BBC Commissions Comedies ‘Scarborough’ From ‘Benidorm’ Creator & ‘‘king Gary’ From Tom Davis
The BBC has picked up two new comedies the broadcaster announced today. ‘Scarborough‘ is a new series from ‘Benidorm’ creator Derren Litten and ‘‘king Gary’ is a pilot from writer-performer Tom Davis.
‘Scarborough’ follows the lives and loves of a small handful of residents in Scarborough, the sometimes sunny beach resort in North Yorkshire, who meet most nights in the local karaoke bar where they swap gossip and sing 80’s classics. The 6×30′ comedy series comes from Derren Litten, the creator and writer of the award-winning sitcom ‘Benidorm’. The show will feature an ensemble cast which will be announced in due course and filming is set to take place on location in Summer 2019.
‘‘king Gary’ is a new sitcom pilot has been commissioned as part of BBC One’s Comedy Playhouse series and follows childhood sweethearts Gary and Terri King, a husband and wife comedy double act, and their aspirations to achieve social acceptance and moderate material success in competitive suburbia. This, accompanied by drama queen Gary’s constant need to impress his prehistoric old school Dad, Big Gary, and attempt to fill his big boots, equals a massive ‘try hard’ douchebag. ‘‘king Gary’ is a study of how the small things in life can be blown up to absurd proportions as the pressures of the modern world, and how we think we must exist within it, spiral out of control. A big comedy about life’s small and often petty dramas.
The pilot is written by Tom Davis and James De Frond, the creative team behind the Bafta award-winning ‘Murder in Successville’. Davis will star as the lead and the show will be directed by De Frond. Joining the cast is Simon Day (‘The Fast Show’), Camille Coduri (‘Him & Her’), Laura Checkley (‘Bridget Jones’s Baby’) and Romesh Ranganathan (‘The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan’).
“It’s a real coup to have someone of Derren’s great experience land a broad sitcom with a Northern comedy heart to it, it’ll do Scarborough very proud,” commented Shane Allen, Controller, BBC Comedy. “With ‘king Gary we also get a big daft southern comedy voice in Tom Davis at the centre of a very exciting cast. The Comedy Playhouse strand has been really prolific in launching series with the very best of emerging UK comedy talent.”
There’s currently no air date for ‘Scarborough‘ or ‘‘king Gary’, but we’ll let you know when we hear more.
