News

Big Boys, one of Channel 4’s biggest comedies of the decade, has been renewed for a third and final season. Watch the trailer below.

The show from Jack Rooke and starring Derry Girls’ Dylan Llewellyn will see the gang enter their final year at Brent Uni, with all the ups and downs of dissertations, deadlines, dating and the devastating departure of Louis Walsh from The X-Factor. Peggy and Shannon embark on new romances and never-ending nappy changes, whilst Jack and Danny’s friendship is tested to its limits as they realise proper adult life is coming.

Of the show concluding, Rooke said: “Ten years ago I took a rather ramshackle comedy-theatre hour about grief and friendship to a damp cave at the Edinburgh Fringe and never thought a decade later it’d be a silly, sweet lil sitcom about a lad’s lad and a dweeby gay becoming best mates.

Edinburgh Fringe-originated college comedy series “Big Boys” is set to end after Season 3, Variety can confirm.

The show, which launched in 2022 after a run at the famous Scottish arts festival, stars Dylan Llewellyn and Jon Pointing as unlikely flatmates, who are thrown together in their first year at Brent University.

The third and final season is set to air on Channel 4 in February. In the U.S. the first two seasons are available on Hulu.

Season 3 will see Jack (played by Llewellyn) and Danny (Pointing) back together as they navigate the roller-coaster of deadlines, dissertations and deadlines. With the show set in 2013, it will also see Jack deal with the devastating news that “The X-Factor” judge Louis Walsh is departing the singing competition.

Meanwhile Peggy (Camille Coduri) and Shannon (Harriet Webb) embark on new romances and nappy changes.

With “real” adult life on the horizon, will the friends choose...

Exclusive: Here are a couple of exclusive images of Inglourious Basterds star Diane Kruger in buzzy Paramount+ series Little Disasters.

Cannes Award-winning actor Kruger plays Jess in the adaptation of the Sarah Vaughan novel. When she takes her baby daughter to hospital with a head injury that she can’t explain, her close friend and on-duty A&e doctor Liz must make the excruciating decision of whether to call social services on her longtime friend. This decision sets in motion a chain of events that show how one moment can fracture and nearly destroy entire families and friendships. The show also stars Jo Joyner, Patrick Baladi (Ted Lasso), Shelley Conn, Emily Taaffe, JJ Feild, Ben Bailey Smith and Stephen Campbell Moore.

Diane Kruger and JJ Field in Little Disasters. Image: Roughcut / Paramount Global / Kristóf Galgóczi Németh

Kruger has had far more movie roles than TV but she did play Detective Sonya Cross in FX’s version of The Bridge last decade. The German actor, who broke out in 2004’s epic war film Troy, was described as an “intelligent and dynamic actress, whose sheer presence brings with it a unique quality that leaves you inspired” by Little Disasters director Eva Sigurdardottir.

“Attaching Diane allowed me to explore sides of Jess’ character in deeper ways than I had anticipated,” she added. “Little Disasters is a story of a warm and loving mother who is hiding a dark secret, and Diane navigated that character so elegantly, with relatable and warm performances, as well as truly haunting and thrilling moments.”

That relatability attracted Sigurdardottir to Little Disasters, she told us, along with a “tension and thriller engine rooted in very relatable and familiar domestic settings.”

“I am a filmmaker who is drawn to brutally real and gritty stories, and here we had a glamorous and aspirational setting, yet with a terrifying central conflict – a hurt child,” she added.

Marianna Abbotts is exec producing for Big Boys producer Roughcut TV, which has recently moved into drama. She said she “fell in love with” Vaughan’s novels after reading Anatomy of a Scandal. “Sarah often writes about professional women who are forced to make impossible decisions. At the heart of Little Disasters is a really difficult moral dilemma when one friend is forced to call social services on another,” she added.

To aid with tackling these sensitive topics, the Roughcut team worked closely with Vaughan along with multiple advisors. “We wanted to portray the issues in the book accurately and it was extremely important to get that right,” said Abbotts. “We consulted medical, police and social service advisers who guided us with accuracy and sensitivity while understanding the need to tell a dramatic story.”

Little Disasters is a six-part series for Paramount+ UK and Ireland. Ruth Fowler and Amanda Duke adapted the series for the screen with Roughcut Television EPs Ash Atalla, Alex Smith and Abbotts on board alongside Vaughan. Simon Judd EPs for Fremantle, Sigurdardottir is the director and Myf Hopkins serves as the producer. The series was commissioned by Sebastian Cardwell and Paul Testar and will premiere next year. Fremantle is handling global sales.

Exclusive: The BBC has renewed comedy series We Might Regret This for two more seasons, providing new impetus for its producers’ hunt for a U.S. buyer.

A recommission has looked likely for some time following strong reviews in the UK and two more six-part runs have now been officially confirmed to Deadline.

From creators Kyla Harris and Lee Getty, We Might Regret This follows Freya (Kyla Harris), a woman in love who leaves her native Canada for London to be with her boyfriend, Abe (Darren Boyd), a to-year-old straight-laced lawyer with whom she shares a loving relationship and an electric sexual connection.

Freya is a 30-something artist who is a tetraplegic, which means she is paralyzed below the neck and all four limbs are affected due to a spinal cord injury. She requires the assistance of a 24-hour Pa, an intimate role she offers to her chaotic and impulsive...

Exclusive: Killing Eve co-producer Charlotte Essex is heading to UK indie Roughcut TV to develop a slate of projects for its drama push.

Essex will build on existing relationships while seeking new and emerging writers for her slate, which comes as Stath Lets Flats maker Roughcut ups its drama ambitions.

Essex most recently produced Insomnia for Left Bank Pictures/Paramount+, Who is Erin Carter? for Left Bank Pictures/Netflix and the fourth and final series of Killing Eve for Sid Gentle Films/AMC. She has previously script exec’d the fourth series of ITV’s Unforgotten and the BBC’s Gold Digger.

Roughcut, which is run by The Office producer Ash Atalla, has been producing comedies for years but recently expanded into drama under Marianna Abbotts. The indie made Coma for Channel 5 and is producing Little Disasters for Paramount+. Earlier this year it tied with Fremantle on a drama development deal.

“Stath Lets Flats” producer Roughcut TV have signed a first look development deal with Fremantle as they lean into their drama slate.

The deal will see Fremantle become the primary home for Roughcut’s drama projects, working closely with the global drama and international distribution divisions.

Roughcut, who recently announced upcoming Diane Kruger-fronted series “Little Disasters” for Paramount+, was founded by Ash Atalla and Tim Sealey and quickly built a reputation for comedy shows, including “Stath Lets Flats” and “Big Boys.”

They have since bolstered their drama offering under CEO Ash Atalla, creative director Alex Smith and head of drama Marianna Abbotts, including with recent drama hit “Coma,” starring Jason Watkins as a family man who hits breaking point after his neighborhood is terrorized by a group of teens.

The prod-co also have comedy drama “We Might Regret This” set to air on BBC Two later this summer.

Fremantle...

Fremantle, part of media giant Bertelsmann’s Rtl Group, has struck a first-look drama development deal with Roughcut Television, the production firm co-founded by CEO Ash Atalla, the producer of the original British version of The Office and The It Crowd.

The agreement follows the companies’ recent team-up on Paramount+ U.K. & Ireland psychological thriller series Little Disasters, starring Diane Kruger (Troy, Inglourious Basterds) and Jo Joyner (The Wives, For Her Sins).

Roughcut, founded by Atalla and chief operating officer Tim Sealey, is mostly known for comedy shows, such as Big Boys, Stath Lets Flats, and Cuckoo but it has also had success with recent Channel 5 drama Coma, starring Jason Watkins.

“The first-look and drama development deal will see Fremantle become the primary home for Roughcut TV’s scripted drama projects, with the producer working closely with Fremantle’s acclaimed global drama and international distribution divisions,” the companies said.

Diane Kruger and Jo Joyner will lead Paramount+ UK & Ireland’s latest drama series, Little Disasters.

The pair will play friends Jess and Liz in the “tense and compelling” six-part psychological thriller, which also stars Shelley Conn and Emily Taaffe. It is adapted from Anatomy of a Scandal writer Sarah Vaughan’s novel of the same name and billed as an exploration of female friendships and motherhood.

The four actresses play four friends who were thrown together while expectant mothers with little in common apart from their due dates. When Jess takes her baby daughter to hospital with a head injury she can’t explain, close friend and on-duty A&e doctor Liz is forced to make the excruciating decision as to whether to call social services on her friend. The decision sets...

Happy Valley and Top Boy shared the BAFTA love on Sunday night at the British Academy’s prestigious Television Awards in London’s Royal Festival Hall.

Sarah Lancashire took home the top prize for her performance in Sally Wainwright’s Yorkshire-based police thriller, and fellow Briton Timothy Spall beat Succession‘s Brian Cox to win the equivalent award, best leading actor, for The Sixth Commandment – which also won two BAFTAs.

Jasmine Jobson claimed the best supporting actress prize for her role in drug-gang drama Top Boy, which also went on to win best drama. Matthew Macfadyen was the only winner for Jesse Armstrong’s hugely popular black satirical comedy, winning the award for best supporting actor in Succession. Sitcom Such Brave Girls claimed best scripted comedy.

Notably, The Crown and Black Mirror missed out despite leading the nominations ahead of the awards show with eight and seven, respectively, and in...

This week saw a “Black Monday” for the TV industry due to the proposed layoffs at Channel 4 and Paramount, according to storied The Office and It Crowd producer Ash Atalla.

Atalla predicted there will be “less” shows made this year, “not more,” and that freelancers are “hurting” due to the industry slowdown, compounded by the redundancy plans.

On Monday, Channel 4, for which Atalla’s Roughcut TV has made a wealth of shows down the years including current hit Big Boys, announced it will be laying off around 240 staff as part of a ‘Fast Forward’ strategy, which will see Film4 and TV drama commissioning merged. Channel 5-owner Paramount, meanwhile, is prepping to make hundreds of layoffs in the States and UK-based international studios boss Maria Kyriacou is leaving.

“Yesterday felt like a ‘Black Monday’ in the world of TV,” Atalla said last night on a Royal Television Society panel.

The exec producer behind BBC comedy-drama We Might Regret This has said his ambition was for a show starring and written by a disabled performer to be “at the very top table of creativity.”

The Office and People Just Do Nothing producer Ash Atalla, whose Roughcut TV outfit is making We Might Regret This in association with Village Roadshow Television, said there has been a tendency for British broadcasters to “use the dry slopes of smaller budget shows or ancillary channels as training progams” when it comes to projects led by disabled people.

Penned by Kyla Harris and Lee Getty, We Might Regret This, on the other hand, is being positioned as a bigger-budget primetime offering for the UK’s national broadcaster, which its backers feel could be a potential awards winner.

“There was always an ambition to make a show that stars a disabled performer sat at the very top table of creativity,...

James Corden is to give his first industry interview since leaving the Late Late Show and returning to the UK at the Rts Cambridge Convention next month.

Corden will speak about future plans and around the theme of the annual Convention, which is Too Much to Watch.

The former Gavin and Stacey star made his name in the States in the Broadway play One Man, Two Guvnors before fronting The Late Late Show, as his star rose enormously. He left the CBS gig earlier this year after nearly a decade and almost 2,000 episodes and the show is not continuing.

Corden is the latest to join a buzzy lineup for the Channel 4-sponsored confab that includes the likes of CAA Co-Chairman Bryan Lourd, Piers Morgan, Warner Bros. Discovery international boss Gerhard Zeiler and the heads of all the major broadacsters and Sky. Lourd will speak to British star Emma Thompson.

Exclusive: The BBC has greenlit a comedy-drama about a Canadian tetraplegic moving to London from Stath Lets Flats producer Roughcut TV in association with Village Roadshow Television.

In the Catastrophe-esque We Might Regret This, Freya, played by the show’s co-writer Kyla Harris, moves to the English capital to live with Abe (Killing Eve and Smack the Pony’s Darren Boyd). Abe thinks he’s an old dog that can learn new tricks but Freya requires constant PAs who are always present and, after failing to find the right person for this intimate role, invites chaotic and impulsive best friend Jo (Elena Saurel) to take the job.

The show is inspired by the lives of Harris and co-writer Lee Getty, who said it will be about the “messiest and most joyous lived experiences of friendship, love and disability.”

We Might Regret This was initially reported to be in development as a Channel 4 pilot.

A hammer blow to the UK’s hugely successful high-end TV (Hetv) tax credit could be struck in next week’s budget and a prominent politician has written to the Chancellor urging him to reconsider.

Baroness Tina Stowell, who runs the influential House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee, wrote to Treasury boss Jeremy Hunt yesterday with a strongly-worded call to ignore requests to raise the threshold of the relief from shows that cost £1M ($1.2M) per hour to those costing £1.5M ($1.8M) per hour and above.

This is the recommendation made by a recent government report, which said that “rising production costs have meant that several productions which the government expects would have been commissioned regardless of the existence of Hetv tax relief have become eligible.”

Stowell’s letter to Hunt came a day after British networks, Netflix, Paramount and indie trade body Pact wrote to her asking for...

Exclusive: Stath Lets Flats producer Roughcut TV has hired two development execs to bolster its scripted comedy/drama credentials and is taking the hit Channel 4 comedy back out to U.S. networks.

Roughtcut Managing Director Ash Atalla said Jamie Demetriou’s three-time-bafta-winning comedy about a hapless North London-based Greek Cypriot estate agent will be pitched to the U.S. in the coming months. A single-camera Fox version was initially in development, titled Bren’s Rents, and showrunner Joe Mande, a writer on The Good Place and Parks and Recreation, remains attached.

Atalla told Deadline “being geographically specific” and “placing trust” in Mande as showrunner will be key to Stath Lets Flats’ success in the U.S.

“Maintaining complete control is a fool’s errand,” he said. “We feel such ownership over our own shows but you can’t sell your house and then tell people how to arrange the furniture.

Production

Principal photography has commenced on Season 2 of acclaimed Sky original paramedic comedy “Bloods.”

U.S. streaming service Hulu has acquired the series in a multi-season deal and season 1 will debut on the streamer Dec. 9.

The series stars BAFTA nominated Samson Kayo and Golden Globe nominated Jane Horrocks. The first season had eight episodes while the second will have 10.

Bloods follows tough-acting loner Maleek (Kayo) and over-friendly divorcee Wendy (Horrocks), a pair of mismatched paramedics, and their fellow ambulance station colleagues through the life-saving world of a south London emergency service. Katherine Kelly (“Innocent”) and Nathan Foad (“Our Flag Means Death”) are joining the cast for the new season.

The show’s returning cast includes Lucy Punch (“Motherland”), Julian Barratt (“Mighty Boosh”), Adrian Scarborough (“Gavin and Stacey”), Aasiya Shah (“Raised By Wolves”), Kevin Garry (“Ted Lasso”) and Sam Campbell (“Stath Lets Flats”).

The series is being made for Sky by...

“I’m in a lot of meetings now, where people tell me, ‘This will never get on because it’s not woke enough,’” Ash Atalla, award-winning comedy producer of hits including The Office and The It Crowd, told a spirited panel at the Edinburgh TV Festival assembled to discuss the question of how TV makers can properly represent diverse Britain in all its forms.

“I’m amazed how fast the white people have thought, ‘We can’t get on television,’” he continued. “That’s come in hard and fast in the last two years, and it’s a bewildering experience to be in those meetings after 15 years of the opposite. Now white people think there’s no place for them.”

He added that even having the discussion publicly is increasingly challenging for people, through fear of being castigated or cancelled.

Mobeen Azhar, broadcast journalist and presenter, told an opposite but equal story,...

Ash Atalla, an award-winning producer of series like The Office and The It Crowd, is calling out the industry’s hiring of non-disabled actors to play disabled characters.

Atalla, who spoke to the U.K.’s Sunday Times for a recent interview, says it still shocks him that — despite ongoing conversations and objections from the disability community — Hollywood continues to participate in “cripface,” or the act of casting non-disabled talent to portray people with disabilities in various TV and film projects.

“That should be rule one: don’t put walking people in a wheelchair for television. Ever,” he said....

Ash Atalla, an award-winning producer of series like The Office and The It Crowd, is calling out the industry’s hiring of non-disabled actors to play disabled characters.

Atalla, who spoke to the U.K.’s Sunday Times for a recent interview, says it still shocks him that — despite ongoing conversations and objections from the disability community — Hollywood continues to participate in “cripface,” or the act of casting non-disabled talent to portray people with disabilities in various TV and film projects.

“That should be rule one: don’t put walking people in a wheelchair for television. Ever,” he said....

BBC Three is set to air a comedy special celebrating mockumentary series “People Just Do Nothing.”

“Kurupting the Industry: The People Just Do Nothing Story” will follow the group of DJs and MCs behind pirate radio station Kurupt FM. Starring Allan Mustafa, Asim Chaudhry, Hugo Chegwin and Steve Stamp, the first episode of the popular series aired in 2012 on BBC iPlayer and was soon followed by five hit seasons.

The special will also feature celebrity fans including BBC DJ Clara Amfo, “The Hobbit” star Martin Freeman, rapper Dizzee Rascal and singer Craig David.

A feature based on the show, “People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan,” is set for theatrical release on Aug. 18.

“Kurupting the Industry: The People Just Do Nothing Story” is made by Roughcut TV for BBC Three. Director of BBC comedy, Shane Allen, and BBC Three controller Fiona Campbell commissioned the special.

Ash Atalla exec produces for...

Quiver Distribution has acquired U.S. rights to “The Exchange,” a new comedy from the co-creator of “Borat” and “Bruno.”

Directed by Dan Mazer, an Oscar nominee for writing the “Borat” movies and the maker of “Dirty Grandpa,” the film follows a socially awkward but highly enterprising teenager who decides to acquire a “mail-order best friend.” While he hopes to find a sophisticated exchange student from France, he instead ends up importing his personal nightmare, a cologne-soaked, chain-smoking, sex-crazed guy, who quickly becomes a community hero. The movie stars Justin Hartley (“This Is Us”), Avan Jogia (“Zombieland: Double Tap”), Jennifer Irwin (“Bad Teacher”) and Ed Oxenbould (“Wildlife”). Emmy Award-winner Tim Long (“The Simpsons”) penned the script.

Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed.

“Dan, Tim and the entire cast have created a laugh-out-loud comedy that audiences will unquestionably go crazy for,” said Quiver Distribution Co-Presidents Berry Meyerowitz and Jeff Sackman.

Exclusive: In a competitive situation, Roughcut TV, the BAFTA-winning British producer behind Stath Lets Flats and People Just Do Nothing, has swooped for the rights to adapt Sarah Vaughan’s fourth novel into a television series.

The company, spearheaded by The Office producer Ash Atalla, considers the deal for Little Disasters to be an important moment in its strategy to move into high-end drama. It follows Vaughan becoming a hot property in TV after Netflix set an adaptation of her third book, Anatomy Of A Scandal, with Big Little Lies creator David E. Kelley showrunning and Sienna Miller starring.

Little Disasters is a psychological thriller, centering on pediatrician, Dr Liz Trenchard, who is surprised to find the child of her close friend, Jess, has been admitted to accident and emergency. Jess is an attentive mother, but Trenchard has a dreadful feeling that her friend’s explanation for what happened doesn...

Exclusive: Fox is doubling down on British remakes with a U.S. version of quirky Channel 4 comedy Stath Lets Flats as its latest adaptation.

The network is developing a remake as Bren Rents, a single-camera comedy from The Good Place writer Joe Mande.

Stath Lets Flats, which airs on HBO Max in the U.S. was one of the big winners at this summer’s BAFTA awards.

The show follows an incompetent rental agent, played by creator Jamie Demetriou, who played the bus suitor with big teeth in Fleabag’s first season. In the show, Demetriou runs a Greek-Cypriot letting agency in London, owned by his father. It has echoes of the original BBC version of The Office or Steve Coogan’s Alan Partridge character.

Mande (left), who also starred in Modern Family, will write and exec produce, while Demetriou and Ash Atalla, who runs Roughcut TV, the production company that produces the show,...

In today’s Global Bulletin, Bill Gates will participate in this year’s World Congress of Science and Factual Producers as keynote speaker, Netgem and France Channel co-create a new French content streaming platform, Storyglass announces an arts-themed podcast, “Stath Lets Flats” gets a third season at Channel 4, Damian Kavanagh leaves Tiger Aspect and James Purnell departs the BBC, and ViacomCBS Networks International promotes Lee Sears.

Keynote

The World Congress of Science and Factual Producers (Wcsfp) has announced its highest-profile speaker for this year’s event in Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates, who will take part in an interview with medical journalist Dr. Mercy Korir at the upcoming digital edition of Congress ’20.

Originally planned for early December in the French city of Strasbourg, Wcsfp was forced to move this year’s physical event online as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. The rescheduled event will stream Dec. 7-...

Stath Lets Flats Renewed For Season 3

Channel 4 has commissioned a third season of BAFTA-winning comedy Stath Lets Flats. Created by Fleabag actor Jamie Demetriou and produced by Roughcut TV, the comedy follows the career of hapless realtor Stath and his family business, Michael & Eagle. Stath Lets Flats, which was picked up by HBO Max in the U.S., won a hat-trick of BAFTAs earlier this year for best male actor in a comedy, best comedy writer, and best scripted comedy. Executive producers are Demetriou and Ash Atalla, while Season 3 was ordered by Channel 4’s head of comedy Fiona McDermott and commissioner Jack Bayles.

James Purnell Quits The BBC

James Purnell, a central figure in Tony Hall’s tenure as BBC director general, has left the British broadcaster to become the president and vice-chancellor of the University of the Arts London. Purnell first joined the BBC in 2013 as director of strategy and digital,...

A short-lived sense of security from plummeting coronavirus cases prompted several global-facing projects in the U.K. to restart over the summer, but as the threat of new Covid-19 restrictions looms large, the industry is rushing to crank out film and TV productions this fall, in what could be the last gasp for production in 2020.

A rising caseload prompted six-month-long restrictions on group gatherings and early closures for the hospitality sector on Sept. 24, but the U.K. remains one of the most active production hubs in Europe. Getting cameras rolling, as evidenced by “The Batman” brouhaha, is a major gamble, but those who can afford to take the plunge say there’s much to be gained — if they can pull it off.

Roughcut TV is shooting in south London, where cameras rolled Sept. 2 on six-part comedy “Bloods” for Comcast-backed broadcaster Sky. Managing director Ash Atalla began planning the shoot...

British comedy Stath Lets Flats is the little show that could. The Channel 4 comedy has had a pretty good few weeks – beating Fleabag twice at the BAFTA TV Awards on Friday.

The show follows an incompetent rental agent, played by creator Jamie Demetriou, who runs a Greek-Cypriot letting agency in London, owned by his father. It has echoes of the original BBC version of The Office or Steve Coogan’s Alan Partridge character.

Demetriou, who played the bus suitor with big teeth in Fleabag’s first season, picked up a craft award for best comedy writing earlier this month, beating his former boss Phoebe Waller-Bridge among others, and on Friday he picked up best male performance in a comedy performance and best scripted comedy.

In the acting category, he beat out Sex Education’s Ncuti Gatwa, Man Like Mobeen’s Guz Khan and Home’s Yousse Kerkour, while in the scripted comedy category,...

Richard Ayoade will host the Bafta TV Awards for the first time on July 31.

Chernobyl leads the nominations for this year’s Bafta Television and Bafta Craft awards, which were postponed from May to July due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Sky/HBO mini-series is up for 14 awards (11 craft and three television), including Jarred Harris for leading actor, Stellan Skarsgard for supporting actor and best mini-series.

The Crown has the next highest number of nominations with seven, including drama series, Josh O’Connor for supporting actor and Helena Bonham Carter for supporting actress.

Fleabag and Giri/Haji both have six nominations.

‘Pure’ writer Kirstie Swain will write and exec-produce the eight-episode series.

Sky has unveiled a new slate of original shows for 2020, including a new series from See-Saw Films and Pure writer Kirstie Swain.

The pay-tv operator unveiled six new shows at its Up Next event at the Tate Modern in London on February 12, taking its number of originals to 80 in 2020 – 25% more than last year.

Launches include eight-episode dark comedy Sweetpea for Sky Atlantic, based on C.J. Skuse’s 2017 book, from See-Saw Films and Sky Studios.

Pure writer Kirstie Swain has penned the series, which explores how a seemingly normal...

Exclusive: Rising British comedy star Samson Kayo and Absolutely Fabulous’ Jane Horrocks are to star in a comedy about a pair of paramedics for Sky.

Bloods, which is produced by Roughcut TV, the production company set up by The Office producer Ash Atalla responsible for BBC’s People Just Do Nothing, sees Kayo, who stars in BBC’s Famalam and ITV2’s Timewasters, and Horrocks, who played Bubble in the classic BBC sitcom, play paramedic partners in the South London ambulance service.

When tough-acting loner Maleek (Kayo) is paired with over-friendly divorcee Wendy (Horrocks), their partnership looks dead on arrival. But pretty soon they’re giving each other life support. An ensemble comedy, set within the fast-paced, never-ending rush of 999 call outs, Bloods charts Maleek and Wendy’s struggle to gain the respect of their fellow paramedics.

The Comcast-backed broadcaster has ordered six-episodes of the series. Created by Kayo,...

The U.S. remake of People Just Do Nothing is not going to series at Amazon.

The streamer piloted a version of the successful BBC Three comedy, which was produced by The Office producer Ash Atalla.

However, Vernon Sanders, Co-Head, TV at Amazon Studios, told Deadline at the Winter TCA press tour that the project was not going forward.

Jorge Diaz (The Long Road Home) and Eliza Bennett (Sweet/Vicious) lead the ensemble cast of the single-camera comedy pilot with Andre Hyland (Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping), Conner McVicker (Vice Principals) and Amir Talai (La to Vegas) also cast in the project, written and executive produced by from Mehar Sethi.

Amazon @ TCA: Deadline’s Complete Coverage

The youth-skewing comedy moved the action from London to North Las Vegas. Shot in a mockumentary style, it followed a group of working class DJs and their friends in a land of mini malls and vast parking lots,...

The film is called ‘People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan’.

Filming has commenced on the feature adaptation of BBC’s Bafta-winning comedy series People Just Do Nothing, the mockumentary about pirate radio station Kurupt FM.

Entitled People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan, the film is shooting in Japan and the UK for six weeks. It will be released in cinemas in the UK and Ireland by Universal Pictures International in August 2020.

A first-look image from the film has been released, shown above.

It will pick up with the members of pirate radio station Kurupt FM, who head to...

Production is underway on an under-the-radar feature adaptation of BAFTA-winning BBC comedy series, People Just Do Nothing.

After five seasons of the cult mockumentary series on BBC and Netflix, People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan has begun shoot in Japan and the UK for six weeks and is due be released in cinemas across the UK and Ireland in August 2020.

Focus Features and BBC Films financed the project and Universal Pictures International will distribute the film in the UK and Ireland. It is the first ever BBC Three series to be developed into a feature film.

The film, like the series, stars Allan Mustafa (Mc Grindah), Hugo Chegwin (DJ Beats), Asim Chaudhry (Chabuddy G), Steve Stamp (Steves), Dan Sylvester (Decoy), Lily Brazier (Miche), Hitomi Souno (Miki) and Ken Yamamura (Taka).

In the movie, life has been quiet for the Kurupt FM boys since the end of their pirate radio station.

Cannes — This past Monday, five international creatives pitched their prospective series before three jurors and a packed audience of industry watchers as part of the Canneseries In Development program, a joint venture between the upstart festival and the MipTV content market.

The event, titled “Oh My Pitch: Drama Writers’ Pitch,” hosted writers Sabrina Amerell & Alexandre Manneville, Johnny Maginn, Rachel Feldman, and Agata Koschmieder, who spoke of their four projects before a rapt crowd. As part of the hour-long session, jurors Ash Atalla (Roughcut Television), Christian Wikander (Twelve Town), and Jane Gogan (formerly RTÉ) grilled the writers regarding their goals, inspirations and targeted audiences for their pitched projects.

Following all its sessions, prominent European producer-distributor Federation Entertainment will offer one selected project cat In Development co-development, production and distribution assistance, while Gallic aid La Fabrique des Formats plans to pitch in financing help.

American showrunner Rachel Feldman spoke first, introducing her project “Kinks,...

16 projects will be presented during the event.

Miptv and Canneseries have unveiled the 16 projects due to be presented at the second edition of their In Development pitching event, a key component of their joint initiative the Cannes Creative Drama Forum.

Aimed at fast-tracking drama series production the forum, running during Canneseries (April 5-10) and Miptv (April 8-11), marks its second edition this year.

he selection includes Nabil Ayouch’s upcoming thriller Black-Out, produced under the banners of his Casablanca-based Ali N’Productions and Paris-based Les Films du Nouveau Monde.

It marks a first foray into high-end TV drama for Ayouch...

Exclusive: Jorge Diaz (The Long Road Home) and Eliza Bennett (Sweet/Vicious) lead the ensemble cast of Amazon’s single-camera comedy pilot based on the UK series People Just Do Nothing. Andre Hyland (Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping), Conner McVicker (Vice Principals) and Amir Talai (La to Vegas) also have been cast as series regulars in the project, written and executive produced by from Mehar Sethi.

The untitled comedy based on the BAFTA-winning series is a mockumentary following a group of working class DJs and their friends in a town called North Las Vegas: a land of mini malls and vast parking lots, where the lights of The Strip act as a beacon of fame and glory that’s just out of reach. The series tracks their stumbling ambitions, and explores how relationships between friends and family evolve as the reality of your dreams starts to hit. It’s a...

British broadcaster Channel 4 has appointed People Just Do Nothing producer Jon Petrie as a comedy commissioning editor.

He has produced all five seasons of the mockumentary comedy, which airs on BBC Three, working for Ash Atalla’s Roughcut Television as well as his own Roughcut-backed indie Little A. He also recently produced Stath Lets Flats for C4.

Petrie, who has also produces series including Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Qi and Comic Relief, will join the channel in early 2019 and will report to Head of Comedy Fiona McDermott. He will work alongside Commissioning Editor Jack Bayles and Laura Riseam, who has recently been promoted to Commissioning Executive in the team.

Channel 4’s comedy slate includes Amazon co-pro Catastrophe and Hulu co-pro The Bisexual with new series coming up including Happy Af, Year of the Rabbit and Maxxx.

McDermott said, “We’re thrilled to welcome Jon to the team. He...

The creators of People Just Do Nothing have revealed a few details of the forthcoming U.S. remake, discussed a forthcoming feature film and revealed why they were hanging up their microphones in the UK.

Amazon is piloting a remake of the British mockumentary comedy, which is heading in to its fifth season on the BBC. The show follows the lives of a group of friends, including Mc Grindah and DJ Beats, who run Kurupt FM, a pirate radio station broadcasting UK garage and drum-and-bass from Brentford in West London.

The U.S version be will be set in North Las Vegas and will be written by It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia and BoJack Horseman writer Mehar Sethi. It will be produced by British producer Roughcut TV in association with Amazon Studios and will be exec produced by creators Asim Chaudhry, Allan Mustafa, Steve Stamp and Hugo Chegwin as...

Amazon has given a pilot order to an adaptation of People Just Do Nothing, a single-camera comedy based on the popular UK series.

Written by Mehar Sethi (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), the untitled project centers on a local pirate radio station and its hosts.

The British series is a mockumentary sitcom which follows the lives of Mc Grindah and DJ Beats who run Kurupt FM, a pirate radio station broadcasting UK garage and drum and bass from Brentford in west London. It features four main actors, Allan Mustafa, Steve Stamp, Asim Chaudhry and Hugo Chegwin, who have also formed a musical act that tours in character as “Kurupt FM”.

Mustafa, Stamp, Chaudhry and Chegin will executive produce the Amazon project. Chris Storer and Ash Atalla will executive produce for Roughcut TV.

Variety was first to report the pilot order.

Amazon has handed out a pilot order for a comedy based on the UK series “People Just Do Nothing,” Variety has learned exclusively.

The untitled, half-hour project is a mockumentary following a group of working class DJs and their friends in a town called North Las Vegas: a land of mini malls and vast parking lots, where the lights of The Strip act as a beacon of fame and glory that’s just out of reach. The series tracks their stumbling ambitions, and explores how relationships between friends and family evolve as the reality of peoples’ dreams starts to hit.

Mehar Sethi is the writer and executive producer on the project. Sethi has previously worked on shows like “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “BoJack Horseman,” “The Cleveland Show,” and “The Mick.”

Hugo Chegwin, Steve Stamp, Asim Chaudhry and Allan Mustafa–creators, stars, and executive producers of “People Just Do Nothing”–will also executive produce.

New Channel 4 boss Alex Mahon wants new rules for pubcaster content on digital platforms and plans to take the fight to government and regulators. Six months into her role as chief executive of Britain’s edgiest public service broadcaster (Psb), she set out her vision for Channel 4 at an event in London on Wednesday.

The BBC has been railing against a perceived threat from the FAANGs, but Mahon identified another concern for pubcasters in the digital age: the prominence of their content on digital services and platforms.

The issue transcends the usual ratings rivalries between the traditional broadcasters, Mahon told Variety. “It’s not a Channel 4 point; it’s an industry thing,” she said. “How do you protect public service broadcasting, regardless of whether that’s helping me [as Channel 4] or the BBC, because public service is a bigger picture issue for us. If you put a streaming stick in, if...

Feature film outfit Who’s On First will focus on producing mainstream comedies and dramas with transatlantic appeal.

Roughcut TV boss Ash Atalla and his former head of comedy Dan Hine have reunited to establish a comedy feature film company.

Who’s On First, which is backed by People Just Do Nothing indie Roughcut, will focus on producing mainstream comedy movies and comedy dramas with transatlantic appeal. Atalla and Hine plan to champion contemporary ideas which celebrate the humour and painful realities for living in a 21st century interconnected world.

The venture has secured funding from financing outfit Los Angles Media Fund (Lamf) for the development of its first feature, & Mrs. The project is a dark take on the wedding film genre – the story of a girl who decides to go ahead with her wedding ceremony despite the fact that the groom has just died. London-based Australian writer Melissa Bubnic (Shameless), is to pen the script.

Who...

London-based Roughcut TV is backing Who’s On First, a new feature film production shingle that’s a joint venture between Roughcut’s former head of comedy Dan Hine and managing director Ash Atalla. The focus will be on mainstream comedies and dramedies with full funding for the development of its first feature, & Mrs, secured via the Los Angeles Media Fund. & Mrs, penned by London-based Australian playwright Melissa Bubnic (Boys Will Be Boys, Shameless), is a darkly comic…...

CSI: Cyber and Dawson’s Creek alum James Van Der Beek has joined upcoming Sky 1 family comedy Carters Get Rich. From Roughcut TV, the six-part half-hour series centers on a normal family as they try to hold onto their rags in the face of corrupting riches. It’s due to premiere this fall. Roughcut’s Ash Atalla (The Office) and Alex Smith are exec producing. The series is written by Claire Downes, Stuart Lane and Ian Jarvis. The story follows 11 year old Harry Carter who…...

Self-proclaimed garage legends Kurupt FM and the BBC have confirmed the return of People Just Do Nothing for two more series.

The pirate radio crew first took over the BBC Comedy Feed in 2012, with a full iPlayer series following before a move to BBC Three for series two earlier this year.

Executive producer Ash Atalla said: "The Kurupt crew turned up unannounced at Danny Cohen's house and refused to leave until he commissioned two more series.

People Just Do Nothing: From YouTube origins to BBC Three success

"That doesn't make them bad people, it makes them determined and I like that."

Producer Jon Petrie added: "The boys did already announce the good news on Kurupt FM, but they only transmit as far as Shepherd's Bush and have 50 listeners, so we thought a BBC press release might be more effective."...

People Just Do Nothing returns to BBC Three tonight for a second run - one year on from its first full series, three years after its launch as an iPlayer 'Comedy Feed' pilot, and five years since its earliest outings on YouTube.

Devised by a group of friends, the sitcom / mockumentary was inspired by The Office, Spinal Tap and Curb Your Enthusiasm - but especially (and appropriately) by a BBC Three documentary series, Tower Block Dreams, which explored the underground music scene in UK council estates.

The early webisodes of People Just Do Nothing - following the deluded crew of pirate radio station Kurupt FM, led by Mc Grindah (Allan Mustafa) and DJ Beats (Hugo Chegwin) - were shot guerilla-style, with no budget and, for the most part, no scripts.

But these early amateur efforts generated a cult following and eventually attracted the attention of Roughcut TV's Ash Atalla, producer on The Office.

Modern Family co-creator and executive producer Steven Levitan will be a keynote speaker at Mip-tv next month in Cannes. The speech will be followed by a Comedy Masterclass with Amazon Head of Comedy Joe Lewis; Jill Offman, MD of Comedy Central UK, and Svp Comedy at Viacom International Media Networks; and Ash Atalla, MD & Executive Producer of Roughcut Television (The Office). The two comedy sessions are part of Drama at Mip-tv, a two-day track split into showcases from…...

NBC has ordered comedy pilot “Cuckoo” from Tim Long, a longtime producer on “The Simpsons.”

The single-camera comedy tells the story of a daughter who comes back from a summer abroad after marrying a charming but infuriating eccentric named Cuckoo, much to her father’s annoyance.

Also read: NBC Orders Drama Pilot ‘Game of Silence’ From ‘CSI,’ ‘Friday Night Lights’ Producers

Produced by Lionsgate Television and Roughcut TV, Long will serve as the showrunner, writer and executive producer. Robin French, Kieron Quirke and Ash Atalla also signed on as executive producers.

NBC recently ordered a string of comedy pilots titled...

Sarah Silverman has signed on to star in a comedy with HBO, an individual with knowledge of the deal told TheWrap.

The untitled project focuses on a Silverman portraying an honest woman dealing with a midlife crisis.

In addition to starring, Silverman will executive produce the comedy. Lucy Prebble (“Secret Diary of a Call Girl”) will write the pilot and executive produce with Silverman, Ash Atalla (“Trollied,” “Cuckoo”), Silverman’s manager Amy Zvi and Dan Hine (“Cuckoo”).

The comedy reunites Silverman and HBO after the network decided not to move forward last year with “People in New Jersey,” a series...

Sarah Silverman is returning to HBO. A year after the premium cable network passed on People in New Jersey, HBO has picked up an untitled comedy starring the comedian-actress, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. The untitled comedy is described as a comedic look at a pathologically honest woman (Silverman) having a modern midlife crisis.  Silverman will star and executive produce the comedy. Secret Diary of a Call Girl's Lucy Prebble will pen the script and exec produce alongside Silverman, Ash Atalla (Trollied, Cuckoo) Silverman's manager Amy Zvi and Dan Hine (Cuckoo). See more 40 Years of HBO The

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