The BBC has confirmed actor and writer Gbemisola Ikumelo (Famalam), actor Hammed Animashaun (Flowers) and actor and producer Akemnji Ndifornyen (Famalam) will star in high-concept comedy thriller Black Ops.

The six part series, coming to TV in 2023, is set in East London and follows the story of Dom and Kay, two Police Community Support Officers who join the Met Police in the hope of cleaning up their community but are unwittingly thrust into the murky world of deep cover infiltration. For Dom and Kay their lives "quickly become more of a fiasco than Donnie Brasco".

Dom, played by Ikumelo, is feisty and takes no nonsense while Animashaun plays Kay her naïve, but surprisingly capable partner who lives with his church elder. The pair are soon thrust into a high stakes secret mission where they find themselves out of their depth facing one of the leaders of the Brightmarsh gang, Tevin, played by Ndifornyen.

Gbemisola Ikumelo says: "It's great to be working with Akemnji again after Famalam and Hammed is such a funny, brilliant, generous actor. I'm chomping at the bits to get started."

Hammed Animashaun comments: "I'm so so excited to be a part of the Black Ops family! I've been a huge fan of AK and Gbemi and to be working alongside both of them, is an absolute honour! I can't wait for everyone to see what we've been up to!''

Akemnji Ndifornyen adds: "Cat's finally out the bag... This has been an incredible labour of love. We've got a brilliant cast and crew and I'm so excited to get going. Let the games begin!"

Josh Cole from producers BBC Studios notes: "Black Ops is an ambitious comedy thriller that defies traditional genre expectations. The scripts are gripping and hilarious, and we're delighted to have Gbemi, Hammed & AK leading our talented cast".

Filming is now underway with further casting set to be announced in due course. The series is co-written by Joe Tucker and Lloyd Woolf (Witless), with Ben Gregor (Bloods, Cuckoo) as director.

Black Ops will launch in 2023 on BBC One and iPlayer.