At the start of Series Two of the Boston law firm drama, nothing much had changed at Richard Fish's rather kooky establishment. Ally (Calista Flockhart) was still a skinny, whimsical woman-child looking for Mr Right. Billy (Gil Bellows) was still married to Georgia (Courtney Thorne-Smith), John Cage (Peter McNicol) was still too eccentric to be considered for romantic involvement, Elaine (Jane Krakowski) was still a nosey meddler and Fish (Greg Germann) himself was still looking for ways to make money. Lots of it. Greed prompts him to hire new litigator Nelle (Portia DiRossi), a tall, blonde power-dresser who leaves the other women bristling in her wake. But their antipathy towards their new colleague is nothing compared to the forces of hatred spiky Ling (Lucy Liu) inspires. Before long John (The Biscuit) and Nelle are embarking on a tempestuous romance, Ally is stealing Elaine's new boyfriend before going out with one of Georgia's exes and Billy begins to show the signs of instability which lead to him to bleach his hair blonde in the following season. Ally's outspoken flatmate Renee (Lisa Nicole Carson) got a welcome increase in her time on screen in this second season. Despite the sheer number of episodes David E Kelley and his team turn around each year, this second series consistently provided entertaining viewing to the last, despite--or perhaps because of--some of the characters being so unlikable. The inter-office banter reached new heights of inventive bitchiness, the comic CGI illustrations of Ally's imagination still felt reasonably fresh and the court cases managed to combine oddity with emotional involvement. All in all this group of dysfunctional and rather incestuous workaholics proved curiously engaging yet again. --Emma Perry

In David E Kelley's Boston law drama, Ally McBeal, his lawyers' private and work lives are always inextricably linked. Nobody does anything in the "Cage and Fish" firm without their colleagues knowing about it, including going to the toilet. Kelley is as willing as always to embrace implausible coincidence in his storylines for the pay-off of maintaining the high pace and dramatic neatness.

Our anti-heroine Ally McBeal starts her third season with a wet, wordless fling in a car wash with Jason Gedrick, and it's no surprise that Ally ends up facing Gedrick at the altar when a client asks her to be bridesmaid. With the entire firm invited along as guests, can she keep quiet about the groom? Well, you know Ally--she may not have any lasting success in the romance department but it's a subject she feels very strongly about. The third season sees fewer CGI expressions of Ally's thoughts and imagination, but the drama is just as colourful. Billy's increasing concerns over the balance of male and female power manifests itself in his newly dyed blond hair and his hiring of six PVC-clad women to follow him around boosting his testosterone. Other highlights include Ally exploring her lesbian side with Ling, Elaine posing as John's "fluffer" to banish his sexual insecurities and an explosive Thanksgiving party at Ally's. There are plotlines within Series 3 which stretch plausibility, such as finding out that Ally's dad is the man Georgia's been snogging to forget her husband's metamorphosis into a blonde-haired, sexist egomaniac. Ally McBeal does have the tendency to descend into sickening sentimental tosh, like all the "child inside" nonsense in Episode 11, but that aside, it continues to provide escapist entertainment of the first order. --Emma Perry