One-off for Sky1

Charlie Brooker has written a two-hour spoof crime drama for Sky1.

A Touch of Cloth – which he co-wrote with Harry Hill writer Daniel Maier – is described as ‘a spoof of every British crime drama made in the last decade’

It will star John Hannah as DCI Jack Cloth, a ‘maverick, heavy drinking loner’ who throws himself into his work after the death of his wife. Suranne Jones plays his ‘plucky, no-nonsense sidekick’ with Green Wing’s Julian Rhind-Tutt as their boss.

Brooker, who previously wrote the zombie thriller Dead Set for E4, said: ‘After you've seen A Touch of Cloth you'll never be able to watch another detective show again. Not because it's a devastating piss-take, but because you'll have smashed your TV into pieces in a disappointed fury.’

A Touch of Cloth is part of Sky's drive to create more original comedy, following the launch of supermarket sitcom Trollied and comedy drama Mount Pleasant.

Lucy Lumsden, Sky’s head of comedy, said the spoof was ‘witty, naughty and unashamedly silly’.

Published: 26 Aug 2011