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TV PREVIEWS
The IT Crowd, Friday 10pm, Channel 4 
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So few good sitcoms emanate from these shores, it seems as if anything with even the hint of a glint of OK-ness has a good chance of being green-lit for a second, then third series. Welcome back, then, to always-watchable but never-brilliant Graham Linehan sitcom The IT Crowd.
This series opener sees the computer geeks back in their basement, and features Moss trying to overcome a group of youths who regularly bully him on his way to the office. A second plotline sees Jen getting a labourer in to do some work around the house, although Roy suspects he has seen the man in a programme called Builders from Hell, being caught urinating in a client's sink – well, all of the sinks, actually.
Meanwhile, upstairs at the company, Denholm Renholm's wayward son Douglas, played in affected but effective style by cheesy acting maestro Matt Berry, is at the helm and doing an impressively inventive job of squandering the company's money, with purchases like erotic art for the office walls and gold leaf for the water coolers. When his accountant tells him to sit still and avoid getting into trouble, Douglas lasts approximately two seconds before deciding to explore a drawer he's never opened before. What's inside? A hand gun, of course…
Everything slots together rather nicely in this one, with Berry almost stealing the show and Katherine Parkinson as Jen giving us a couple of lovely moments. It's still not going to blow Friday nights to pieces – but devotees should be more than satisfied.
by Will Parkhouse, Wednesday 19 November 2008
Picture: Channel 4
