Episodes, BBC2 - TV review: Matt LeBlanc playing a version of himself is the real draw

In his best Episodes, LeBlank is the cable-friendly counterpart to Curb Your Enthusiasm curmudgeon Larry David

Stephen Mangan with Tamsin Greig in ‘Episodes’ (BBC)

Let us raise a kale, grapefruit and xylitol smoothie to toast the fourth series of Episodes, which is still gently poking fun at the pretensions of those Hollywood types via two Brit fish-out-of-water screenwriters, Beverly (Tamsin Greig) and Sean (Stephen Mangan).

This week's Beverly's "lesbian haircut" had got her into a spot of bother with studio boss Helen (Andrea Savage), while Sean was struggling to make peace with their old pal Matt LeBlanc (y'know, Joey from Friends), still sulking about that part he missed out on.

It's LeBlanc playing a version of himself that's the real draw here. In his best Episodes, he is the cable-friendly counterpart to Curb Your Enthusiasm curmudgeon Larry David, and this was one of those. Short on cash, Matt was forced to either accept a job presenting his detested enemy's new game show, or sell his beloved beach house. Events conspired to force Matt into both of these humiliating climb-downs, but it was at the beach house where he really had his face rubbed in failure.

"It's like a fucking Nineties museum!" said the prospective buyer – a younger, hotter, richer ex co-star Stoke (Sam Palladio from Nashville). "It's like time stopped in here… my parents had these chairs!" It was the kind of charming faux pas Joey might once have made.