Inbetweeners star finds comedy in suicide

Inbetweeners star Blake Harrison is set to court controversy with a dark new BBC Three comedy about assisted suicides.

Harrison, who plays Neil in the Channel 4 hit, will star in Way To Go as Scott, who illegally buys an assisted-suicide machine, after being moved by his neighbour’s request to die.

The sitcom has been created by Bob Kushell, who has a long career in American comedy, including The Simpsons, Malcom In The Middle and 3rd Rock From The Sun.

He said: ‘As someone who was weaned on great British comedy, including Monty Python, Blackadder and Fawlty Towers, there has been no bigger thrill in my life than to have a show on the BBC – narrowly edging out the birth of my son and trouncing my wedding day by a landslide.’

The six-part series will also star actor Ben Heathcote as Scott’s debt-ridden brother and Shirley Ghostman creator Marc Wootton as his best friend.

It will be written the American way, with input from other writers including Smoking Room creator Brian Dooley and Desperate Housewives showrunner Jeff Greenstein.

Executive producer Jon Plowman – whose credits include The Office and Ab Fab – said: 'Way To Go is a show about a current and difficult issue but it treats its serious subject in the same way that Arsenic And Old Lace dealt with old lady poisoners or Kind Hearts And Coronets dealt with aristocratic murders.

'Working with a really great US creator and a transatlantic writing team also brings us just a whiff of the way in which their shows find a different tone for mixing comedy, drama and death.'

The show, to be made in-house at the BBC, witll be shot on location and at Pinewood Studios.

Published: 22 Nov 2012