A small child wanders in the front door, scoffing a pasty he found in a bin. Welcome to In With The Flynns, the BBC’s new family-based sitcom, basically a working class version of the execrable My Family. Oh, and Will Mellor’s in it.

The first episode of this laugh-track-fabulous shitcom, from the pen of Daniel Peak (I'm With Stupid, Not Going Out), centres around Liam and Caroline working extra shifts to afford a holiday  to Santorini, instead of their usual wet fortnight in Rhyl. Saving up for a holiday, eh? Just like real people! Ooh, and Caroline is having trouble giving up smoking, just like a real person! They have three kids, a girl one and two boy ones, and the great thing is that neither of the sons is played by Kris Marshall, so in that, it is already better than My Family. Liam’s brother Tom is the only vaguely amusing character, and fans of real comedy might recognise him from his role in Four Lions (which was actually funny). Oh, and granddad Jim is trying to grope a nun, or an ex-nun. Or something.

There is no reason for anyone to ever resort to watching In With The Flynns. It is boring, stilted and simply not funny. Will Mellor seems to have a sort of reputation for being funny, even though he has repeatedly proven himself to be as funny as a kick in the tits, and capable of acting only one role: a dopey version of himself( i.e. himself). Niky Wardley is alright as wife-of-Will, but mainly we spent the whole half hour going “is that Sarah Parrish? It is, it is her. Oh, no. Not her. Oh, wait, hah! It is! It’s Sarah...oh no, it’s not.” This show is a complete failure, with its only upside being that it’s marginally less suicide-inducingly dull than Caroline Quentin vehicle Life of Riley (that used to inhabit this timeslot). If you want a real laugh, Google “Will Mellor pop career”.

In With The Flynns is on BBC1, Wednesdays at 8:30pm.