TV review by Steve Bennett

Crims is basically Porridge as done by BBC Three – which means plenty of gags about wanking, bummings and threesomes. Yet behind all the cheap smut there’s a very engaging double act between Elis James’s Luke and Kadiff Kirwan’s Jason that promises more.

The dynamic shines between Jason, streetwise but dense, and Luke, smarter, more vulnerable – and prone to accidentally getting into trouble. And when saying or doing the wrong thing means the real threat of valuable privileges being withdrawn – or, worse, a beating at the hands of the toughest kid on the (cell) bloc,  here an improbable Twilight devotee, the jeopardy is certainly high.

So rather than the father-son relationship between Fletch and Godber, we have a classic odd couple – two people very literally trapped by circumstance despite few shared values. The cellmates are in it together, though, as Luke is dating Jason’s sister – and they got busted together when an armed raid went wrong.

In his first TV acting role, James is convincingly and sympathetically out of his depth – though less convincingly under-20, as you ought to be as a YOI inmate – and has a fine reluctant chemistry with Kirwan’s combination of sass and malapropisms.

Another familiar face from the live scene, Cariad Lloyd, dons a needless Scouse accent to play warden Dawn, a new Barraclough, if we’re too keep the Porridge analogy going, in that she’s sympathetic to the prisoners’ plight. However as apparently the only female on the inside, she’s also the ‘victim’ of overheard inappropriate comments – and a object of unreturned lust from both Jason and her colleague, the unusually monickered ‘Creg’, played by Ricky Champ.

The script, by Amateur Transplants musical comedian Adam Kay and Grandma's House co-scribe Dan Swimer, trots along nicely enough, though only really when it’s in the genre of unlikely buddy movies does it fully shine, again thanks to the strong central characters. The smut is generally well below Inbetweeners quality, another comparison that’s already been made, even if the occasional dirty joke tickles. They generally steer clear of the real grim realities of life inside – it’s only really cartoon menace from the top dog’s gang – which seems like a reasonable decision.

Based on one episode, which is always tricky for a sitcom where characters are not yet established, Crims feels like a sitcom that doesn’t fulfil its potential, but has more positive indicators than negative ones, and will be worth a second look.

Published: 8 Jan 2015