The last time BBC Three attempted a prison comedy it was 2007’s short-lived The Visit. But based on tonight’s opening double-bill, Dead Boss shows more promise in bringing the laughs to being detained at Her Majesty’s pleasure.

Written by the greatly underrated Sharon Horgan (Pulling) and comedy panel show sprite Holly Walsh, Dead Boss comes across as a concoction of sitcom and murder mystery. There’s a splash of Porridge, a sprinkling of Psychoville (the threatening message tiled onto a shower wall wouldn’t have looked out of place affixed in the Sowerbutts’ bathroom), and a dollop of knowing clichés pulled from the likes of Prisoner Cell Block H, and it makes for a comedy that feels familiar but different enough to be worth half an hour of your time.

Helen Stephens (Horgan) is sent to prison after being falsely accused of murdering her boss. But who really murdered him? Why? And where is her fiancée with her vital alibi?

Hanging the sitcom on a mystery isn’t a new trick but it serves Dead Boss very well, and gives an amusing macabre depth to an otherwise standard prison comedy. Dare we say, the laughs that spring from the murder mystery on the outside are more entertaining than the shower and shiv jokes found behind the walls of HM Broadmarsh.

We’re glad that the first two episodes were shown together, as Dead Boss feels like it’s a grower more than an instant hit. Episode 1, while rapid and amusing, isn’t the strongest start. With so much to set up and so many characters inside and out to introduce, it comes across as a little scattershot.

However, by Episode 2 – with action revolving around the hilarious prison quiz – the pacing feels tighter, the plot more coherent, the characters more defined, and as a result the jokes land better.

Patience is key then. Fortunately right from the beginning of Episode 1 there’s excellent characterisation inhabited by a talented cast, especially Geoff McGivern as Helen’s hapless lawyer Tony (‘No Win, Some Fee’), and Bryony Hannah as cell mate and arsonist Christine, who’s simultaneously as creepy and loveable as a ventriloquist’s doll come to life.

Despite Jennifer Saunders’ name featuring heavily in the advertising for the show, her perfectly-formed appearances as the prison warden are disappointingly brief. A shame, as Saunders is to comedy what bacon is to a bacon butty: the more the better.

Though it actually works more successfully as murder mystery than prison comedy, Dead Boss has plenty of potential to become a sleeper hit, so here’s hoping it gets the parole time it deserves to grow on us.

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Aired at 10.30pm on Thursday 14th June 2012 on BBC Three.

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