IT’S been nearly ten years since they called time on their hit series Peep Show.
Now, David Mitchell and Robert Webb are set to reunite in a new Channel 4 comedy.
The duo will star in a sketch series which sees them combine their talents with the bright ideas of the comedy writers and performers of the future.
Mitchell and Webb will be joined by Ghosts actor Kiell Smith-Bynoe, who currently hosts The Great British Sewing Bee, and comedians Lara Ricote, Stevie Martin and Kystral Evans.
The six-parter will be produced by the team behind recent hit comedy drama Ludwig — which starred David as a puzzle-solving recluse — and Channel 4’s Friday Night Dinner.
Despite their popularity on screen, David and Robert admitted they were shocked to be invited back for more on Channel 4 — with Peep Show last airing in December 2015.
The comedy, which began in 2003 and ran for nine seasons, followed the lives of dysfunctional best friends Mark and Jez.
They joked: “When Channel 4 asked us to do another sketch show we were startled, bemused and available.
“It’s a perilous time for the industry, and so it’s our hope that relaunching the trickiest genre of comedy is a brilliant piece of counterintuitive commissioning.
“And we’re confident that, unlike Roger Moore with his shoe on the bonnet of a car teetering on the edge of a cliff in For Your Eyes Only, we’re not about to give British TV comedy a final lethal nudge into the abyss.
“We’re looking forward to working with our brilliant new cast despite their youth and talent, and would like to encourage viewers to watch the advert break carefully and do their best to buy something.
“It doesn’t have to be a car but, you know, a box of chocolates or an app or something.”
Kiell celebrated the chance to work with the pair, adding: “It feels like getting to sit on the grown-ups table that you’ve been trying to get on for years.
“Then you realise the grown-ups are just as funny, silly, and they’ll let you have a sip of Advocaat.
“I’m really excited to be a part of this long-awaited return of comedy royalty.”
BADDIEL PEDALS C4 SHOW
HUGH DENNIS and David Baddiel have revealed why they signed up to cycle across France for a show – it ticks off one of just two things they have not done together.
New series Two Men On A Bike – which starts on Monday at 9pm on More4 – sees the comedy pals travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, heading across the French coast to Bordeaux and on to the port of Pont Des Sables.
David joked: “We’ve played football together, we’ve eaten together, we’ve done comedy together, we’ve driven across Africa together, but there are two things we’ve not done.
“We’ve not cycled together, and we’ve not had sex together . . . and now we’ve only got one left!”
I’m not sure they will film that for telly, David.
KEELEY SHOOTS GREEK THRILLER
KEELEY HAWES has swapped her period dresses for combat gear and a sniper’s rifle in this first look at her new thiller, The Assassin.
The actress – currently appearing in BBC drama Miss Austen – is gun-totting leading lady Julie in Prime Video’s new series.
Written by the masterminds behind The Tourist and Fleabag, the six-part crime drama tells the story of a retired assassin living on a remote island in Greece, who is reunited with her estranged son, Edward, played by The Good Doctor’s Freddie Highmore.
But it is not long before the pair find themselves in grave danger when the assassin’s past comes back to haunt her, and they are forced to go on the run together.
Keeley said of their time filming: “I feel so lucky to have spent the summer in Athens, going to work has never been so much fun – and I hope everyone enjoys The Assassin as much as we did.
“Bringing Jack and Harry Williams’ spectacular scripts to life was an absolute joy.”
Freddie added: “It doesn’t get better than a Greek adventure alongside the lovely and incomparable Keeley Hawes.
“I’m really excited for people to get glimpse some of what we have been up to.”
THE AXE FOR ‘SICK’ MANOR
VIEWERS branded it the “sickest series in history”, as randy mums gathered in a Love Island-style villa to date each other’s sons.
So there’s little surprise that bosses at Discovery+ have decided to retire MILF Manor, after just two series.
The controversial format was one of the raunchiest dating shows in the UK and US. It featured a group of women aged between 40 and 60 and their sons.
In toe-curling scenes, they would hook up with each other’s boys, and all sleep in the same bedroom.
An insider said: “The series got everyone talking thanks to its shock factor, but raising so many eyebrows has meant that there are currently no plans for a third series.”
ANDROID users will now finally be able to watch popular Apple TV+ programmes including Severance, The Morning Show and Slow Horses.
The app launched on Wednesday in the Google Play Store. It had only previously been available to people who used Apple devices.
ALAN’S SHOW OF GENIUS
HE shot to fame on Channel 4, now Alan Carr is returning to the place where he became a star hosting Chatty Man.
The comedian, who went on to work for ITV and the BBC, is going back to his roots to host new show, Hidden Genius.
He’s teaming up with Countdown words whizz Susie Dent on the project in which they search for the nation’s hidden brainboxes.
Alan – usually to be found renovating houses with his old mucker Amanda Holden on the Spanish Job and The Italian Job shows – said: “I have never been called a genius believe it or not.
“However, I am fascinated by those people who are given the “genius” label.
“Is it a gift, a curse or a burden? I am so excited about Secret Genius, it’s going to be absolutely fascinating finding out what makes these people tick and also challenging prejudices along the way.”
PUNCHY SHOW’S ROUND 2
DISNEY+ drama A Thousand Blows is to get a second series before the first has even dropped.
The Victorian gangster thriller, set to go out from February 21, has not only had a sequel ordered but it’s already been filmed.
Bosses at the streamer were obviously so impressed by Steven Kight’s Peaky Blinders-esque retelling of this true story, that they wanted him on board for more.
Talking this week, Steven said: “It’s done. I can’t tease, but it’s more of the same.
“Expect the unexpected. We all want to keep this story going – and I think we will just take it towards the 20th century.”
The drama stars Stephen Graham and Malachi Kirby as rival boxers in London’s East End who are embroiled in an epic clash.
Caught between them is Erin Doherty, a female gangster caught in a tug of war between them both.
A belter of a drama and we should all rejoice that it won’t be a one-hit wonder.
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