James Corden on new action comedy 'The Wrong Mans'

Espionage, kidnap, mistaken identity, car crashes - James Corden's new BBC comedy The Wrong Mans is certainly ambitious, reports Catherine Gee.

The Wrong Mans, BBC Two, review

The Wrong Mans is another success for James Corden, says Michael Hogan.

Love him or hate him, James Corden undeniably does have a range of talents - actor, writer and co-creator of some very funny comedy (we'll politely forget the car crash of his misguided BBC sketch show with Mathew Horne). And now, dontchaknow, he's come up with another comedy vehicle, The Wrong Mans (****), which had a very accomplished debut last night.

Corden, late of the National Theatre and Broadway, has co-written, with fellow Gavin & Stacey alumnus Mathew Baynton, a comedy thriller in the style of Simon Pegg and Joe Wright's Cornetto trilogy, with appreciative nods (in the title) to Alfred Hitchcock's 1956 thriller and, in camerawork and misfit leads, to Peep Show.

Baynton is nice but weedy Sam, who wakes up one wintry morning with the mother of a hangover, only to find his pushbike has been stolen so he has to walk to work, as a town planning and noise guidance adviser for Berkshire County Council. On his way, he's the only witness to a car crash and he picks up a ringing phone; a man issues threats and in later calls it's clear a woman has been kidnapped.

At work Sam takes postboy Phil (Corden) into his confidence. Phil is beside himself; he's a 31-year-old living at home with his mum and he keeps trying to organise fun days paint-balling or bowling with his colleagues (oblivious to the fact they all think he's a boring knob); for him, this mystery is his very own live-action Grand Theft Auto, and he convinces Sam not to call the police but to try to rescue the woman and become heroes.

The opening episode efficiently essayed the set-up, and there are some promising relationships to be explored in the following five weeks. Sarah Solemani (who was so brilliant in Him & Her) is Sam's boss, but also the girlfriend who recently dumped him because he was too needy, while Tom Basden is the horrible colleague we'd love to be taken down a peg or two.

Corden clearly has pulling power, as those names above suggest, and Dawn French, Nick Moran, Rebecca Front and Dougray Scott will appear in future episodes - although David Harewood, who appeared briefly last night, shot his scenes before his Homeland stardom. The opener had some neat twists and turns and ended on a great cliffhanger. Definitely one to stay with.

Review: Matthew Baynton and James Corden shine

Overall, I was completely blown away by The Wrong Mans which is by and far the best British comedy I've seen this year.

James Corden's the master of the spoof

If the plot had been at all predictable, the melange of styles could have been self-indulgent. But the story kept surprising us.

Everything is right about this slick new sitcom

There are some hefty names attached to this project, but it's not because the material needs filling out with someone's ego. It's more likely because the likes of Dougray Scott, Nick Moran and Dawn French know top-quality work when they see it.

James Corden on The Wrong Mans

From Gavin & Stacey to a new sitcom to a Hollywood musical... Radio Times meets the man in demand.

Video: James Corden and Mathew Baynton interview

James Corden and Mathew Baynton revealed to Digital Spy that big-budget US hits such as 24, Lost and Heroes were the inspiration for the series.

Andrew Collins on The Wrong Mans

Having been involved in the show's promotion within the industry, I feel quite attached to it, but if I'd never met anybody connected with it and just seen the first two episodes, I'd say: watch it. It's right on so many levels.

Just as the weather turns rotten, here's The Wrong Mans, a bit of fun with a smart enough script and some actual jokes. It's about two hapless chaps who get completely out of their depth in a Hitchcockian adventure with kidnappers, spies and gangsters. Nervous council employee Phil (played endearingly by Mathew Baynton of Horrible Histories) witnesses a car crash, picks up the victim's phone and gets mistaken for someone else by bad guys. His brash colleague Sam insists they "roll deep" and play things out.

It co-stars and is co-written by James Corden... wait, did I lose you there? I know: Corden is a divisive figure, who became so ubiquitous a few years ago that the very sight of his grinning face - shouting about his celebrity pals, flirting with Lily Allen, singing the England football team song, showing off at award ceremonies, etc - could induce sheer rage in otherwise reasonable people. While he always had his fans, there were as many who saw him as a representation of everything grim about modern celebrity culture. But, after an apologetic autobiography, an award-winning theatre run and the forthcoming biopic about Britain's Got Talent winner Paul Potts, Corden seems to be clawing his way out of the backlash. And the sheer energy of this new six-part series indicates that he's gone back to his strengths, co-writing himself a supporting part in an audience-pleasing entertainment, just as he did with Gavin & Stacey.

He is still, essentially, playing that Corden character that became so annoying, but the effect is lessened thanks to a strong plot, script and cast - full of familiar faces in cameo roles, presumably his celebrity pals.