Details of the next Murder, They Hope special, featuring Johnny Vegas and Sian Gibson’s hapless private detectives, have been revealed.

The new instalment, to air on the newly rebranded U&Gold in September, will be called Apocalypse Slough, and revolve around a double murder at a rugby club.

Guest stars will include Sanjeev Bhaskar, Simon Day, Matthew Kelly and former EastEnders actor Shaun Williamson.

Creator Jason  Cook said: ‘What an amazing cast we managed to get for this one with some really fantastic performances. I can’t wait for everyone to see’.

The cast also includes Ghosts actor Jim Howick, Ben Bailey Smith (aka comedian-rapper Doc Brown), Jason Lewis, Gemma Jones, Harry Peacock, Ted Lasso’s Annette Badland and Emmerdale star Charlie Hardwick.

This Murder They Hope special – untitled at the time – was announced last May, along with the 2023 Christmas special Blood Actually. 

Vegas’s Terry and Gibson’s Gemma first made their appearances as a bus driver and tour guide who get embroiled in an Agatha Christie-style mystery in the feature-length special Murder On The Blackpool Express, which became Gold’s biggest show when it was broadcast in 2017. It was later repeated on BBC Two.

That was followed by Death On The Tyne the following year and Dial M For Middlesbrough in 2019, and then six hour-long episodes of Murder, They Hope, with the characters now fully-fledged private detectives.

U&Gold’s channel director Gerald Casey said: "I'm incredibly overwhelmed by the positive response viewers have shown for Blood Actually, allowing us to continue to deliver more killer comedy with an outstanding line-up of talent. I can promise that this one-off special will bring a guarantee of laughter and a murderously good time.'

Apocalypse Slough was also the working  title of the 2015 Sky comedy-drama You, Me and the Apocalypse, starring Mathew Baynton, Joel Fry, Pauline Quirke and Rob Lowe.