...and Smack The Pony returns

An explicit drama starring Eddie Izzard and new episodes of Smack The Pony have been unveiled in Channel 4's new winter schedule.

Izzard will appear alongside Joanne Whalley, Hugo Speer and Kelly Fox in the three-part adult series 40, which is being heralded as a cornerstone of the channel's new line-ups.

Written by Bryan Elsley, who penned The Young Person's Guide To Becoming A Rock Star, the "provocative" and "shocking" show revolves around seven people whose lives are linked by their sexual and emotional secrets.

Elsewhere, Smack The Pony is making a long-awaited return for two half-hour specials.

Fiona Allen, Doon Mackichan and Sally Phillips are to reunite for the shows, which will be aired in January.

The team have already won two international Emmy awards - in 1999 and 2000 - for the first three series of their all-female sketch show.

Other comedy shows include POV, starring double act Mitchell and Webb as a couple of flatsharing 'weirdos'.

The show's hook is that the viewer can hear the inner thoughts of the main characters as they pursue their ill-fated love lives.

In Richard Taylor Interviews, which airs in March, comedian Mark Dolan will pose as a managing director to conduct a series of nightmarish job interviews.

And Your Face Or Mine, the game show hosted by comic Jimmy Carr, is transferring from digital channel E4.

In the programme, based on the website Am I Hot Or Am I Not, couples judge whether their partner is more or less attractive than random members of the public

Comedies returning to Channel 4 include V Graham Norton, Sex And The City, Will and Grace and Bremner, Bird And Fortune.

Published: 15 Oct 2002