...plus rest of Xmas line-up

More details have been revealed about Channel 4’s phone-hacking comedy, as the channel reveals its Christmas line-up.

The hour-long special, written by Drop the Dead Donkey and Outnumbered co-creator Guy Jenkin, will air over the festival period,taking ‘a satirical swipe at the recent momentous events surrounding the British newspaper industry’.

Claire Foy, best known for starring in the 2008 adaptation of Little Dorrit, will play a hard-nosed newspaper editor, under the command of a demanding proprietor played by Foyle’s War star Michael Kitchen.

With the working title Hacks, the comedy will feature an ensemble cast including Kayvan Novak, Nigel Planer, Phil Davis, Alexander Armstrong, Gordon Kennedy, Russ Abbott and Celia Imrie.

Armstrong also features in the one-off sitcom pilot Felix and Murdo with his double-act partner Ben Miller.

Written by Simon Nye, the comedy is set in London of 1908 - the year the Olympics first came to London, with the pair playing athletes whose training regime extends to little more than drinking and taking drugs.

Comedy commissioner Nerys Evans said: ‘Felix and Murdo combines Ben and Alexander's wonderful chemistry with Simon Nye's fantastic writing. It's a real treat for Christmas'.

While the pair said said; ‘Hopefully the time is ripe for an Edwardian sitcom featuring excessive drug-taking, monkey twins, and competitive javelin. And if it isn't, then we had a bloody good time making this show anyway.'

Felix and Murdo will be shown alongside a ‘best of' selection of sketches taken from their last Channel 4 series.

Another Christmas one-off plays tribute to Tommy Cooper, using previously unheard audio and unseen archive footage, much of it drawn from the meticulous diaries of his life-long manager Miff Ferrie.

Fans as diverse as Johnny Vegas and Damien Hirst talk about their love of Cooper, while the man who tried to save Cooper's life after he collapsed on stage at Her Majesty’s Theatre in 1984 will tell his story for the first time.

Channel 4 has also confirmed a Christmas launch for The Mad Bad Ad Show, a panel show about the world of advertising hosted by Mark Dolan with team captains Micky Flanagan and Mark Watson.

Meanwhile, Alan Carr will host a New Year’s Eve party ‘from a forgotten Channel 4 basement’ – as well as a Chatty Man Christmas special. And Jimmy Carr will return with another Big Fat Quiz Of The Year – although the team members have not yet been revealed.

Published: 3 Nov 2011