Wasted, a new comedy about amiable West Country losers who dedicate themselves with some diligence to getting out of their gourds at every opportunity, had some very nice touches, but relied almost exclusively for its humour on the scatological and I mean health-warning scatological; this was gamey meat indeed. Somehow it succeeded, by ratcheting up the nasties to the point where it's as easy to give a belly laugh as a sigh of relief. But subtle, nuanced it ain't, if you exclude the frankly bizarre presence of Sean Bean as an ancient mentor who appears in visions as a kind of Ned Stark/Boromir cross, but mainly as Sean Bean playing the actor Sean Bean. How did they ever get him to commit? I'm so glad they did. He shows remarkable comic wisdom and who'd have guessed?

With its trippy camera work, surreal gags and a slew of cultural references, this riotous new six-part comedy about west-country slackers is highly indebted to Simon Pegg, Jessica Stevenson and Edgar Wright's Spaced. In the first episode of tonight's double bill, head shop owners Morpheus and Sarah, tattoo artist Alison and failed DJ Kent search for a stash of ecstasy from the 90s. Meanwhile, the second episode sees "spirit guide" Sean Bean - in his Ned Stark garb - help out the gang after a messy night in Bath.

Wasted, review

Wasted was by no means perfect - a scattergun approach meant some gags fell flat and the surreal set pieces occasionally smacked of studenty self-indulgence - but it had a riotous energy and a cheekily irreverent approach to its headline-stealing cameo. Cool Beans.

TV review: Wasted, E4

Hilarious slacker comedy starring Sean Bean, Danny Kirrane, Rose Reynolds, Gwyneth Keyworth and Dylan Edwards.