King Gary Gets BBC One Commission

The family sitcom King Gary, from the BAFTA-winning team behind Murder in Successville,
has landed a straight-to-series commission from BBC One.

The series is written by Tom Davis and James De Frond, stars Davis and is directed by De Frond. The pilot was broadcast on BBC One in December 2018. The series follows Gary King (Davis) and the love of his life Terri (Laura Checkley; The Detectorists) as they bowl through family life in suburbia.

Also returning to the cast are Simon Day (The Fast Show) as Big Gary, Camille Coduri (Him & Her) as Denise, Neil Maskell as Winkle (Humans) and Romesh Ranganathan (The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan) as Stuart. They will be joined by Dustin Demri-Burns (Stath Lets Flats), Lisa McGrillis (Mum), Mim Shaikh (Radio 1Xtra) and Emma Sidi (Pls Like).

The 6×30-min. series, which is produced by Shiny Button Productions, part of Endemol Shine UK, starts production this weekend.

Shane Allen, controller of comedy commissioning for the BBC, said: “King Gary is big on laughs, big on heart and big on talent. Landing a mainstream family sitcom with a modern tone is a tough nut to crack but these scripts are bursting with great lines and well-earned set pieces. We look forward to Gary and Terri bringing cheer to a year of bafflement.”

Davis added: “James and I are honored to be given the opportunity to bring the world we’ve grown up around to BBC One. We were both blown away with the tip top response to the pilot and can’t wait to get cracking with the series. We love writing these characters and it’s going to be an absolute joy to muck about in their world.”