Apple calls on IT Crowd for UK iPhone 6 adverts

Apple has remade its latest two commercials for the UK, eradicating Americans Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake, and replacing them with IT Crowd comedy legends Richard Ayoade and Chris O'Dowd.

Chris O'Dowd expecting first child with Dawn O'Porter

Chris O'Dowd has revealed that he and wife Dawn O'Porter are expecting their first child.

Chris O'Dowd interview

Chris O'Dowd has a thriving Hollywood career and a starring role on Broadway. Why was he wary of returning to Ireland - and the Catholic church - for his new film, Calvary?

If you love twee telly, you'll be crying into your knitted hanky tonight as the sentimental comedy slides further into sweetness in this series finale. Little Martin Moone and imaginary friend Sean (Chris O'Dowd) are in their matching suits and are getting ready for Fidelma's wedding. The bride is heavily pregnant; the wedding dress ruined by a slip of the Coco Pops, and Martin's in trouble. Can the happy couple get up the aisle before the baby appears? Gentle comedy's all very well, but a few proper laughs wouldn't go amiss.

All too soon, the time has come to bid farewell to David Rawle and Chris O'Dowd as young Martin Moone and his imaginary friend Sean.

We've reached the end of their season-two adventures but hold back the tears - there's a third series of O'Dowd's semi-autobiographical comedy tales already in the pipeline. So just go with the flow as Fidelma, Dessie and their imminent bairn head down the aisle to holy matrimony on St Patrick's Day. No room for any unplanned surprises there, then.

Radio Times review

The wedding/pregnancy storyline comes to a head in a riotous series finale. Nervy bride/mum-to-be Fidelma is sounding off at her inept dad, while young Martin senses a distinct cooling-off from his free-spirit girlfriend Majella. It's a tense time, then, and it only takes a spilt bowl of Coco Pops for disaster to ensue.

Anyhoo, there's a bounty of small comic riches from Chris O'Dowd's hand-picked ensemble (Mark Doherty has come into his own as Father Linehan), and the fact that it's St Patrick's Day has majestic significance for one extended gag.

The best kind of farce, ie it's funny.

Money's too tight to mention in the Moone household. Which means Martin (David Rawle) has to get a job if he's ever going to own a Sega Mega Drive, 'the single greatest thing my little eyes have ever witnessed.' So he heads to the golf club, where Chris O'Dowd's charming comedy drives us into the heart of a green-eyed rivalry between Martin's dad Liam (Peter McDonald) and his nemesis, the devious local bank manager, which stretches back decades. Cue flashbacks with very tight shorts.

Following in the wake of children's classic Swallows And Amazons, this comedy gem sails the action 60 years on, to a small-town backwater in Ireland, where young Martin (David Rawle) and his best flesh-and-blood buddy Padraic (Ian O'Reilly) are lashing together a tatty raft for some aquatic Halloween adventures. Of course imaginary best friends Sean Murphy (Chris O'Dowd) and Crunchie Haystacks (Johnny Vegas) jump aboard and when they see land ahoy, things really get rollicking...

Radio Times review

The funniest visit yet to where eccentricity isn't just welcomed but actually celebrated. It's summer 1990 and, while Martin and his best (strangest) pal Padraic build a raft for some Huckleberry Finn-ish japes, Martin's sisters are both having size issues. Mother Moone is tiptoeing around Sinead's weight gain, and Fidelma is fired from Bible readings in church for being unmarried and pregnant.

From a priestly Mexican stand-off to a bargain-basement Enya video, Chris O'Dowd and Nick Vincent Murphy's crackpot sitcom fires on all of its numerous cylinders. Joy, bottled.

Going back a few years to 1990 was the second series of Sky One's Moone Boy which catapulted us right into the time that Ireland was gripped by World Cup fever. Both Martin Moone (David Rawle) and his imaginary friend Sean (Chris O'Dowd) are obsessed with the tournament and want to stay in and watch every minute of the match. Even Martin's mother (Deirdre O'Kane) is gripped with the action and only his father (Peter McDonald) remains unconvinced by the joy of the beautiful game. So the Moones remain dejected when they are forced to go on holiday by Mr Moone. Martin is so frustrated that he aims to hitch all the way back to Boyle, but ends up being taken in by a Romanian family. The only problem is that Martin has to watch the clash between Romania and Ireland at the house of said family meaning he finds it hard to show any joy when his team wins the match.

The first series of Moone Boy was a glorious treat that Sky One gave to us back in 2012 and I was worried that this second run couldn't live up to it. Thankfully, I was wrong and by the time we saw Mrs Moone screaming at her TV, I knew we were back in safe territory. Incredibly funny, Moone Boy also rings true primarily when it deals with the dynamics of the Moone family and the characteristics of Martin's three sisters. O'Dowd employs the period setting to maximum effect as he focuses on an event that we all remember and then creates as many comic scenarios as he possibly can. Young David Rawle is perfect as Martin, combining the wide-eyed innocence of a young lad with superb comic delivery. O'Dowd himself is better used as a writer than star with Sean's presence becoming seemingly unnecessary in every episode. Alongside Rawle, it is some of the other younger cast members who really shine namely Aoife Duffin as Martin's sister Trisha and Ian O'Reilly as his extremely enthusiastic friend Padriac. Ultimately Moone Boy is a joy to watch as it's a comedy that's actually funny and one that presents realistic characters in an identifiable situation.