In new pilot for ITV1

Being Human star Russell Tovey is making a sitcom pilot for ITV set in an unemployment office.

The Job Lot is being made by Big Talk Productions, which also worked with Tovey on Him & Her.

Trade magazine Broadcast reckons that, if picked up, the show could ‘target a similar blue collar audience to Benidorm’ as ITV looks to boost its comedy output.

Last year, the broadcaster’s director of television Peter Fincham said ITV had ‘lost its nerve’ on comedy.

The Job Lot will also star former Hollyoaks actress Emma Rigby and Miranda star Sarah Hadland, the magazine reports.

Tovey is currently starring in the West End play Sex with a Stranger, written by Cowards sketch team member Stefan Golaszewski,

He tweeted yesterday: ‘Filming on "he Job Lot going along nicely, getting biked to the theatre each night after wrap... which feels both incredibly masculine and feminine at the same time.’

Published: 22 Feb 2012