TV REVIEWS

The Outlaws – Sunday June 26, BBC One

Series two of Stephen Merchant’s endearing comedy thriller has become cheerfully indebted to Breaking Bad. The overarching storyline now involves our mismatched gang of community service workers attempting to build a drugdealing empire. Rani (the excellent Rhianne Barreto) is ostensibly the show’s own Walter White, albeit one who hopefully won’t follow his catastrophic trajectory. Meanwhile, Greg (Merchant) is its unlikely equivalent of Saul Goodman – a lawyer who can always be relied upon to swoop in and save his clients (and their collective criminal enterprise). Which isn’t to suggest that it’s derivative, just that it’s having fun with established tropes in a knowing way. Also, it’s a humane and rather nuanced show which never punches down at its characters.

Hungry for It – Tuesday June 28, BBC Three

Hosted by the ubiquitous Stacey Dooley, this shamelessly formulaic cookery contest contains all the usual – yes – ingredients. The contestants are rookie cooks all looking to establish themselves within the food industry. When they’re not competing in the kitchen, they’re living together in a house for no other reason than to potentially cause some friction between them. The last one standing will be given the opportunity to work in some of the world’s finest restaurants. Meanwhile, they’re overseen by a pair of soundbite-spouting mentors. Whenever I watch programmes like this, I’m always reminded of Alan Partridge desperately trying to pitch a hackneyed project to the BBC: “People like them, let’s make some more of them.”