BBC Sitcom Season: review of the pilots

Some of comedy's hottest names have been busy working on new sitcom pilots for BBC iPlayer, airing in September, with the hope of these creative projects later being picked up for a television series.

BBC Landmark Sitcom Season: the pilots review

In my last post I looked at three of the sitcom revivals that the BBC have produced but alongside these pieces, this new season also includes five new sitcom pilots. Over the next two weeks, all five of these shows will air and in this article I will pass judgement on them all.

Sitcom Season reviewed

If you are meant to leave the best until last, does that mean that you put your worst first? If that's the case, then the BBC is following that rule with its sitcom season.

Tess (EastEnders' Tanya Franks) and husband Toby (Peep Show's Paterson Joseph) have three adopted children, a point that is rather laboured in this comedy pilot. Even when it's not hammering home the adoption setup - the kids are adopted, by the way - the gags are a bit of an effort, particularly for Joseph, who really heaves them out. (Adopted) daughter Frankie, played by Erin Kellyman, is a highlight, however.

TV preview: The Coopers vs The Rest

Overall, the confident, funny writing and likeable performances all round make it a pleasure to meet the Coopers. After the travesty of remaking Are You Being Served?, the BBC could have a hit on their hands with this, the first of three pilots getting an airing in its Landmark Sitcom season.

The BBC are sloshing out a bucket-load of comedy pilots just now and this one is the best by a mile. Tess is cheeky and sarcastic and Toby is soft and gentle. Together they've adopted three children who're fine with their status. One of the little poppets nods sagely, saying to Mummy, "Yes, it's because your cervix was hostile."

Tess and Toby have wildly different approaches to parenting, and this funny, clever pilot shows the domestic chaos they live in. Their eldest sneaks out to parties and they find it hard to keep tabs on her. Tessa sighs, "Why didn't we adopt a panda? You get a newsletter and a photo." Meanwhile, their youngest is being pressured into religion by a pushy Gran from her "first family", so she's taken to dressing up in towels and pretending to be Mother Teresa. And the middle child is so clingy he's positioned mirrors in every room which let him watch his mother's reflection wherever she might be in the house. It seems raising children is "like a dog trying to do Suduko."

The Coopers Vs The Rest review

The Coopers Vs The Rest could be pitched in five words: 'Outnumbered - but with adopted kids'. And since its forebear was one of the best mainstream sitcoms in years, that's not a bad pedigree to have.