Omid Djalili lands BBC One show

Omid Djalili is to star in his own BBC One sketch and stand-up show.

The Anglo-Iranian comic’s show was one of six unscreened pilot comedies to be made earlier this year as part of the flagship channel’s drive to revive its reputations for laughs.

Now controller Peter Fincham has ordered a full six-part series of The Omid Djalili Show, described as ‘a uniquely adult look at contemporary issues from identity, multiculturalism to death, sex and religion’.

And Djalili said, ‘I shall invoke the spirit of Dave Allen’ in combining sketches and stand-up.

Fincham said: ‘Omid is a very special talent and will bring something very different to BBC One. He's definitely the best British-Iranian comic around. The moment I saw his pilot I wanted to go ahead to series. I think audiences will love him.’

 As well as his live work, Djalili has appeared in Hollywood blockbusters including Gladiator; The Mummy and Spy Game, and is the voice of Tiger in the current animated film Over The Hedge.

In the US, he is known as playing Whoopi Goldberg's sidekick Nasim in the NBC sitcom Whoopi.

Djalili added: ‘All I've ever wanted to do is to bring world peace through stand up comedy ... and now that I've done that, I can concentrate on my new BBC One comedy series’

Published: 17 Jul 2006