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Whilst patchy in places there is some truly brilliant material in this quirky BBC comedy, first aired in 2000 and released on DVD in 2007, which more than makes up for the slow periods.

Some of the memorable characters include Martin Freeman's hapless Paranoid Man, worried that he has stumbled into incriminating situations (I am not a Pervert! I am not Gay! etc ... ); Matt Holness' 'Outdoor Wee' interviewer; David Mitchell's Sarcastic Plumber; Robert Webb's increasingly irate Satan taking wrong telephone numbers; a long suffering Samantha and her Spurs supporting partner Gary who appears to be undergoing some form of spiritual growth, switching from week to week from relationship guru, to newly self-realised homosexual to Islam convert; Webb's inane BBC Learning Zone, 'A-Level Fun Size' educational presenter as well as numerous classic short sketches.

Some misses, yes, but on the whole Bruiser is a bit of a hidden gem.

Bruiser was Mitchell and Webb's first series as lead writers and actors, having earlier written for Jack Doherty and Armstrong & Miller in the late nineties. They were aided by additional writer Ricky Gervais and actor Martin Freeman, as well as Olivia Coleman and Charlotte Hudson, all still in the first stretch of their careers.

Though never rising above good, and quite often charting far below, Bruiser had some of the hallmarks of a successful series with some memorable recurring characters, such as an American TV producer, played by David Mitchell, who is obsessed with Alan Titchmarsh, only he pronounces it 'TITS-MARCH…GET ME TITSMARCH!', and an excellent spoof of spurious, 'down with the kids', TV schools programmes, funky, high on so-called entertainment, but light on education. One of these 'school programmes', ostensibly about the Romans in Bath, was basically an excuse for a romp between Robert Webb and Charlotte Hudson in a bath.

The sketch show is undeniably an extremely tricky format. The basic problem with Bruiser was that it had far too many dud sketches, and not enough good staple sketches in order to cohere into a classic series. Mitchell and Webb's unquestionable comic energy therefore seemed wayward and led in too many unfunny directions. They also didn't give Olivia Coleman or Charlotte Hudson much to do. This might have been OK for Charlotte Hudson, but Olivia Coleman, one of Britain's best comic actors, was wasted.

All of the above betrays Mitchell and Webb's inexperience at the time. Having said that, I still can't quite see why it wasn't given the chance of a second series as there was potential there. Still, Bruiser did point the way upwards for Mitchell and Webb on their ascendant trajectory towards the brilliance of Peep Show, which is a great series, and That Mitchell and Webb Look, which isn't great but still very good.

Still favorite this in all Holness career: fast,funny,easy to watch