End Times. At least until series three.

Mark Jones, The Guardian, 26th November 2012

Series two of the excellent student comedy comes to a close as the end of the academic year approaches and the housemates face big decisions regarding the future. With Oregon's (Charlotte Ritchie) past sins about to catch up with her, Kingsley (Joe Thomas) determined to move out, a shock revelation about Howard (Greg McHugh), and an oinking new cast member - it's no wonder JP (Jack Whitehall) is worried that his dream of domestic bliss is about to crumble forever.

Gerard O'Donovan, The Daily Telegraph, 26th November 2012

No sign of a slump for Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain's student sitcom, which concludes this week. Quite the opposite, in fact: the gags have been sharper, the characterisation stronger and the few missteps of the first series - Howard's shift from singular oddball to cliched geek, for example - have been corrected. It's up on 4OD until forever for your delectation.

The Guardian, 24th November 2012

Fresh Meat series 2 episode 7 review

Watching this episode, I noticed Joe Thomas miming along to Blur guitarist Graham Coxon's vocals. The disconnect between what I was seeing and hearing was as jarring as the inconsistencies littered all the way through. Every half decent moment is lost in the mire of half-formed ideas and lazy structuring.

Written by Jake Laverde. Den of Geek, 21st November 2012

I know Fresh Meat didn't start out as a rom-com and writers Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong still might be horrified to find their creation described as such. But that is undoubtedly what it has become, albeit in a very street-smart, sharp and funny way. It's amazing how many rom-coms forget to add the com part.

But if it was the humour that initially caught people's attention, it has long since become just one element in a show of increasing depth. Much as I admired the performances of Derek Jacobi, Anne Reid et al in Last Tango, I wasn't greatly involved with their characters and I wasn't at all put out when their hour was up. With Fresh Meat, I am. I feel a sense of loss when the closing credits roll. I've come to care about these people. I love the way they move from the deadly serious to the totally absurd mid-sentence, in the way only university students can. I love the awkwardness of their relationships. Or rather, entanglements.

As JP - his Stowe chums call him JPaedo, but be careful what you tweet - Jack Whitehall is in danger of making posh boys sympathetic and Josie's attempts to make the housemates believe she hasn't been kicked off the course were becoming more and more poignant. Only Vod could imagine Josie must have acquired a smack habit. Don't ever change, Vod. Nor you, Kingsley and Oregon. And as for Howard ...? How could Sabine have gone back to Holland?

Even the minor characters - the geology lecturer excepted - are well drawn. Professor Shales (Tony Gardner), Oregon's ex - she has now got off with his son - is a case in point. As John, the slightly seedy man having a midlife crisis in Last Tango, Gardner was fairly one-dimensional: as Shales, the slightly seedy man having a midlife crisis, his desperate sadness is almost touching. Almost. When rom-coms are this good, what's not to love?

John Crace, The Guardian, 20th November 2012

Has Fresh Meat's second series surpassed its first?

The Channel 4 comedy show has delivered a masterclass in how to follow up a successful first series. Downtown Abbey and Homeland creators take note.

Written by Mark Lawson. The Guardian, 20th November 2012

Much as it did last series, Fresh Meat is beginning to display a heart to match its humour as it approaches the end. Tonight, Josie's brittleness and denial comes to a head - university is over for her and it's not certain how she'll handle this disturbing fact. And once again, JP makes a terrible decision based on his inability to say no to the awful Ralph and reveals some genuine vulnerability along the way. Still, light relief is at hand in the shape of Kingsley's songwriting which gets a first public airing tonight. Look out for an opus called The Implodium Implodes and shudder at the horror of a university open mic night. Oh, and Vod kills a storied American poet, much to Shales's eventual delight. This series has felt a little directionless at times but it shows every sign being able to manage a strong finish.

Phil Harrison, Time Out, 20th November 2012

The housemates are on glorious form this week as various long-running storylines build nicely. It's one of the joys of Fresh Meat that it doesn't only do zinging comedy; it also makes us buy into series-long plotlines such as Josie's slow, sad disintegration (which takes a turn for the worse tonight: "She's on the last train to Smackville" is Vod's assessment).

Meanwhile, Oregon still hasn't levelled with Dylan about her previous affair with his dad, leading to a hilariously awkward lunch. But it's Oregon's musical talents that set the episode alight.

Heather enters Kingsley for a gig night where he can debut his prog dirge The Implodium Implodes (in fact written, the credits tell us, by Graham Coxon from Blur!) and Oregon offers to join him as vocalist. It turns out the girl can sing.

David Butcher, Radio Times, 20th November 2012

The last-but-one slice of cult student comedy. Kingsley (Joe Thomas) is forced to fulfil his idle daydreams about being a musician when his girlfriend signs him up for an open mic gig at the student union. Josie (Kimberley Nixon) tries to keep her gambling addiction a secret and Vod (the superb Zawe Ashto) joins a famous poet for an all-night bender - with unexpectedly tragic results.

Michael Hogan, The Daily Telegraph, 19th November 2012

Glory of glories, we finally get to hear Kingsley's music tonight, as his girlfriend pressures him into trying out an open-mic night. Unfortunately, his sub-Radiohead stylings are undermined by a strange thing he insists on doing with his neck. Meanwhile, Oregon reveals a surprisingly tuneful aptitude and Kingsley invites her to join forces with him, despite her singer-songwritery warblings being at odds with his own morose style. Elsewhere, Josie keeps up the pretence of going to her seminars each day, though on-street sightings of her lead the house to the wrong conclusion.

David Stubbs, The Guardian, 19th November 2012

I hope Channel 4's executives are being kind to Jack Whitehall. Because their tale of Manchester undergraduates Fresh Meat is shaping up to be the best chance they have of establishing a long-running home-grown comedy hit. I'm not saying it wouldn't survive without Whitehall's obnoxious posh boy JP. It just wouldn't be as funny.

Ian Hyland, The Daily Mail, 17th November 2012

Fresh Meat series 2 episode 6 review

This episode pretty much encapsulated Fresh Meat's flaws. Inconsistent characters, reliance on cheap innuendo and contrived scenarios. A real down turn for what was up until now a gradually improving series.

Written by Jake Laverde. Den of Geek, 15th November 2012

Opinion: Why Fresh Meat is the best comedy on TV

We're six episodes into series two and each one has been funnier than the last. Let's hope this upward trend continues.

Written by Hilary Wardle. Giggle Beats, 14th November 2012

Robert Webb returns in specs and cardie as inept geology lecturer Dan, who this week masterminds a disastrous field trip to the Pennines. Back in so-called civilisation, Josie has been expelled from her course following last week's wince-inducing dentistry class and hatches a grisly plan to win back her place. Oregon cross-examines the man of her dreams, convinced he must have a flaw, while Howard is still trying to woo Sabine with all the subtlety of a steam train.

So far series two hasn't put a foot wrong - although JP does, and gets up close and personal with Mother Nature.

Claire Webb, Radio Times, 13th November 2012