Review: Friday Night Dinner, C4

There is nothing particularly groundbreaking here. Just a lovely, well-observed, faintly farcical fast-moving storyline as one minor white lie - they claim Jackie's mother has died so that they can cancel dinner and turf Tony out - sends events spiralling out of control.

Simon Bird & Tom Rosenthal interview

TV Choice caught up with Simon and Tom, who play squabbling siblings Adam and Jonny, at Channel 4 HQ over coffee and very nice pastries...

Flat TV might just be the most original sitcom in years

Tom Rosenthal's new sitcom Flat TV is the latest offering from BBC Three online - and the Plebs actor has told Digital Spy that he hopes word of mouth will help shows like his to find an audience.

Preview: Flat TV, BBC Three

Since BBC Three went online it has had identity problems. A show such as Cuckoo might be good but it doesn't seem to chime with the bold new future of online viewing. On the other hand Flat TV, which originated on the web, feels exactly like the programme you might expect an online channel aimed at a young audience to make. In both a good way and a bad way.

One of the all-time great kids' shows returns for series six, adjusting to the loss of the original cast by organising itself into special episodes focusing on a single historical figure. Tom Rosenthal is the perfect choice to play crap-haired milquetoast Alfred the Great, thrust on to the throne after the deaths of all four of his elder brothers. He fights a constant battle against both the Vikings and haemorrhoids, and we learn that he didn't burn any cakes and that the Scandinavians brought sarcasm to England.

Getting comedians sloshed and having them recount the tales of historical figures is a malleable format. Having started out as a web series and then graduated to full broadcast, Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's Drunk History now receives a UK remake. The star wattage isn't as high as its US counterpart (it had Jack Black, Winona Ryder and Dave Grohl), but there are still some redoubtably funny people involved, including Simon Bird, Tom Rosenthal and (playing Oliver Cromwell) Mathew Horne.