Stephen Mangan

Though Free Agents is a droll and very winning romantic comedy, don't expect soft-focus hearts and flowers. Yes, it's sweet and poignant, but it's also frequently filthy - imagine Richard Curtis doing dirty. The pairing of Stephen Mangan and Sharon Horgan as its emotionally stunted leads - talent agents Alex and Helen - is an inspired one. He's sad and embittered after a messy divorce and misses his children; she binge-drinks to blot out her obsession with her dead fiancee. They have a disastrous date where he cries after sex, then face the crippling embarrassment of having to work together, day in, day out. This possibly sounds gruesome, but it's not; Free Agents (you might recall its 2007 pilot) is a deliciously skewed romance that's adult, modern and funny. And Mangan and Horgan are appealing as two lost and damaged souls in search of happiness.

A convincing new sitcom about a pair of ditzy talent agents, Alex (Stephen Mangan) and Helen (Sharon Horgan), who become romantically involved while contending with their bizarre, sexually charged London workplace. At morning meetings, Stephen (Anthony Head), the company boss, expects his agents to stump up lurid stories of their sexual exploits. In reality, Alex and Helen are rather sadder and much more ordinary. Alex has been sleeping in the office ever since his divorce, and Helen is getting over her fiance's recent death. Mutual loneliness leads the two of them into bed. Part farce, part satire, Free Agents has a sweetly understated tone.

'Free Agents' defend show's language

Sharon Horgan and Stephen Mangan have apparently justified the use of swearing in their new show Free Agents.

Free Agents is a new romantic comedyseries, wallowing in obscenity, about a dysfunctional couple failing to have an affair. Personally I enjoyed it a lot, although I probably wouldn't recommend it to my 84-year-old mother. The couple concerned are a divorced father-of-two (Stephen Mangan) and a work colleague (Sharon Horgan) whose fiance dropped dead at the age of 34.

The Mangan character is broke, homeless and about as sexually sophisticated as a 15-year-old born-again Christian, while his nongirlfriend is suffering from posttraumatic death disorder. They work together in an actors agency run by a cynical old goat (Anthony Head), out of whose mouth poursa stream of uncensored filth. It works because, deep beneath the brittle layer of self-conscious trendiness, it is an old-fashioned love story with its own perverse brand of charm.

Free Agents is a new romantic comedy series, wallowing in obscenity, about a dysfunctional couple failing to have an affair. Personally I enjoyed it a lot, although I probably wouldn't recommend it to my 84-year-old mother. The couple concerned are a divorced father-of-two (Stephen Mangan) and a work colleague (Sharon Horgan) whose fiancé dropped dead at the age of 34.

The Mangan character is broke, homeless and about as sexually sophisticated as a 15-year-old born-again Christian, while his nongirlfriend is suffering from posttraumatic death disorder. They work together in an actors agency run by a cynical old goat (Anthony Head), out of whose mouth pours a stream of uncensored filth. It works because, deep beneath the brittle layer of self-conscious trendiness, it is an old-fashioned love story with its own perverse brand of charm.

Free spirit for new comedy

In a modern office building towering above Euston station, Stephen Mangan, Anthony Head and Sharon Horgan have been hard at work on a new Channel 4 comedy.

Stephen's Now An Agent Of Chaos

The former Green Wing star plays a showbiz rep with a dire love life in this new comedy.

Feature: Free Agents

As if today's celebrities weren't rude enough, here's a sitcom about their even ruder agents. The Telegraph visits the set of Channel 4's new comedy series Free Agents and meets cast members Sharon Horgan, Stephen Mangan and Anthony Head.

Shut those workmen up!

It takes an army of people just to make a few seconds of TV. Who are they - and what do they all do? The Guardian follows Channel 4's all-star new comedy from shoot to screen.

Mangan to star in theatre agent comedy for Channel 4

Green Wing actor Stephen Mangan is set to star in a new Channel 4 sitcom based in the offices of a theatrical agency.