Northern Irish comedy series hits the BBC next month

Jamie Demetriou has joined the cast of the new BBC comedy Funboys, the broadcaster has announced.

The four-part series about three ‘emotionally-unassembled’ young men in small-town Northern Ireland is set to launch this this February, whith producers Mayhay Studios saying it takes a ‘fly-on-the-wall approach, prioritising authentic, naturalistic comedy whilst exploring modern themes of male vulnerability, religious dogma and handjobs’.

While details of Demetriou’s role have not been revealed, he said: ‘The Funboys pilot blew me away. Their dedication to making something genuinely funny and specific is deeply exciting and very rare. Getting to see it in person on set was a career highlight for me.’

He joins the core cast of Ryan Dylan, Rian Lennon and Lee R James, below, as three young men attempting to navigate the hardships of life ‘from first girlfriends to dead pet pigs’ while maintaining their love of ‘wholesome mucking about’.

The show is being overseen by Simon Mayhew-Archer, the award-winning producer of This Country, who said: ‘Rian, Ryan and Lee are three of the funniest, most inventive people I've worked with and I really hope this show brings as much happiness to others as it has to me.’

Also announced as joining the cast today are are Ele McKenzie, Brian Devlin, Owen Colgan, Paul Bazely, Richard Croxford, Emer O’Connor, Amanda Hurwitz, James Martin, Vanessa Ifediora, Walter Chigui and Brendan Quinn.

Lennon – who both directs the show and writes it with his co-star Dylan – said: ‘We were very lucky to have such a uniquely funny assortment of actors who understood the show’s specific tone. Each person brought their own colour and verve and the result is a lovely collaborative finger painting of silly wholesome comedy that we're very excited to stick up on the nation’s fridges.'

Jon Petrie, the BBC’s director of comedy commissioning added: ‘Rian, Ryan and Lee have a completely original and hilarious comic vision, so we’re delighted to see their debut series arrive on screen and to have exciting new Northern Irish voices on the BBC.’ 

The half-hour episodes will air on BBC Northern Ireland, BBC Three and iPlayer.

Made by: Mayhay Studios with support from Northern Ireland Screen
Written by: Rian Lennon and Ryan Dylan
Story writer and executive producer: Simon Mayhew-Archer
Director: Rian Lennon
Producer: Leah Draws
Ordered by: Jon Petrie, BBC director of comedy commissioning and Eddie Doyle, BBC Northern Ireland's head of commissioning
Commissioners: Navi Lamba and Seb Barwell
Commissioning editor for BBC Northern Ireland: Mary McKeagney

Published: 16 Jan 2025