Comic filmed Parental Guidance this summer

Romesh Ranganathan is piloting a semi-autobiographical sitcom for BBC One, Chortle can reveal.

Parental Guidance co-stars Guz Khan as his younger brother and Sherlock's Amanda Abbington as his wife.

The pilot is adapted by writer and stand-up Max Davis from his 2017 Radio 2 pilot of the same name, based on Ranganathan's life.

Shot this summer, it follows Ranganathan's world-weary character as he struggles to cope with his wife, kids and overbearing mother.

The radio pilot, set in the comic's native Crawley, also featured Abbington as his wife and Meera Syal as his mother and was nominated for best scripted comedy at the BBC Audio Drama Awards.

It is currently unclear if Syal reprises her role in the television version, made by BBC Studios and directed by Dan Zeff, whose credits include Inside No. 9 and Siblings.

Ranganathan, who is hosting the Royal Variety Performance with Rob Beckett later this month, already stars in the autobiographical sitcom The Reluctant Landlord on Sky One, based on his short-lived stint running his late father's pub. He will also co-star in Tom Davis's BBC One sitcom King Gary next year.

He has made several shows with his mother, Shanthi, including the travel documentaries Asian Provocateur and Just Another Immigrant, as well as the public polling show The Ranganation.

BBC Studios declined to comment on Chortle's story.

Meanwhile, Abbington has recorded an audio, modern-day version of MR James's classic ghost story The Ash-tree, adapted by Garth Marenghi star Matthew Holness.

The cast also includes  Reece Shearsmith, John Sessions and Margaret Cabourn-Smith, as well as Holness himself, and the story will be available for download and on CD this Christmas.

You can read Chortle's review of the Parental Guidance radio pilot here.

- by Jay Richardson

Published: 6 Nov 2019