A tight 5: August 24

MARTIN FREEMAN is to make a Little Crackers film for Sky. The broadcaster has announced that the series of 15-minute one-offs, set around Christmas, will return at the end of the year. Freeman’s will be set in 1977 and he will write, direct and star.

AMERICAN comic Aziz Ansari has landed a reported $3.5 million publishing deal – even though he has not previously written a book. The Parks and Recreation star says he plans to undertake proper research for the title, about how technology has disrupted being single. The book is due out on Penguin Press in September 2015.

JOE THOMAS and Simon Bird’s period comedy Chickens has proved a ratings hit for Sky1. The first episode was seen by 300,000 viewers on its first airing on Thursday – two-and-a-half times the channel’s average audience for that 9.30pm slot.

ITV2 has brought Mom, the new sitcom from Big Bang Theory and Two And A Half Men creator Chuck Lorre. The show stars Anna Faris as a recovering alcoholic, single mother. The station has also bought the rights to ten series of Two And A Half Men, which it will air from the very beginning, when Charlie Sheen was starring, from next year. The sitcom premieres in the UK on Comedy Central.

MARK THOMAS has been named as headliner for this year’s Southport Comedy Festival. His show 100 Acts of Minor Dissent will be performed on October 23, six days after the event kicks off. Details.

Published: 24 Aug 2013