Going nowhere

Having missed the first episode of 'Max And Paddy's Road To Nowhere', I was seriously underwhelmed by my first taste of it last week.

It seemed to be based upon a only a few half-decent but predictable ideas stretched out too thinly (the A-Team skit which took up most of the second half, for instance), and I'm not convinced the characters are strong enough to centre a whole series around. In 'Phoenix Nights' they're simply two small parts of a much larger - and much funnier - machine. It didn't help that the Phoenix Club and its assorted regulars made an appearance during the flashback sequence - a tantalising glimpse of what we were missing.

Overall it smacked of being a vehicle by which Peter Kay intends to keep himself in the public eye, but, rather like Max and Paddy's motorhome, it was pretty directionless.

All of this is based on the evidence of just one episode, though, so I'm hopeful that the next installment this coming Friday might change my mind.