Damned

CHANNEL 4, 10.00PM

Even if the first series of Jo Brand (Getting On), Morwenna Banks (Miss You Already) and Will Smith’s (The Thick of It) dour workplace comedy set in the child protection unit of the fictional Elm Heath Social Services department passed you by, you’re unlikely to have a problem picking up the thread when it returns for a second run tonight.

The terrific ensemble cast – among them Brand, Alan Davies, Kevin Eldon, Georgie Glen, Himesh Patel and Isy Suttie – have got the portrayal of a dysfunctional office environment down to a tee. So much so, it feels all the more amusing for seeming familiar. In this first episode, the team comes under intense pressure when Al (Davies) puts a single-mother sex worker at risk of losing her children after mistakenly accusing her of plying her trade in front of her family. And a newcomer, know-all student social worker Mimi (Lolly Adefope), ruffles a few feathers when she arrives to start work experience and none of these professional carers can seem to find the time to be her mentor. It’s a scenario that yields a surprisingly high hit-rate of laughs, despite one repulsive running gag involving dog mess, a pair of trainers and a freezer. Gerard O’donovan