The BBC has commissioned a full series of a family comedy starring Alison Steadman and Katherine Parkinson, following a successful pilot based on the Covid pandemic.

Here We Go – which was originally called Pandemonium when it aired as a one-off in the Comedy Playhouse strand – is written by Tom Basden, who also appears alongside Ghosts star Jim Howick, Freya Parks and Tori Allen-Martin.

The six-part series will revolve around the challenges faced by the Jessop family. In the pilot they had to abandon their holiday of a lifetime to California because of coronavirus restrictions, winding up in Margate in December instead.

New episodes - which will move back and forward in time – will revolve around  changing careers, keeping the romance alive within a marriage, adopting a healthier lifestyle, kidnapping a dog, destroying a swimming pool and sabotaging a wedding.

The BBC says: ‘Each episode offers an intimate, observed and absurd exposé of a modern British family doing its best to support each other, if accidentally annoying everyone else in the process.’

And Basden said: ‘I’m delighted to be bringing the Jessop family to BBC One this year. Hopefully their spectacular failures will make the rest of us feel a bit better about ourselves.’

Basden – who plays Matt in Ricky Gervais’s Netflix series After Life – previously co-wrote Plebs and episodes of Fresh Meat and The Wrong Mans, among others.

Jon Petrie, director of BBC Comedy, said: ‘Tom is a comedy writer at the very top of his game and we can’t wait to see this modern family sitcom develop into a full series on BBC One, which it truly deserves.’

Josh Cole, head of comedy for programme-makers BBC Studios  added: ‘Here We Go is a passion project for us and one we are hugely excited about. Tom Basden’s scripts are exceptional, and bottle the unique dynamics, and occasional frustrations, of time spent with the family.’

A broadcast date for Here We Go has not yet been announced.

» Read Chortle’s review of the original Comedy Playhouse pilot  – which is still available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

Written and created by: Tom Basden
Made by: BBC Studios
Director: Will Sinclair
Executive producers: Josh Cole and Tom Basden
Producer: Tom Jordan
Commissioning editors for the BBC: Gregor Sharp and Seb Barwell.