The misadventures of Rob Black (Daniel Mays) continue, but "Black And White And Red All Over" manages to broaden its appeal somewhat, by giving the supporting actors more to do. This series could easily become totally focused on Rob's quest to find a "plus one" for his ex's wedding, but while that's still the obvious engine behind the series, there are signs of more complexity from Rob's family and friends...We begin in media res, with Rob's face smashed into a car's deployed air-bag and dressed as a panda, before a flashback reveals the circumstances that led to that bizarre moment. Rob's still after a girlfriend to impress his ex Linsey (Miranda Raison) and her celebrity fiancé "Duncan from Blue" (Duncan James), particularly now he's heard that their wedding is being televised on T4. Through his sister Rebecca (Ingrid Oliver), Rob finds a potential plus one in the shape of West End diva Abby Ross (Sophie Winkleman), who later invites him to a "bad taste party" (hence the panda costume).
Unlike last week's opener, this episode was less knotty when it came to engineering shocks, surprises and misunderstandings for Rob, which was good to see. Despite the fact it's a comedy, there has to be a level of credibility, and episodes would become rather tiresome if each one was an onslaught of wrong-end-of-the-stick humour. Instead, this episode built up to one big misunderstanding – with mis-coloured panda make-up making Rob look like a racist to a black paramedic – and it worked much better.
There's a good mix of actors in supporting roles, so it was great to see them getting something to do. We learn that Rob's sister Rebecca is definitely a single mother, but also that Rob's friend Paul (Steve John Shepherd) secretly fancies her. A few characters have yet to be explored -- like Rob's confident brother Rich (Nigel Harman) and work friend Laura (Ruth Bradley) -- but that will hopefully come soon enough. It might also be nice to get an insight into Linsey's character, as the situation between her and Duncan is all from Rob's perspective. How close was she to Rob, exactly? Why invite him to her wedding -- isn't that insensitive? Is she really in love with Duncan, or has she been dazzled by his fame?
Guest star Sophie Winkleman was good value, even though she just reprised her Peep Show character "Big Suze" (posh, immature, crazy airhead) for the duration – with an extra squeeze of selfishness. It seems to be a feature of the show that an attractive actress will guest-star in every episode (which is fine by me), but hopefully it won't become too ridiculous -- as Rob is hardly the type of bloke who'd attract the likes of Susie Amy and Sophie Winkleman, is he? Shouldn't he be having a trickier time luring the female equivalent of Duncan James?
There were actually fewer laughs than last week, but that didn't really matter. There was a welcome ensemble feel at times (the "Gaymaker" chat at the dinner table being an episode highlight) and it's refreshing to see Rob isn't written as a socially dysfunctional nerd. He even refuses to be overshadowed by his louder, sexier brother, as I expected he would be.
Overall, "Black And White And Red All Over" was another decent episode that showed us not every story will be exclusively Rob's, and thus become repetitive. We also learn that the wedding day is twelve weeks away -- so if we assume that each episode equals one week in Rob's life, it seems we'll get at least two series out of the idea. If the show can maintain its narrative momentum, continue to explore the characters that circle Rob, and craft embarrassing set-backs that aren't totally implausible, Plus One looks to have found fertile comedy ground to reap.
16 January 2009
Channel 4, 10pm
Writers: Tim Allsop & Stewart Williams
Director: Sarah O'Gorman
Cast: Daniel Mays (Rob Black), Duncan James (Himself), Miranda Raison (Linsey), Ingrid Oliver (Rebecca Black), Nigel Harman (Rich Black), Steve John Shepherd (Paul), Ruth Bradley (Laura), Sophie Winkleman (Abby Ross) & Steve Jones (Himself)
