Radio Times

Episode 1/6

Lovelorn Kris declares his feelings for Maria in mime, but all Maria can think about is her career in the spotlight. When Maria's boyfriend Mickey tells her the lead singer of his band has been shot, she ignores the sneers of her "best friend" Alicia and volunteers her services. Meanwhile, after a disastrous trip to the fertility clinic, Karen meets a lost child on the streets and whisks him off to the London Dungeon for a treat.

RT Choice (David Butcher, 16 November 2007)

In [this] promising sitcom from Five, there's a pair of teenage girls whose efforts to be street are parodied with what feels (to a middle-aged bloke) like painful accuracy.

The girls are just two in a tragic line-up of characters, centred on a little London café through which they all drift. My favourites are a pair of police officers who are married to each other and broadcast their marital difficulties to anyone who will listen. To be precise, it's Karen, the wife, who goes public, humiliating her cringing husband Dave.

Karen is brilliantly played by series creator and writer Sharon Horgan, best known as the brains behind the cult BBC3 comedy Pulling. Horgan has been touted as comedy's next big thing; with Angelo's she grows a whole size bigger.

Episode 2/6

Angelo's becomes the scene of a tense discussion about sperm donation between Karen, Dave and Dave's womanising brother Kevin. Kevin is happy to oblige - but only for a substantial fee. Over at the X Factor studios, Maria is ecstatic to be told she's down to the last 12,000 hopefuls, while Kris is shattered by the judges' verdict that he is "horrific". Meanwhile, Shelley traps a terrified punter in her cab and invites him to her virgins' get-together on Thursday night.

Episode 3/6

Angelo decides to introduce a suggestion box but he's far from thrilled with the results. When a comment complaining about his beard shows up, he embarks on a complicated plan to trick the offending customer into revealing himself. Meanwhile Kris plays the knight in shining armour when Maria has a showdown with Mickey in the café about his infidelity.

Episode 4/6

When Angelo reveals to one of his customers, Russell, that he longs for female companionship, Russell offers to introduce him to his sister, Angela. Angelo wastes no time in inviting the attractive widow out for a romantic meal. But the mood of the evening is shattered by the surprise appearance of Maria who warns Angela that she'll kill anyone who upsets her father. Meanwhile, Kris plans his first date with Maria - on a duck-boat cruise along the Thames.

Episode 5/6

Global coffee house chain Café Mania wants to buy the café, but Angelo loves his business and can't decide whether he's ready to let it go. In the meantime, Maria is delighted to find herself fêted by a group of art students, although Alicia warns her she's being patronised. Elsewhere, Karen has to battle her desire for a baby when Kevin tries, yet again, to seduce her.

Episode 6/6

Having rejected Café Mania's offer, Angelo sets about updating his premises, beginning with a large mural that includes the Queen, Princess Diana and David Jason. Meanwhile, Maria's student friends ask her to appear in their college fashion show, but when she gets there, she's devastated to discover the other models are all drunks and drug addicts. Back at Angelo's, Alicia strikes up a friendship with Shelley and even agrees to go to a club night for virgins.