There must have been times in the past few weeks when Mathew Horne and James Corden have felt like bulls being chased around by banderilla-wielding critics. With savage reviews, talk of burnout and collapses on stage, the crash and burn has been spectacular. This is on time to stick any more knives in.

Indeed, in their defence, the omission of Gavin & Stacey from the Bafta nominations is a ridiculous snub that smacked of a petty attempt to cut Corden down to size. But that's not to say I'm not mightily glad to see the back of Horne & Corden, a show which started poised on the rim and ended up diving headlong down the toilet. At least the two of them finally had a big snog. Now please boys, move on.

Danny Dyer: 'Mat Horne is a rubbish actor'

Danny Dyer has hit out at Gavin & Stacey star Mathew Horne, describing his performances as "rubbish".

Cordern and Horne chased by ITV as rating rise

James Cordern and Mathew Horne being chased by ITV as rating for their comedy show rise.

Paul Whitehouse guests ina magnificently silly office redundancy sketch, while dance duo Jonny and Lee Miller prance about to Enya's Orinoco Flow in an otherwise comedically flabby instalment. The similarity of Mathew Horne's informercial man to Martin Kemp is distracting, though.

Second series of Horne & Corden in pipeline

The BBC is in "advanced discussions" over a second series of the Tiger Aspect sketch show Horne & Corden, despite a poor critical reception.

However, the series which stars Gavin and Stacey actors Mathew Horne and James Corden, is not being considered for BBC2 as some reports have suggested.

Corden And Horne Set For Second Series

Comedy pair James Corden and Mathew Horne have defied their critics by landing a second series of their sketch show. But Beeb chiefs are backing their star men - and promoting them on to BBC2.

Critics maul lesbian vampire film

James Corden and Mathew Horne, ubiquitous stars of BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey, have received stinging reviews for their new comedy horror movie Lesbian Vampire Killers.

Review from The Stage

Such was the popular enthusiasm and critical acclaim for Gavin & Stacey that someone at the BBC had the bright idea of inviting its male stars, Mathew Horne and James Corden, to write and perform their own sketch show. After all, anyone can churn out a sketch show, can't they? Horne and Corden are clearly accomplished comic actors, but they are just not comedians and introducing themselves as such at the beginning of the show misfired badly.

Their dodgy turn on the Brits served as a warning. Left to their own devices, without the narrative of Gavin & Stacey to keep them anchored, Horne & Corden are - and it hurts me to say this - really not that funny.

There are only so many times you can resort to a wobbly belly for belly laughs and, by the end of episode one of their first sketch show, it felt like you'd been chubby-chased in your own living room.

There's no doubt Mathew Horne and James Corden are engaging characters. And they've definitely got chemistry, even if the homoerotic undertow to their relationship feels a tad exploitative given their hetero status. But the big problem with Horne & Corden is the thinness of the material. It was a good ten minutes in before a genuine rib-tickler, and that was the sight of Corden wobbling down the finishing straight of a relay in Lycra running shorts. Which is a bit like laughing at the fat kid at school.

The playground was where H&C seemed stranded. Like over excited schoolboys, the pair of them couldn't keep their hands out their pants, with nearly every gag involving some kind of cock-and-bull story. At worst offensive (a camp war reporter on the Iraq frontline because, obviously, being gay is in itself so hilarious) to downright dull (Superman and Spider-Man embarrassed while stripping in a locker room), this was a sad case of a show trying way too hard.

Sam Wollaston Review

A sketch show by G&S stars Mathew Horne and James Corden was never really going to be my thing. But I wasn't prepared for quite how awful it was.