Helen Bauer is piloting a loosely autobiographical sitcom for the BBC, British Comedy Guide can exclusively reveal.

Coming to iPlayer on 30th March and BBC Three later in the year, Small Doses is written by stand-up Bauer with Rose Heiney (Avenue 5, Fresh Meat), and follows Bauer's character Kate, returning from Germany, having overstayed her welcome as a family au-pair by a number of years.

Back in the boring, nondescript town she grew up in, she's flat broke and her prospects hinge upon her C grade GCSE in German. Yet Kate retains optimism, confidence and a total lack of self-awareness, bursting into the lives of her family and friends like an unwelcome gate-crasher.

Spaced star Julia Deakin plays Kate's mother, Julie, with the rest of the cast including comedians Rose Johnson, Rajiv Karia, Rosa Robson, Patrick Turpin and Lola Stephenson, as well as Olivia D'Lima, Isobel Raine and Izzy Smith.

The pilot will launch on iPlayer at 6am on Wednesday, before a TV broadcast on an as yet to be confirmed date.

Directed by Rosco 5 (AKA Gideon Beresford and Behnam Taheri, whose credits include Mawaan Rizwan's BBC and HBO pilot Juice), the 15-minute short is produced by Kelly McGolpin (Feel Good, Chewing Gum) for Objective Fiction (Feel Good, The Larkins). Ben Farrell executive produces.

Nominated for best newcomer at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe, Bauer has German ancestry and began her stand-up career in Berlin. Returning to England and joining the UK circuit, she regales audiences with her often awkward relationship with her family, including her time spent training at her mother's home drama school.