David Tennant and Michael Sheen are back in Staged, their meta, is-it-scripted-or-is-it-real comedy on BBC One. In the first series Sheen and Tennant were rehearsing for a play via Zoom, playing alternative versions of themselves and with a few celeb appearances, but this first episode of series two took their fourth wall destruction to a new level.

It opened with the pair appearing on the spoof chatshow “Romesh Ranganathan’s Six Months of Lockdown” to talk about Staged, explaining that their characters are “nothing like us at all”, “not a scintilla”. Fellow guest Michael Palin bluntly revealed that he “didn’t really like Staged”, to their horror.

Another blow was dealt to the pair when they pitched for an American remake, only be told by Whoopi Goldberg that they’d been canned in favour of Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, “a pair who are more believable as friends”.

Three big cameos in 15 minutes isn’t bad going, and promises another series of fun surprise guests and tongue-in-cheek commentary on the arts.

He didn’t appear last night, but Parks and Recreation’s Ben Schwarz has signed on as a series regular, and Sheen and Tennant’s partners are back playing themselves. 

For those whose first lockdowns were brightened by Staged, it will be a welcome return. Anyone sick to the back teeth of Zoom may want to seek out something slightly more escapist.