Full series for 2013

Jason Byrne’s sitcom Father Figure has been given a full series on BBC One.

The commission, which follows a successful pilot earlier this year, was confirmed by channel controller Danny Cohen in an announcement about his plans for 2013.

He said: ‘With the line-up of comic talent appearing on and writing for the channel in 2013, this will be a big year for comedy on BBC One.’

Byrne will star in the show as Tom, a father or two sons who tries his hardest for his children, but finds his best intentions always go awry. He is also writing the show.

He said: ‘The BBC have supported me throughout my career and I'm thrilled to be transferring my fantastic experience from Radio 2 to BBC One. It’s the home of a lot of brilliant comedy, so to think I'll be rubbing shoulders with comedy greats, past and present, is very exciting.’

The BBC have not yet been able to confirm the number of episodes or the expected transmission date.

This summer’s pilot episode also starred Father Ted’s Pauline McLynn, fellow stand-up Michael Smiley and Dermot Crowley from Bleak House. All were also in the radio version, but it is not yet known if they are in the series.

The show will be made in-house by the BBC; produced by Julia McKenzie who also made the radio version, with Stephen McCrum, who previously worked on the BBC’s last post-watershed hit Mrs Brown’s Boys, as executive producer.

In his statement, Cohen confirmed that comedy was one of five main areas he wanted BBC One to concentrate on next year. The others are ‘event drama, high-impact intelligent factual programmes, a strong sense of contemporary Britain and warm-hearted popular entertainment’.

Coming to the station next year are new series from Ben Elon and David Walliams, plus new series of Miranda, Mrs Brown's Boys, Not Going Out, Outnumbered and Citizen Khan.The show will be made in-house by the BBC; produced by Julia McKenzie who also made the radio version, with Stephen McCrum, who previously worked on the BBC’s last post-watershed hit Mrs Brown’s Boys, as executive producer.

Here’s a clip from the recording of the Radio 2 show: