Cast of new BBC comedy revealed as shooting gets under way

The cast has been announced for the new BBC comedy Henpocalypse! – about a bridezilla whose hen do is interrupted by the apocalypse.

Lucie Shorthouse from We Are Lady Parts plays as demanding bride Zara; Elizabeth Berrington (The Pact) plays her formidable mother Bernadette and Callie Cooke (Cheaters) is put-upon chief bridesmaid Shelly.

Casting was announced as filming of the  six-part series gets under way in  Wirral and Snowdonia.

Henpocalypse! was created by Caroline Moran, whose credits include Raised By Wolves, the Channel 4 comedy she wrote with her sister Caitlin based on their upbringing in Wolverhampton.  The show  is described as ‘a high-energy comedy romp’ and is also based around a group of working-class West Midlands women.

 She said: ‘This is a dream cast, the locations are epic, the apocalypse has never been so much fun.’

Also in the ensemble is Lauren O’Rourke (White Gold) as conspiracy theorist beautician Veena, Kate O’Flynn (Everyone Else Burns) as one-woman disaster area Jen and Ben McGregor (The Tuckers) as entrepreneurial stripper Drew.  

Jon Petrie, director of comedy commissioning at the BBC said: ‘It’s no surprise that Caz’s inventive scripts have attracted such a top cast. Her post-apocalyptic vision is both terrifying and utterly hilarious. We can’t wait to see it all come together.’

The plot has the hen-do emerging from their isolated Welsh holiday cottage into the harsh new post-apocalyptic hellscape, only to  find the male population has almost entirely been wiped out… except for the stripper they hired.

Henpocalypse! is being made by Various Artists Limited, which previously produced I May Destroy You, Sally4Ever and Dead Pixels. Joint managing director Phil Clark said Moran was ‘the most original and joyous writer. The apocalypse has never been funnier’

 The first-look image above features Berrington, Shorthouse, O’Rourke, Cooke and Kate O’Flynn.

Broadcast details are yet to be announced.

Published: 9 Mar 2023