Pulling

Splendidly black and acerbic, 'Pulling' is like a middle-class 'Shameless', which means that equally bad behaviour is accompanied by lashings of shame and self-loathing. After a slow-ish first episode, the series really gets going, full of outrageously brilliant lines and painful situations. The acting is good, and the characters superbly created - they're close to cliché, but one key step removed - you always believe they're really living this life. And that it's a life not so dissimilar from that lived by many real people is what gives the comedy its savage edge; it's certainly the funniest thing I've seen this year.

I came to this from 'This way up' and one episode of 'Catastrophe'.

The bulk of episodes were filmed around 2006 and this (imho) captures much of the zeitgeist around the noughties and the anxiety around being in one's thirties. Which incidentally was the decade when I too was a 30-something.

Sharon Horgan, Rebekah Staton and Tanya Parks play characters compriing the trio of women trying to play the hands they've been dealt whilst battling their own (and their other halves) demons. There's plenty of early noughties nuance here (clothes, music) which I love! A great supporting cast and scripts makes this a must watch in the UK comedy cannon.

This BBC Three series is a very funny, dark sitcom set in suburban London. It's about the lives of three very different women who are friends. The acting is very good, and many of the situations they get into are hilarious.

This was very well-written by Sharon Horgan, who also plays one of the three main characters.

The writing and cast are brilliant and some sequences will leave you howling and gasping for air! In particular, Tanya Franks, as the alcoholic, completely inappropriate teacher, steals every single frame that's she in! Why she hasn't been invited to play in more American shows is a complete mystery. She's one of the best comedic actresses on the screen.

I finally got to see the first two episodes, having seen the buzz in the press and heard about it for ages. It did not disappoint.

There were times in each episode when I roared with laughter. The break-up scene in episode one is so funny, and when Donna (played brilliantly by Sharon Horgan) is trying to bluff her way through a meeting in her new job in episode two I felt like my sides were literally splitting.

So dark at times it's harrowing, yet flat out outrageous and subtly nuanced at times too. This series is definitely cult classic material. I know I'll watch the DVD over and over.