Ambassadors

Episode three
Where, exactly, has ‘Ambassadors’ gone wrong? The idea, sending blundering diplomats to a chaotic post-Soviet state, is sound, while the casting – with Mitchell and Webb as inept and smug respectively – is tried and tested. The fault lies in the tone: ‘Ambassadors’ demonstrates, like so many others before it, just how difficult a comedy-drama can be to execute.

Tonight’s final episode is another slice of ripe characterisation, featuring Michael Smiley’s crack government interrogator and Natalia Tena as the Tazbek President’s spoilt, tarty daughter. There are promising situations too, as a power cut and an ill-advised tryst leave Keith (Mitchell) and Neil (Webb) looking distinctly compromised. But the whole simply doesn’t hang together – infuriating, given the talent involved. ‘Ambassadors’ may need a rethink before serving another term.