TV review: Gap Year, E4, Episode 2

Plenty of fast-paced action, some snappy dialogue and breath-taking aerial shots of tea plantations that make you go wow. Nice wok everyone.

Gap Year review

Like its characters, Gap Year is a little wandering and aimless. While the first episode is a little ropey, it does show promise. At the very least, it looks set to offer a comical travelogue for anyone contemplating their own life-changing Asian adventure.

Preview - Gap Year

Written by among other people the team behind ITV2 Roman sitcom Plebs, E4's latest comedy drama goes even further afield, although it brings it back to the present day.

In and Out of the Kitchen (***), created and written by Miles Jupp, was first heard on Radio 4, a delightful spoof of celebrity chefs and our modern obsessions with food and having the perfect kitchen. Now Jupp and director Mandie Fletcher have brought it to television.

Jupp plays Damien Trench, a food writer obsessed with good nosh, who lives with his partner, Anthony (Justin Edwards), an ex-banker now looking for a job. They're chalk and cheese; Damien has a range of sharp shirts and woolly cardigans, while Anthony spends most of his time loafing around the house in his pants or pyjamas. For him food is merely a fuel, not something to be described in loving detail before every mouthful is savoured; last night Anthony was making a foul-smelling courgette soup as part of his fad diet.

The voiceover of the radio show is maintained here, with Damien doing straight-to-camera pieces as he describes a few days in what he thinks is a busy life but in fact is not; last night's biggest task was baking a simple birthday cake while avoiding his scary agent Iain (Philip Fox), who had the episode's best joke - a wonderful payoff to a running gag about "Salman Rushdie".

It's a life in which nothing ever quite works out to plan, except his delicious recipes, which are given in each programme. (Last night is was crab bisque and Victoria sponge.) The laconic Irish builder, Mr Mullaney (Brendan Dempsey), meanwhile, is working on a succession of jobs in the house with his young assistant Steven (Ade Oyefeso), while Damien's new magazine column for Waitsbury's lands him in legal difficulties. It's lo-fi comedy in which fart gags are set up but not delivered, as it were.

Part of the pleasure of listening to a radio show is in conjuring up the world described (including the never-ending building work and the awful restaurants Iain insists on taking Damien to); here we have it all done for us and I'm not sure it adds to the comedy, and it jars that Damien and Anthony's relationship seems rather tetchier here. But In and Out of the Kitchen is enjoyable enough - and the recipes are cracking.

This popular teen comedy-drama following south London musical trio Jay, Yemi and Davina (Calvin Demba, Ade Oyefeso and Shavani Seth) is back for a second series and eight more episodes. Following their bust-up at the end of the last series, the Youngers are no more, with Yemi an unwillingly convert to gospel, Jay laying down tracks with a novice pal and Davina struggling to go it alone. Of course, it's not long before their paths cross again, in an opener that finds the show as lighthearted and likable as ever.

Episode three of E4's music comedy-drama is packed full of teen awkwardness. A scorned Jodie circulates Jay's (Calvin Demba) collection of BlackBerry selfies, rendering him a Peckham pariah. Meanwhile, there are cringeworthy scenes galore for Yemi (Ade Oyefeso) as he continues to court Davina under the pretence of advancing her musical career. He can hardly conceal his crush, resorting to a fake phone call to feign popularity. Comedic, convincing take on today's teens, lapses in common sense and all.

This south London-set comedy drama about two teenage would-be rappers manages to be a curious mix of hip and heartfelt. It isn't hard-nosed and edgy but slickly directed and genuinely funny, with a very personable cast telling a familiar story. There are some nice touches, too, such as the cheeky young Greek Chorus who sit on the wall, constantly giving grief to the main characters. In tonight's episode Jay (Calvin Demba) attempts to get his phone back after the bust-up at the nightclub and Yemi (Ade Oyefeso) invites Davina (Shavani Seth) to his bedroom studio to do some recording.

It's Mic Star night at Boxes nightclub and best mates Jay and Yemi (Calvin Demba and Ade Oyefeso) are set to rock the joint - that's if player Jay can keep a lid on his lust and love-struck Yemi can stop staring at sweet Davina long enough to hit the decks. There's not much story in tonight's second visit to this fresh comedy but it's got personality to spare and the X-Factor-style bad rap acts competing for the Mic Star prize are a hoot.

First of eight episodes in E4's teen comedy-drama about two best friends from Peckham hoping to make it big in the UK rap scene. While Jay (Calvin Demba) has flunked his GCSEs, Yemi (Ade Oyefeso) has bagged a scholarship to a private school, making his Nigerian family proud. With everything changing for the pair, will their friendship survive? Appearances from YouTube stars Mandem On The Wall and a convincing script packed full of London lingo make Youngers current, compelling viewing.