TV review: The Wrong Mans and London Irish

The Wrong Mans (BBC2), the much-heralded new vehicle for the comic talents of James Corden, made a slow start while London Irish on Channel 4 hared off with a young and lively cast energetically enjoying the sharp, fast-paced and witty writing of Lisa McGee.

Corden and co-star Mathew Baynton, best known for his work on CBBC comedy sketch show Horrible Histories, have collaborated to write the BBC comedy thriller, hyped as a British version of US action-filled shows like 24, but the first episode took some time to get going and establish the characters and at this stage looks unlikely to match the success of Gavin and Stacey, which Corden also co-wrote.

Sam Pinkett (Baynton) is a hapless and slightly nerdy Berkshire County Council town planner who accidentally gets drawn into a web of crime, conspiracy and corruption along with enthusiastic post room fantasist Phil Bourne (Corden) after he answers a ringing mobile phone that he finds after witnessing a car crash as he walks to work in the snow with a hangover after a boozy party.

"If you're not here by five o'clock we will kill your wife," the still shocked Sam is told by the caller and later receives further threatening calls.

He confides in Phil about what is going on and gets swept up into investigating the mystery.

"This is our moment, we have been chosen," Phil tells his more timid colleague on the roof of the council office and prevents him throwing the phone away.

Sam's boss and ex-girlfriend Lizzie Green (Sarah Solemani) however doesn't believe him when he tries to tell her a woman has been kidnapped.

The soon to become action heroes then visit the hospital to give the phone back to the injured driver only to find it is not his.

The first episode of the six-part series ends promisingly with Sam and Phil abducted in a van with hoods forced over their heads as they leave a hospital after Phil remarks: "Danger is everywhere."

The Wrong Mans will need to quickly up the pace in the following instalments or it will fail to retain a big audience, but London Irish (Channel 4) has all the signs of being a big hit show,

Sadly the opening episode only featured a small ration of the great Ardal O'Hanlon, of Father Ted fame, as the dad of two of the quartet of Northern Irish twenty-somethings dropping off his offspring who are flying back to London three miles from Belfast Airport to save on the car park charges.

Bronagh, angrily played by Sinead Keanen who appeared in the early series of Being Human, is the most forceful and foul mouthed of the characters enjoying the craic of living in London. The others are her oddball brother Conor (Kerr Logan), Packy (Peter Campion) and Naimh (Kat Reagan). It was originally made as a pilot but was quickly commissioned for a full series after Channel 4 spotted its potential.

The first episode was full of earthy language and shoehorned in lots of funny and often near the knuckle material about NHS waiting lists, unreasonable airline charges at airports, disability, cross dressing, religion, drugs and crime.

With much of the action set in a pub with the characters downing plenty of booze it would be easy to label the show as an Irish stereotype, but McGee's well-observed script avoids that.

"Why do people want to take an exam in a pub?" asks one character of the rigged pub quiz that forms part of the plot with participants blatantly using their smartphones to Google the right answers.