BBC Two announces three sitcom pilots
- We The Jury, written by James Acaster, focuses on a man who has always wanted to do jury duty
- Our Ex-Wife stars Robert Webb as a divorcee in a new relationship who can't shake his ex-wife
- The Coopers Vs The Rest stars Tanya Franks and Paterson Joseph as a couple who adopt children
BBC Two has revealed three new sitcom pilots. They are:
A sitcom about jury duty, written by multi award-winning stand-up comedian James Acaster.
The BBC explains: "We The Jury is a comedy about jury duty, something William has dreamt of doing his whole life. He's always known he was destined to be a juror but he never imagined that when the day finally came he'd land the mother of all jury gigs - an actual murder trial. The jury are a mismatched collection of enthusiastic fools, inconsiderate bullies and self-obsessed weirdos, constantly getting distracted from the case. Add in a demob-happy judge in her final trial and this has all the ingredients of a disaster."
William is played by Ed Easton, and his fellow jurors are portrayed by Sophie Thompson, Diane Morgan, Oliver Maltman, David Schaal, Kenneth Collard, Kae Alexander, Vivienne Acheampong and Samson Kayo. The judge is Maggie Steed and the defendant is played by Ricky Champ. Kerry Howard also has a role in the pilot.
Our Ex-Wife, created by The Simpsons writer Julie Thacker Scully, focuses on a divorcee and the complicated relationship he has with his ex-wife.
The sitcom looks at Jack, who has finally found real happiness with fiancée Sara, but his ex-wife is determined to destroy it. Whilst Jack wants Hillary out of their lives, Sara has made it her personal crusade to build a relationship with her for the sake of children Ava and Max.
Peep Show star Robert Webb plays Jack, with Victoria Hamilton (Doctor Foster) as the 'unhinged' Hillary, and Melanie Lynskey (Two And A Half Men) as his new partner Sara. Ever Decreasing Circles star Peter Egan guest stars as Jack's phlegmatic father George in this pilot.
The Coopers Vs The Rest focuses on a couple who adopt children. It has been written by Andy Wolton, who himself is an adoptee.
The sitcom stars Tanya Franks (Pulling) and Paterson Joseph (Peep Show), as Tess and Toby. Tess is determined to save as many kids as she can from the sort of childhood she had. Along with her husband Toby, she now divides "just about enough money and nowhere near enough time" between their three adopted children; Frankie, Alisha and Charlie.
In the pilot episode, Tess tries to improve Charlie's popularity by gate-crashing his classmate's 8th birthday party, while back at home Toby has to deal with Alisha's sudden interest in religion.
These three new sitcom pilots will join the previously announced Home From Home (which stars Johnny Vegas as a man who has bought a lodge in the Lake District), and Motherland (a comedy about 'middle-class motherhood' written by Graham Linehan, Helen Linehan and Sharon Horgan), to form the 'New on Two' strand.
The pilots will be broadcast as part of the BBC's Landmark Sitcom Season, which starts on TV later this month.
BBC commissioner Shane Allen says: "These three brand new sitcom specials are the fresh out of the oven part of our landmark sitcom season. Underpinning BBC Two's comedy reputation for the eclectic and diverse, they are sharply written and terrifically cast treats with a very contemporary heart to them, except in the case of We The Jury which is just infectiously and joyfully daft!"