Manchild: Sex and another city

Manchild: A glossy sitcom about a group of ageing Lotharios

By the BBC's William Gallagher

Anyone involved in the production of Manchild will have 100 reasons why it is different from Sex and the City - and perhaps one or two why it is better.

But, while there is a lot to like in the show, it simply never breaks free of its unstated roots in the hit American series.

It is said that Northern Exposure was a pale imitation of Twin Peaks but it succeeded on its own.

M*A*S*H the TV series eventually became better than M*A*S*H the film. And Alias Smith and Jones was, at its peak, more fun than Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Havers: Carries the show

Manchild has a chance but it is fighting an uphill battle. Whenever it is in doubt, it skips right back to the source material.

There are four central characters, one of whom narrates the story, one is successfully sex mad, one is envious, and so on.

Even the filming style is inspired by Sex and the City. The US show is so well made and filmed that you cannot think of it as just a sitcom.

Similarly, Manchild is made on location with an expensive look.

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It also has a particularly good cast, including Anthony Head - of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ray Burdis, Don Warrington and Nigel Havers.

They are all strong in their roles. Havers, though, carries the plot by narrating and speaking directly to camera.

His role also requires him to shed the gentlemanly Dangerfield image he has cultivated - and he succeeds.

Head: Last seen in Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Havers' character is unsympathetic but completely believable, disagreeable but understandable.

And, as much as there is some good writing underneath, it is Havers who makes the role and so makes the show.

The opening episode is not hilarious, does not have the verve of Steven Moffat's similarly sex mad Coupling, and its ending is particularly weak.

Yet, we could only wish for other shows to be as well made, to look and to move as good as this.

Manchild ought to be celebrated - but it seems like such a copy that it leaves a sour taste.

Manchild begins at 2200 GMT on BBC Two on 19 February.