...as does Katherine Parkinson

Imelda Staunton and the IT Crowd’s Katherine Parkinson are to join the cast of Psychoville.

Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton’s dark comedy thriller is coming back for a Halloween special and a second series, marking a return to TV comedy for Staunton after her recent roles in the Harry Potter series and Vera Drake.

She will star as a ‘sharp-suited, shadowy megalomaniac with mysterious motives,’ the BBC says.

She said: ‘There's nothing I enjoy more than hanging out with weirdoes, freaks and undesirables, so of course I jumped at the chance to work on Psychoville with Steve and Reece.’

In a statement, Shearsmith and Pemberton said of her character: ‘She looks like a cross between Mary Quant and Louise Brooks. She is a powerful woman who is a little bit Jane Tennison from Prime Suspect but longs to be James Bond’s M.’

In the 60-minute special the spirits are gathering at Ravenhill Hospital for the Completely Insane where TV researcher Phil from Dale Winton's Overnight Ghost Hunt is scouting locations.

Returning stars include Eileen Aitkins as Nurse Kenchington, Dawn French as Joy, Daisy Haggard as Debbie, Jason Tompkins as Robert, Lisa Hammond as Kerry and Christopher Biggins as himself. While newcomers for the second series includesJason Watkins from Being Human, Casualty’s Mark Bonnar and Sarah Solemani from Him And Her.

Published: 9 Aug 2010