BBC Two Adds Trio of Titles to Landmark Sitcom Season

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LONDON: BBC Two has unveiled three new comedy series for the New on Two strand airing next month as part of the BBC Landmark Sitcom Season, which celebrates the heritage and legacy of comedy over the past 60 years.

Our Ex Wife stars Robert Webb as a divorcee whose ex-wife is determined to destroy his happiness with his new fiancée. The show is created and penned by former The Simpsons writer Julie Thacker Scully and directed by Ben Taylor (Catastrophe). It is being developed and produced by James Farrell (Are You Being Served?), with Stephen McCrum (Mrs Brown’s Boys) and Chris Sussman (Cuckoo) on board as executive producers for BBC Studios.

We The Jury sees Ed Easton play a man who has dreamt of doing jury duty his whole life and now finds himself serving as a juror on a murder trial. The series is written by stand-up comedian James Acaster, directed by Taylor and produced by Josh Cole (Crashing). Executive producers for Big Talk Productions are Kenton Allen and Saurabh Kakkar.

The Coopers Vs The Rest is about a woman (Tanya Franks) and her husband (Paterson Joseph) who have three adopted children. The show is penned by Andy Wolton, produced by BBC Studios and directed by Declan Lowney (Moone Boy). It is produced by Victoria Lloyd (Just a Minute), with McCrum serving as an exec producer.

Shane Allen, controller of comedy commissioning at BBC, said: “These three brand-new sitcom specials are the fresh-out-of-the-oven part of our landmark sitcom season. Underpinning BBC Two’s comedy reputation for the eclectic and diverse, they are sharply written and terrifically cast treats with a very contemporary heart to them, except in the case of We The Jury, which is just infectiously and joyfully daft!”

Our Ex-Wife, We The Jury and The Coopers Vs The Rest will join the previously announced Home from Home and Motherland on BBC Two.