London Irish wasn't over-burdened with storyline. It was a series of sketches, loosely stitched together and then buried under shovel-loads of stereotypes.

The characters were four twentysomething friends - let's call them Ditzy, Grumpy, Earnest and Thick - trying to organise a pub quiz to win a magnum of vodka. They'd do anything for vodka, you see. Those Irish boozers, aren't they hilarious?

But there's much more to racist Irish cliches than just incontinent alcoholism. They make bizarre leaps of logic, they have riotous religious hang-ups and uproarious sexual obsessions, they swear like how's-your-father and the impish little rascals always know where to get drugs and guns.

Ditzy was fretting because her psychotic jailbird boyfriend was a Protestant, Earnest's mate got his hand blown off with a shotgun, and Thick wore a dress. It was as much fun as a Friday night in the drunk cells at Brixton police station.

If you think Mrs Brown's Boys is far too tasteful and restrained, you might like London Irish. But I can't imagine why.

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Being Human's Sinead Keenan plays one of four hard-drinking Northern Irish friends on the lash in London in the new, no-holds-barred Channel 4 comedy London Irish (Tuesday).

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