Iain Stirling's sitcom Buffering is returning for a second series, British Comedy Guide can exclusively reveal.

Six more 30-minute episodes of the Millennial comedy about 20-somethings "adulting" have been ordered by ITV2, to air in 2023.

Principally written by comedian and Love Island narrator Stirling with fellow stand-up Steve Bugeja, Buffering follows Iain, played by Stirling, a children's television presenter with an aversion to kids, and his eccentric housemates, as they navigate being too old for nightclubs but too poor for mortgages.

Speaking to the Comic's Comic podcast in June, Stirling said he was "really proud" of the first series. And he added that future storylines will likely draw upon his fear of missing out when he was a real children's TV presenter, working during the day whilst other stand-ups were relaxing or focusing on their comedy careers.

"I feel like that'll be something we'll explore in future series" he told the podcast's host Sean L. McCarthy. "The idea that Iain ... I think it will be that world where he thinks that he's too good for a world, and eventually that world will start to slip away.

"I think we've all in our lives done that thing, if it's work or whatever, or a relationship, not that you think you're too good for it but you think that it's not for you, it's not what you want ... You start to lose it, then you realise oh, maybe this is what I want, maybe this is as good as it gets.

"I find that idea really interesting in comedy and in life in general. Of how do you know if you're doing the right thing? What are the right moves to make? It's impossible and one of the things we're trying to solve."

With several episodes co-written with comedian Eleanor Tiernan and Avenue 5 scribe Christine Robertson, the first series, which aired in August last year, co-starred Jessie Cave, Janine Harouni, Elena Saurel, Paul G Raymond, Rosa Robson, Sean Sagar and Bugeja.

The sitcom also featured guest appearances from Lolly Adefope, Joel Dommett, Michael Spicer, Nigel Ng and Alistair Green, as well as Phil Fletcher, who starred alongside Stirling as Hacker T Dog in the comedian's CBBC days, working the puppet Larry The Lizard.

Casting details have yet to emerge for the second series. But Sophie King, who directed Rosie Jones' Channel 4 sitcom pilot Disability Benefits, is taking over helming duties from Martin Stirling, with Sam Michell (Stewart Lee: Tornado/Snowflake, Mrs Brown's Boys), taking over producing from Jane Bell.

Buffering, which is made by the television production arm of Stirling's management company, Avalon, attracted mixed reviews for its first series, with the Scotsman noting that it had "some funny lines", though the Independent suggested "it's not that funny, or least not for us non-millennials".

The Guardian concluded: "As intensely maddening viewing went in 2021, the sitcom writing debut of Love Island narrator and comic Iain Stirling was almost unbeatable. Apparently playing himself, Stirling's turn as a kids' TV presenter was so screechy and irksome that his scenes alongside a puppet co-star saw him prove less empathic than a lump of felt with ping-pong balls for eyes.

"And yet, in a shout-at-the-TV, pray-for-disaster sort of way, it was captivating. It's not unusual to be hooked on a show by rooting for its lead. But in this case, you were rooting for him to fail."

Buffering's initial audience was just short of half a million viewers consolidated over a month. But that dropped to less than 250,000 by the end of the first series.

Stirling, whose Amazon Prime stand-up special, Failing Upwards, was released in May, also recently launched a true crime podcast with his television presenter wife, entitled Partners in Crime with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling, and has begun narrating Love Island USA.

16th September update

ITV2 has now confirmed the commission. They say the series "continues to follow Iain (Iain Stirling) and his housemates, Rosie (Jessie Cave), Greg (Paul G Raymond), Ashley (Rosa Robson) and Thalia (Janine Harouni), alongside on-off girlfriend Olivia (Elena Saurel), as they enter their late 20s, with every wrong decision, failed relationship and wasted hungover day intensifying the feeling that time is running out for them to get their 'adult' lives in order."

Iain Stirling said: "Steve and I are truly delighted to bring our passion project Buffering back for a second instalment. We can't wait to show you what our housemates get up to."

Executive producer Richard Allen-Turner added: "It's fantastic to see ITV2's continued commitment and support shown for this funny and sharp show from Iain Stirling and Steve Bugeja."