Inbetweeners star Joe Thomas strikes out on his own and heads to university as Kingsley, one of a mixed bag of housemates thrown together as freshers in this engaging but surprisingly straightforward new comedy from Peep Show writers Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong. The horror of realising who the university wheel of fortune has stuck you with is cringe-inducingly on the money, with Jack Whitehall in scene-stealing form as posh schemer JP.

Written by Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, the creators of Peep Show, Channel 4's new comedy-drama about a student flat at the University of Manchester opens with a semi-naked man making grunting noises over some hanging meat, and the tone never quite rises afterwards.
But for viewers who aren't easily offended, Fresh Meat's script is sharp, the lead character Kingsley is a sympathetic figure blessed with the endearing habit of saying the wrong thing to women, and the Gap Yah public schoolboy is rather amusing, even if his language will horrify anyone over 30 (if they can understand half of what he's saying).

Fans of current comedy may recognise a couple of faces in the cast: Kingsley is played by Joe Thomas (best known as Simon, the melodramatic sap who moons endlessly over Carli in E4's The Inbetweeners) and JP, the Gap Yah public schoolboy, is played by Jack Whitehall, the stand-up comedian often seen on panel shows such as BBC Two's Mock the Week and Channel 4's 8 Out of 10 Cats.

There's nothing particularly, ah, fresh about Fresh Meat, but this new teen comedy drama has an inbuilt likability which ensures that it's instantly preferable to the likes of Skins.

Created by Peep Show overlords Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, it stars Joe Thomas from The Inbetweeners as a hapless first-year student sharing a house in Manchester with a gaggle of contrasting characters, including a quietly scene-stealing Greg McHugh (star of BBC Scotland's Gary: Tank Commander) and - this will take some swallowing, I know - hitherto useless comedian Jack Whitehall proving perfectly acceptable in his first acting role. Mind you, he's playing an objectionable posh twit, so it's hardly a stretch.

The distinctive fingerprints of Armstrong and Bain are all over the opening episode, which leans more towards comedy than drama, as the various misfits get to know each other while desperately trying to reinvent themselves.

Rather sweet at heart, it should be applauded for generally eschewing the puerility, moralising and self-conscious "edge" which usually blights this genre. And if all it achieves is in some way vaguely justifying the existence of Jack Whitehall, then that has to count for something. Doesn't it?

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Comedy Fresh Meat homes in on the first year at uni, but it's nothing like The Young Ones, the writers tell Gerard Gilbert.

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Jack Whitehall, Greg McHugh and The Inbetweeners' Joe Thomas are among the stars of Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong's new C4 university-set comedy.

Joe Thomas interview

A brief interview with Joe Thomas, who plays Kingsley in new comedy drama Fresh Meat.

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Writers surprised no-one made such a show for 27 years

Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, creators of new Channel 4 comedy Fresh Meat, say they are surprised no one has written about house sharing at university since The Young Ones.

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Fresh Meat, starring Jack Whitehall and Joe Thomas and created by the makers of Peep Show, is being hailed as a university version of hit comedy The Inbetweeners.