Our esteemed editor Mr Hirons may be an old hand at these glitzy press screenings, but for me, this was the first. And I have to admit to a few nerves – everyone knew each other, there was air kissing and sushi (which I accepted in a moment of madness to be polite, only to remember nano-seconds later that I’m really not a fan) and – ooh, there’s Jo from Spooks! And young Den from Eastenders! And oh em gee Duncan from Blue! My word. All human life is here.

First Look: The Devil’s Whore | First Look: Dead Set | First Look: Heroes

The reason that this eclectic mix of actors and, well, Duncan from Blue were gathered together in the Channel 4 HQ, was for the press launch of a new comedy which will air in January, called Plus One. There’s a possibility that you saw the pilot for this a few months ago during the channel’s ‘Comedy Showcase’ season that also included The Kevin Bishop Show, but it has actually changed a little since then. In fact, the actor playing the main character is now Daniel Mays as opposed to Rory Kinnear, which I guess is a pretty major change.

We saw two episodes last night, the opener and the third, and I think we got a pretty good impression of the series overall. The main driving force behind the series is Rob Black’s (Mays) discovery that his ex-girlfriend, Linsey (Jo, I mean Miranda Raison), has moved on rather quickly and is about to marry Duncan from Blue (er, Duncan from Blue. Oh go on then, Duncan James). And he’s invited, “plus one”.

Each episode then, is the story of Rob’s attempts to persuade some beauty or other to hang off his arm at the wedding.

This, as is so often the case these days, is a comedy of embarrassment, of wrong-headed decision-making, and of characters finding themselves in the most ridiculous of situations.

Nigel Harman, who we last saw cross-dressing in City Of Vice, plays Rob’s brother Rich, and he got a lot of the big laughs last night. Of course, he’s best known for his Eastenders role, but he has done much more theatre than TV, and is no stranger to comedy.

And then there’s Mr James himself. You have to applaud a guy who allows himself to be sent up so completely, but, of course, he must realise that showing he can laugh at himself will do good things for his post-boyband career.

Overall, this doesn’t have the air of a classic about it, but there were certainly some laughs to be had along the way – and the cast assured us that the last episode, with the wedding, is the best of the lot. I guess we shall all find out together in January…

[Written by Anna Lowman]