Nothing ever goes right for the Mad Dogs. We, the viewers, have come to know that by now, but it seems that Quinn, Baxter, Woody and Rick haven’t quite learnt this lesson…

Finally free from the CIA the boys are reunited for Baxter’s daughter’s wedding. They all say they’re getting on okay, but it soon become clear that that’s not the case at all. Then Rick tells them of his great idea to make them rich again.

After some hilarious scenes involving snooker cues, a fire extinguisher and a fish tank, two star cameos by Phil and John’s real life spouses (Beth Goddard and Kate Magowan) and some brilliant dancing from Phil(!) the quartet decide to go along with Rick’s plan. Which doesn’t bode well, because let’s face it; Rick is hardly the brains of the outfit, is he?

Skip forward two months and all seems hunky dory… the lads (and some of their partners) are back in Cape Town, and meeting up at Quinn’s beautiful and seemingly very secure house. But then, in a chilling shout out to the first series, Rick finds a dead goat floating in the swimming pool and the lads start to wonder if they’ve actually escaped from their past misdeeds. Something that the viewer has known the answer too for a while now. And the final scenes confirm that yes, their past has most definitely come back to haunt them… in a fatal way.

Some of the camera angles are a little strange, but it doesn’t detract from the feel of the episode or the acting. You can tell that these four (six, if you include Beth and Kate) are very close in real life… it bleeds through into the characters and their relationship. And the episode does still manage to pull off the tricky feat of balancing both comedy and thriller elements in equal measure.

We also felt that it was perhaps a little stretched out in parts near the beginning… We wonder if it would have flowed better if it had been one 90 minute special rather than two hour long episodes. But one thing is for sure… We cannot wait for the concluding episode because despite the surreal, wacky and dark nature of this show – We’ve grown to love the four leads (well, perhaps not so much Rick, because he can be a bit of a moron) and we will be sad to see their story end.

Big School, written and produced by David Walliams, is set in a secondary school and focuses on a love (lust) triangle between three teachers. Mr Church (Walliams), Miss Postern (Catherine Tate) and Phil’s character Mr Gunn.

Overall, the comedic elements of the show were mixed. It made me laugh in places (the car scenes) but by the same measure it made me cringe in places too (the half-naked lab tech in the cupboard – that was just creepy!). There were some new jokes but there were also some very overused jokes (Miss Postern storming off and having to come back sheepishly for her bag, being one). The writing was poor, predictable and bordering on offensive. Mr Gunn’s comments about ‘slipping [Miss Postern] a length and the ones in the scene where Gunn gave Miss Postern a sports massage, and she noticed that he had an erection, would have fit well with Philip’s character from Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes, Gene Hunt. But it’s important to remember that those shows were set in the 70s and 80s respectively – they could get away with comments like that, because that was how women were treated at the time. From a high school teacher in 2013…it’s a bit of a no-no!

The characters were all a bit 2-dimensional, with the supporting cast horrifically underused, and I find myself hoping that Miss Postern doesn’t choose either of her prospective suitors; as neither of them are suited to her! It reminded me of 1997 comedy Chalk (starring David Bamber and Nicola Walker); except it isn’t that good.

That was the show, but what about Philip, I hear you cry. Well, it was certainly a brave choice for Philip to take on a role which is so unlike any of the characters he’s played before. I have to say though, that with the little he was given he did quite a good job. He seemed to play the part with ease, showing what a fantastic character actor he is, as we all know he’s nothing like Mr Gunn at all in real life.

However, I felt that both his character and Phil’s talent were underused. We’ve seen from some of Phil’s other projects that he has the ability to deliver a subtle comedy performance and I can only hope we’ll see more of that in next week’s episode (which, incidentally, includes Philip doing an impression of Keith Lemon!).

It’s well documented that it’s difficult to produce new, award winning comedy and the team should be praised for trying. But I can’t see Big School being as much of a success as some of Walliams’ other shows, like Little Britain. (But then, I didn’t like that either, so maybe his style of comedy just isn’t for me!)

The ratings, of course will provide the final judgement on its performance and that is the test; can it sustain the number of viewers in what is a fairly competitive time-slot. We’ll see. I shall give it another chance next week and if I’m being honest, I’ll probably watch the whole thing because it’s got Phil in it; for me, that’s the only attraction.