Channel seeks to boost comedy output

Billie Piper is to star in a new BBC Three sitcom, as the channel seeks to boost its comedy output.

The former Dr Who sidekick will be the female lead in Tom And Jenny, a ‘hig-octane’ comedy about a feuding couple who are forced to continue living together after a break-up.

The pilot, billed as a younger version of the War Of The Roses movie, is being written Kevin Bishop’s writing partner Lee Hupfield. It will be made by Peep Show producers Objective.

BBC Three controller Zai Bennett said: ‘It'll be quite raucous - a little like a live action cartoon - and has lots of effects in it such as slow-mo and bullet time.’

At the Edinburgh International Television Festival Bennett said he was looking for new comedies – after canceling much of the channel’s existing comedy shows.

We have some great comedic personalities like Russell Howard and Lee Mack but I want to rebalance the channel slightly,’ he said. ‘We haven't really had the success, comedy-wise, we had in the past with Little Britain, Mighty Boosh and Gavin & Stacey.

We need weird, crazy stuff that people don't get, like The Mighty Boosh, and we're definitely lacking a studio sitcom or a show with a really high gag rate.’

Comedy shows already heading to BBC Three include coming of age comedy Pramface, about two young teenagers who are having a baby together; the prison sitcom Life Story from Sharon Horgan and Holly Walsh; a new series of White Van Man starring Will Mellor; and the American adaptation of the Australian series Wilfred, about a man who befriends a dog, who he sees as a man in a costume.

Published: 28 Aug 2011