Created by Pure writer Kirsty Swain

BBC Three is piloting a comedy-drama about a stand-up reunited with her lost daughter.

Ladybaby is written by Kirsty Swain who wrote the Channel 4 comedy-drama Pure about OCD.

Set in Edinburgh, Ladybaby follows a struggling 35-year-old comic who discovers the 20-year-old daughter she gave up for adoption as a baby.

The pilot is being made by Kudos, the production company whose credits include Flowers and the upcoming Sky One sitcoms Code 404 and Two Weeks To Live.

Swain began performing stand-up last year while researching the script. 'The first thing I did was a five-minute impression of my dad who is from Northern Ireland. That was my stand-up routine and people laughed. I just kept doing it' she told the Herald.

The Scottish writer is also currently adapting CJ Skuse's novel Sweetpea into a comedy-drama for Sky Atlantic. The show,  about an editorial assistant-turned-serial killer, is described as 'American Psycho-meets-Fleabag’. Eight 45-minute episodes have been ordered from production company See-Saw Films, who made Chris Morris' recent film The Day Shall Come. Swain will also executive produce the series.

Swain, who was named a Bafta Breakthrough Brit in October, is also writing an episode of Phoebe Waller Bridge's forthcoming romantic comedy thriller Run for HBO, in which the Fleabag creator has a recurring role.

Pure aired on Channel 4 last January, starring sketch comic Charly Clive. Based on Rose Cartwright's memoir of being plagued by disturbing sexual thoughts, it was a critical hit, with the Telegraph describing it as 'an excruciating success' and the Guardian calling it 'a masterly comedy about sex and mental health'.

Ladybaby's executive producer, Phil Temple, told Chortle that the pilot is in the 'early stages' but is intended for broadcast.

- by Jay Richardson

Published: 17 Jan 2020