In BBC sitcom pilot

Jennifer Saunders is to play Harry Hill's mother in a new BBC sitcom.

A non-broadcast pilot is being recorded at Pinewood Studios next month.

The premise of the comedy is that Hill still lives at home with his mother, with producers calling it a 'brilliantly mad story … with an all-star cast'.

Directed by Only Fools and Horses' Tony Dow, the sitcom is another joint venture from Hill's NIT TV company and CPL Productions, following their collaborations on Harry Hill's Tea Time for Sky and Harry Hill's Alien Fun Capsule for ITV, which has just been nominated for best entertainment series in the Edinburgh TV Awards.

Further casting has yet to be revealed.

In 2016 it was announced that Hill was working on a BBC pilot based on his 2010 spoof memoir, Livin' The Dreem: A Year In My Life … Probably, which purports to share tales from his allegedly celebrity-filled life at home with his mum in Bexhill, East Sussex.

However, a BBC spokesperson told Chortle that this new sitcom is not based on the book, despite the similarities.

Speaking when the original pilot was announced, Hill said: 'The sitcom idea is one that’s been bubbling under for a while and I’m looking forward to working with Shane Allen at BBC comedy, who’s been a great supporter of mine.’

Hill is also executive producing a BBC Three character comedy show from double-act Natasia Demetriou and Ellie White with NIT TV it was announced earlier this week.

Meanwhile, the comic, who became a patron of The Punch & Judy Fellowship this month, embarks upon his first tour in five years in October with a show aimed at children, How To Be Funny – For Kids!, a tie-in with his latest children's book, Matt Millz Stands Up, about an adolescent comedian.

Tickets for the pilot recording on July 11 are available here.

- by Jay Richardson

Published: 22 Jun 2018