Australian TV snaps up Russell Brand
Should we have a 'big down under' pun here?
Australian TV viewers are about to be introduced to Russell Brand, after the Seven network snapped up the rights to his Channel 4 series Ponderland.The nation’s most-watched channel says it will air the Bafta-nominated series, which mixes stand-up with archive clips, from the end of April.
The broadcasts will come after Brand makes a concerted effort to establish himself down under.
He is performing two gigs in Sydney and two in Melbourne next week to coincide with the release of his memoirs My Booky Wook and his live DVD Doing Life Live in Australia.
The show also comes at a time when Australian TV is commissioning more home-grown comedies.
Pay TV channel Movie Extra has ordered a 30 Rock-style ‘behind-the-scenes’ comedy about a comedy called The Jesters starring actor Mick Molloy; while stand-up Lawrence Leung – who has previously performed at the Edinburgh Fringe – has landed his own documentary-style comedy show on the ABC network called Choose Your Own Adventure.
Meanwhile improvised show Thank God You’re Here, which made an unsuccessful transition to ITV1 last year, moves from Network Ten to Seven, while topical prankster team The Chaser also returns for a new series.
Published: 9 Mar 2009
