As we rejoin this marvellous student comedy drama, some things are different. But some are, reassuringly, still the same. JP's still a twat. Kingsley and Josie's mutual affection still manifests itself as antagonism. Howard is still gloriously odd yet brilliantly likeable. And Oregon is still feeling the repercussions of her fling with Shales. It's a new term and invisible man Paul Lamb has moved out. Ignoring JP's suggestion that they all pay a bit more money and 'turn the spare room into a massive bong', the gang are looking for a new flatmate. As always, this opens a can of worms. Josie has a new best friend. A rather severe Dutch mature student called Sabine is interested and insistent. And JP's old school chum Giles is in the frame too. But will Giles reawaken awkward facts about JP's past? Superb again - that these characters remain both universally familiar and very distinct is a real testimony to the skill of the writers and performers alike.

Our five favourite mismatched students are on top form as the hit campus comedy returns - but some things have changed: Kingsley's gone a bit weird, in an existential Beat Generation kind of way; and the invisible man has vacated the room at the top of the house so there's space for a newbie. But who? The front-runners are JP's posh schoolmate, Giles, and Josie's new BFF, Heather. Get set for a gloriously grubby battle.

Robert Webb - I was probably a bit ghastly as a fresher

"At Cambridge I oozed with the studied vulnerability of a young man who thinks he is about due a massive amount of (safe!) sex. I'm delighted to say that it worked"

Satire for youngsters, nostalgia for oldsters: Channel 4's unromantic comedy has something for everyone. The first series also had the odd wobble but was saved by the fact that our student heroes (mismatched tenants in a Manchester house-share) were fleshed out and believable enough that we cared what became of them, even when they weren't spouting jaggedly funny dialogue.

Series two opens with posh berk JP (Jack Whitehall, note perfect) introducing a friend to the North ("The northerner is trusting and loyal like a gun-dog"), before hearing news that makes him seize up hilariously. Scheming nerd Howard has a job at an abbatoir, and Kingsley has grown a tiny beard.

Fresh Meat: behind the scenes

It is mid-August in a former electronics warehouse in east Manchester, and the filming of the second series of Fresh Meat - Channel 4's comedy drama about six students mismatched in a shared house - is nearing the end of its three-month shoot.

The freshers' guide to Fresh Meat

From house parties to dirty pints: Josie, JP, Vod, Howard, Oregon and Kingsley show us how to navigate those first few weeks at university...

Joe Thomas - I was quite similar to Kingsley at uni

"At Cambridge I met oddballs every day, like the guy who turned up to a David Starkey lecture dressed in Elizabethan court costume"

Charlotte Ritchie: I was as naive as Oregon

"I went to Freshers' Fair and signed up to everything, including Morris dancing. Then I had to get a new email address because I was so embarrassed"

Kimberley Nixon - Josie makes some dreadful decisions

"By the time you're 18, 19, you know yourself and you shouldn't go against your gut feeling, which is a temptation in the first year of university"

Zawe Ashton: no one at drama school could understand me

"I used to mumble a lot, which isn't ideal for an actress. That soon got beaten out of me!"