Omid Djalili shoots a new comedy pilot

Co-starring Baby Reindeer's Tom Goodman-Hill

Omid Djalili is shooting a comedy pilot with Tom Goodman-Hill, the actor who played sexual abuser Darrien O’Connor in Baby Reindeer.

Details of the project are under wraps, but it also stars Llewella Gideon, who played Grandma Veronica in Channel 4’s Queenie, and is being directed by Matt Lipsey, whose credits include Ted Lasso, Inside No.9 and Intelligence.

The project is being filmed in Ipswich, close to the comedian’s home, with film crews spotted near the town's university last week.

Djalili said: ‘Very excited to be working with Matt Lipsey (the Steven Spielberg of British comedy directors) and Tom Goodman-Hill – one of the UK’s most versatile actors – in what is going to be the first comedy set in Suffolk since the 1980s.

‘Wish I could tell you more but with the A-list talent and crew attached to this project you can imagine our coruscating wonderment for what we are trying to produce.’

Goodman-Hill added: ‘When Omid asked me to come and work with him and sent me an irresistible script, I jumped at the chance. And to be directed by the brilliant Matt Lipsey and working with a fantastic ensemble of inspired comedy newcomers, I couldn’t wait to start. It’s funny and fresh and I can’t wait for people to see it!’

It is not the first comedy to be shot in Suffolk since the 1980s, as Detectorists was filmed in the county – but was set across the border in North Essex.

Djalili wrote the script with his children Ara Devine, Isabella Djalili-Devine, and Louis Djalili – with whom he runs the production company Tiny Speck, while Shahin Sobhani, who worked with Djalili on David Baddiel’s film The Infidel is also on board as an executive producer.

Tiny Speck are making the show with London-based Nest Production, trade website Advanced Television reports, with support from Ipswich Borough Council.

Nest co-founders Derek Drennan and Stew Batt said: ‘It’s already been an absolute blast working on this pilot with the whole team on the shoot in Suffolk and we are beyond excited to put it out into the world.

‘It has been great to see so many people in the industry and outside of the industry feel so positively about the series.’

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Published: 10 Jul 2024