Alongside Bird, Thomas and Sweet

Barry Humphries is to guest star in Sky1’s wartime comedy Chickens.

The Dame Edna creator will play a headmaster who takes a dim view of the three lead characters, who all dodged the First World War to remain in England.

The three are played by Simon Bird, Joe Thomas and Jonny Sweet, who also wrote the series.

Humphries said: ‘This is a wonderful opportunity for three of the funniest and most talented men in the Northern hemisphere to work with me. I am very proud of my young supporting cast, whose names I cannot remember at the moment.’

The trio originally made Chickens as a pilot for Channel 4, but the broadcaster passed – leaving Sky free to pick up the full six-part series for an autumn broadcast.

Sally Phillips will also guest star as Miss Trimble, a village outcast; while other actors in the series include PhoneShop’s Emma Fryer, Vicki Pepperdine from Getting On and Sarah Daykin from sketch duo Toby.

Published: 26 Mar 2013