Mad Dogs: Series 2 Review

Last night, Mad Dogs 2 finished up on Sky. The continuing saga of four ageing blokes continuing their holiday from hell, it reunited Philip Glenister, John Simm, Marc Warren and Max Beesley for more macho-yet-soft-centred bonding.

The original series was a trashy but entertaining rollercoaster of bizarre plot twists. Can they keep it up for another year?



Well, we like Mad Dogs for two things: firstly, camaraderie and good acting from the cast. There are some A-list TV actors in this thing, and they make the most out of it. There wasn’t quite as big an explosion between them this time, but I suppose they can’t squabble all the time. Philip Glenister’s Quinn probably got the best of it, with his disillusionment growing even worse after the events of the previous finale.

The other big feature we watch for is the OTT plot twists, and I must admit, they struggled to top themselves here. There were good moments, and their big mission in the finale was certainly silly, if not very high stakes, but nothing that made me laugh as much as the desperate amputations and dwarf wrangling of the previous year.

It still looks glorious, though; Sky seem determined that their proper drama is going to have competitive production values. If there’s a big winner here, it’s the Spanish tourist board.

So, in short, Mad Dogs 2 is very slick and watchable, thanks to the lovely production and engaging acting. Perhaps they don’t quite persuade us that this sequel was urgently necessary, or raise the stakes enough at the end, but as British comedy-gangster shows go, you could still do a lot worse.

And, as the final minutes reveal, Mad Dogs 3 is already on the way, taking the boys to a whole new continent. Maybe we’ll see a big explosive climax there? Nonetheless, clearly this show is destined to be Sky’s first big original drama brand.

More information available from the official Sky Mad Dogs site.

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