Review of the first two BBC Three Comedy Slices

BBC Three has started releasing this year's batch of Comedy Slices – the the pilots that used to be called Comedy Feeds, although the new name doesn't seem much in evidence on iPlayer.

So far a couple have been released, with four more to come over the next four Mondays. Here's our verdict on the first two:

Enterprice

#HoodDocumentary is one of the few bone fide web comedy hits, which attracted the attention of TV executives after it went viral in 2015.

For his next trick, Kayode Ewumi has created this comedy set in a similar working-class London landscape about two young would-be entrepreneurs, Kazim and Jeremiah, who are trying to make a go of their home delivery service, Speedi-Kazz.

But in the spirit of Del Boy, their ambition exceeds their nous, and it turns out they failed to check out their business name, which they are shocked to discover they share with an XXX-rated online channel. So they turn to a rather dubious low-rent lawyer to try to sort it – and when she can't, their only option is to approach the porn baron directly. Meanwhile, their attempts to drum up business through flyering seem doomed to failure, too.

Enterprice is a likeable, erm, enterprise and the two leads – Ewumi and Daniel Ezre – are very watchable, with believable performances and an easy chemistry. However, the episode seems underdeveloped with Loose Ends and pitched so it's not quite funny enough for laugh-out-loud comedy, not sincere enough for drama.

A couple of scenes certainly don't make logical sense - not least the opener when Kazz arrives on a call-out, apparently from a schoolboy expecting the porn star. So why does he have a dry-cleaned jacket ready for delivery?

Later,a flirtatious meeting with the lawyer's daughter seems to be setting up a storyline that never materialises. There's also something going on with Kazim's dad in Africa that goes nowhere.

However, sometimes these non-sequiturs are done deliberately: a scary looking dude with an eyepatch warning of Snakes in the grass was a nicely weird interlude. A similarly sly touch was the fleeting glance of a photo of the porn baron hanging out with Jeremy Corbyn, one of several smile-worthy moments in the 25 minutes.

Altogether, though, is something of a rough diamond - charming but not exceptional. It has elements that could be developed were it to be picked up for a series – but unfortunately for Ewumi, another forthcoming Comedy Slice called Hailmakers, covers the exact same territory of two young black wheeler-dealers with more assured wit, and seems by far the more likely project of the two to be snapped up.

Watch Enterprice here.

Sticky

They might have recruited Tom Hardy and Charlotte Riley to star in this, but Sticky seems like a stinker.

This crudely-animated pilot from Fonejacker co-creator Ed Tracy seems to think that the way to draw in young adult viewers is to appeal to their baser instincts, with the sort of cheap gags and inane chit-chat they might engage on their own sofa. The aim is anarchic but it all seems rather tired.

The preposterous plot revolves around four housemates who live in Smallcock Street in the borough of Shatford. And in case you don't get the joke, the road sign has been grafitti-ed so it now reads 'Smallpenis Street'. It doesn't get any better.

Our supposed heroes all sit around wondering whether they would rather shag a dragon or a zombie when suddenly the internet goes down. Cue lots of trite jokes about porn,Twitter , having to do Tinder in real life or being baffled by the yellow glowing thing in the sky when they are forced to go outside.

Anyway, turns out the whole internet has been switched off by an evil genius and it's up to our intrepid foursome to put everything right, encountering such obstacles as a librarian who demands to be sucked off and the sight of their elderly landlady in her crotchless pants on the way.

The team have plugged into the low-tech crudity of South Park, but with none of the satire and wit, while their cutaway gags are a league away from Family Guy's (and even those are hit-and-miss). You might be surprised to learn it took seven writers and 'additional material by…'s for this.

Javone Prince, Kayvan Novak, Tom Davis, Arthur Darvill and Tony Way are among those who make appearances… but don't expect Sticky to be topping any of their CVs.

Watch Sticky here.

- by Steve Bennett

Review date: 22 Nov 2017
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