...and he's piloting a gameshow

Jason Manford is to make another acting appearance – in a new BBC One drama also starring Mackenzie Crook.

The comic, who presented ITV’s Sunday Night At The Palladium this week, has been cast in the ensemble show Ordinary Lies.

It is set in a car showroom in the North of England, with all the characters telling lies to try to deal with everyday dilemmas. Manford plays a happy-go-lucky family man who hides his misery over his job as a salesman, while Crook plays a hypochondriac and former gambler known as Paracetamol Pete.

Manford has previously appeared in his own Little Crackers short on Sky One; in the Tommy Cooper biography Not Like That, Like This; and on BBC One daytime show Moving On.

He is also piloting a new comedy gameshow called Bring Me Sunshine, with a run-through being staged in Elstree studios this Friday afternoon.

The format involves competing couples fighting to win their dream holiday by testing their general knowledge, memory and how well they know each other, Mr And Mrs-style.

Ordinary Lies will also be the first acting role for Michelle Keegan since she left Coronation Street in June, while the cast also includes Max Beesley, Jo Joyner, Sally Lindsay and Inbetweeners actress Belinda Stewart-Wilson.

The drama has been written by Bafta-winner Danny Brocklehurst, who said: ‘I’m delighted to have attracted such an amazing cast to Ordinary Lies. This is a show I'm truly passionate about.

BBC One controller Charlotte Moore says: ‘Danny Brocklehurst is one of our most talented storytellers and a master at making the ordinary cross over into the extraordinary. Set in the colourful and competitive world of car sales, Ordinary Lies is full of surprising twists and turns, a roller-coaster of a ride for our audience.'

The series is set to air in 2015.

Published: 23 Sep 2014