TV review: Josh, Series 3, Episode 2, BBC3/BBC1

I wish somebody would explain the logic of how the BBC schedules programmes. Why, for example, is the whole of Upstart Crow available online from the moment the series starts on BBC2, whereas Josh, which is an online BBC3 series is being drip-fed to fans week-by-week as if, well, as if it was a real TV programme. Yes, I know it is a real TV programme, but you know what I mean. And just to muddy things further it also airs on BBC1 - it just feels like fuzzy logic to me. If anything is going to be released boxed set-stylee it should be an online show surely...

David Schneider interview

David Schneider talks Josh, The Death of Stalin, Britishness and Trump.

Review: Josh, BBC3

It's one of those quirks of scheduling that the new series of flatshare comedy Josh has dropped on the same day that the new series of Curb Your Enthusiasm started on Sky Atlantic. There's definitely a touch of the Curbs in the way that Josh is plotted and also in the way that whatever can go wrong in the main characters' lives will go wrong.

Josh Widdicombe interview

With a third series of BBC Three sitcom Josh on the way, I caught up with Josh Widdicombe to find out more about what's in store.

Bruce Dessau's top TV comedy for 2016

It's been a bad year in all sorts of ways, but not in terms of TV comedy. I sat down today to come up with a top ten of the year and had difficulty narrowing it down to ten. Of course there were disappointments and programmes that didn't quite live up to expectations, such as Sky's Andrew Lawrence documentary, but there was still plenty to laugh at here. And if you are quick some of them are still available on various catch-up services. And in case you are wondering, I decided not to include Black Mirror - it was brilliant but just too painfully real to be funny.

Josh Widdicombe interview

We're just really looking forward to everyone seeing it. We enjoyed the first series but we feel like this is a real step up. We've really learnt what we're doing now and it was just great fun to make.

Josh series 2 review

Josh is the sort of comedy you'd probably passively enjoy if it came on while you were watching telly of an evening, but in the new era of online BBC Three, and all its on-demand rivals, you wonder if it's got a strong enough pull to be a show viewers will actively seek out.

Josh Widdicombe's self-titled sitcom hit its stride towards the end of its first run, when it ditched flatshare comedy tropes in favour of increasingly bleak set-ups - like Jack Dee's clueless landlord Geoff packing the pals off to a crumbling amusement park in Clacton. Here's hoping the second run continues to hone the same sense of millennial malaise: in the opening episode, perennially anxious Josh is dumped by his girlfriend, so naturally housemate Owen sets up a double date with "cougars" Valerie and Karen (Tamzin Outhwaite and Susannah Doyle).