Cuckoo. Image shows from L to R: Ivy (Andie MacDowell), Ken (Greg Davies). Copyright: Roughcut Television
Cuckoo

Cuckoo

  • TV sitcom
  • BBC Three / BBC Three (Online)
  • 2012 - 2019
  • 33 episodes (5 series)

BBC Three comedy starring Greg Davies as the constantly infuriated husband and father of a peculiar family. Also features Helen Baxendale, Esther Smith, Tyger Drew-Honey, Kenneth Collard, Juliet Cowan and more.

  • JustWatch Streaming rank this week: 930

Episode menu

Series 3, Episode 1 - Birth

Cuckoo. Image shows from L to R: Ken (Greg Davies), Lorna (Helen Baxendale). Copyright: Roughcut Television
Just as life looks like it's about to return to normal in the Thompson household, a transformed Dale returns from China to shake things up all over again.

Preview clips

Further details

Back in Lichfield, six months after Dale's dramatic departure. Rachel is still heartbroken, but has managed to salvage a certain friendship with her jilted former fiancé, Ben. Just as life looks like it's about to return to normal in the Thompson household, a transformed Dale returns from China to shake things up all over again.

Meanwhile, Ken and Lorna are preparing for the birth of their unexpected new baby, and their son Dylan is getting ready to leave for university.

A week past her due date, Lorna springs some new ideas on Ken about baby care.

Rachel is delighted when an old friend returns.

Broadcast details

Date
Tuesday 16th February 2016
Time
9pm
Channel
BBC Three
Length
30 minutes

Repeats

Show past repeats

Date Time Channel
Monday 22nd February 2016 10:45pm BBC1
Monday 22nd February 2016 11:45pm BBC1 Wales
Monday 25th July 2022 10:20pm BBC3
Tuesday 26th July 2022 1:30am BBC3
Tuesday 26th July 2022 3:25am BBC3

Cast & crew

Cast
Greg Davies Ken
Helen Baxendale Lorna
Esther Smith Rachel
Tyger Drew-Honey Dylan
Kenneth Collard Steve
Taylor Lautner Dale
Matt Lacey Ben
Jacqueline Boatswain Jane
Peter Landi Adrian
Guest cast
David Cheung Dreadlocked Henchman
Leon Sua Bearded Henchman
Jean-Paul Ly Tattooed Henchman
Ciarán Dowd Dr Stokes
Emma Pierson Jess
Lorna Gayle (as Lorna Gale) Midwife
Writing team
Robin French Writer
Kieron Quirke Writer
Production team
Paul Murphy Director
Emma Lawson Producer
Ash Atalla Executive Producer
Dan Hine Executive Producer
Mark Hermida Editor
Mo Holden Production Designer
Oli Julian Composer

Video

Building bunk beds

Rachel walks into the bedroom while Dale is building bunk beds.

Featuring: Taylor Lautner (Dale) & Esther Smith (Rachel).

Press

Maybe if Cuckoo had started life on BBC1, audiences would have grown to love it. There are funny moments, both when Greg Davies' efforts at parenting flounder, and when Taylor Lautner is hopelessly bemused by British customs. But a lot of viewers will have switched off wondering: 'What on earth was that supposed to be about?'

Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail, 22nd February 2016

BBC Three have brought back Cuckoo, a sitcom that is still named after a character who flew off into the sunset after the show's first series. I personally thought that Robin French and Kieran Quirke's comedy improved during its second run thanks to Twilight star Taylor Lautner whose Dale replaced Andy Samberg's irritating title character. I was surprised how good Lautner was in his role of the straight man up against Greg Davies' frantic lawyer Ken as the two formed a perfect odd couple relationship. We see Dale living in Shanghai and having to defend himself after conducting an illicit relationship with his boss's daughter. Forced to return to Lichfield, Dale seeks sanctuary in the home of Ken and his pregnant wife Lorna (Helen Baxendale) the latter of whom is expecting her baby any day now. As we're now on the third series of Cuckoo I do feel the cast are comfortable in each other's company and therefore the chemistry between the main players is superb. Davies and Baxendale are especially believable as the central down-to-Earth couple even if they both struggle with their West Midlands accents from time to time. Lautner is also great in the role of the rather simple Dale however I'm not quite sure how much of a stretch it is for him to play a good-looking simpleton. Whilst the cast are on form, the material is sadly lacking and there were very few moments during this first episode of series three that actually raised more than a titter from me. In fact the central storyline, in which Ken dreaded the fact that he would have to go on paternity leave, to be quite old-fashioned. In fact the central joke that it would be beneath Ken to look after his child whilst his wife deigned to go back to work felt like something from another decade and felt especially dated when you consider that this series is one of the first to debut on the BBC's new online platform. The final set piece, which involves Ken getting stuck in the hospital while Lorna gives birth, feels like something out of Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em rather than a contemporary sitcom aimed at a young audience. So, whilst the cast deserve some praise for working with what they've been given, overall the third series of Cuckoo hasn't exactly got off to the best of starts which begs the question why it got brought back at all in the first place.

Matt, The Custard TV, 19th February 2016

Online TV review: Cuckoo, BBC Three, BBC iPlayer

So welcome to the brave new world of BBC Three online. Except that maybe it is not quite as brave or new as expected. Hit sitcom Cuckoo is back for a third series of comic family chaos in Lichfield and, apart from needing broadband to watch it, not much has changed.

Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 18th February 2016

Cuckoo, BBC3 - TV review

Offbeat and very British, this heralds the start of BBC Three's online rebirth.

Daisy Wyatt, The Independent, 16th February 2016

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