The IT Crowd reign supreme in comedy

The IT Crowd is a jewel in Channel 4's somewhat tarnished crown.

The IT Crowd 4.2 review

Well, it was better than last week's premiere but I still think The IT Crowd's missing some inspiration, and the storytelling often jumps around like a drunken flea.

Imagine a secret club populated by Countdown winners and their beautiful Countdown-loving groupies. Now imagine Moss penetrating this geek fantasy world and you'll get the gist of this week's show. A disgruntled former champion challenges Moss, codename Word, to a gruelling game of Street Countdown, and Moss rises to the occasion. Elsewhere, Jen tries to break into one of Renham's seedy departmental meetings and Roy gets mistaken for a window cleaner, in a winning episode of Graham Linehan's celebration of all things nerdy.

The fourth series of Graham Linehan's workplace comedy continues. In tonight's episode, Jen (Katherine Parkinson) finally decides to attend the weekly head-of-department meetings she's been avoiding. She arrives to find a mysterious gathering of women in dressing gowns. Meanwhile, geeky Moss (Richard Ayoade) triumphs as a contestant on Countdown and gains access to a secret nightclub for past winners.

The adorable Moss (Richard Ayoade) goes from loser to schmoozer when a string of victories on TV's Countdown gains him admittance to a secret, exclusive club where men in jam-jar specs, checked shirts and fabric ties are fawned over by scantily clad women. Lunatic flights of fancy are what this series does best and Moss's experiences in this Bizarro-style universe don't disappoint. Sure, the typically odd twists of fate that afflict his luckless colleagues Jen (Katherine Parkinson) and Roy (Chris O'Dowd) back in the real world feel tacked on, but the sight of Moss playing the urban "Street Countdown" around burning braziers, a baying mob and wire fencing is a winningly loopy one. I can certainly see his clear-eyed threat to a slang-talking opponent of "I came here to drink milk and kick ass... and I've just finished my milk" finding its way on to geek chic T-shirts.

Even though this is the fourth series, the side-parting in Moss's Afro is still one of the best jokes in The IT Crowd. His head looks like a Pac-man in silhouette.

Tonight we get another reminder of how coolness and geekiness can share the same body as he gains membership of a highly exclusive club. You've probably seen the trailers for Moss's appearance on Countdown and this is that episode - but you won't have seen what happens after he is contacted by a mysterious, oriental and slightly Yoda-ish gentleman.

Meanwhile, Roy (who's sporting a particularly brilliant T-shirt this week) is trying to convince an old college friend that he, too, has become a force to be reckoned with and Jen is upset to discover that she's been effectively barred from a different kind of club - the Monday/Friday heads of department meeting. What can they all be doing behind that locked door?

It all adds up to an eight-letter word: Adorable.

I just wish they'd re-record the canned laughter for this show, which spoils the bits filmed on location. The laughter track sounds like it was found in the back of the same 70s cupboard as most of Moss's wardrobe.

This episode is a real cracker. It should really be a Moss one-off special but it feels like they don't want to push anything too far, for fear of going too far and having him jump over a computer shark. Good luck to them.

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