Peep Show duo David Mitchell and Robert Webb reunite for new Channel 4 sitcom The Peep Show duo of David Mitchell and Robert Webb will reunite for a new “odd couple” sitcom on Channel […]

The Peep Show duo of David Mitchell and Robert Webb will reunite for a new “odd couple” sitcom on Channel 4.

Back, an acerbic new six-part comedy written by Emmy-award winning Simon Blackwell, whose credits include Veep and In The Loop as well as Peep Show, will launch on Channel 4 next year.

Mitchell plays Stephen, who finally inherits the family pub after the death of his father, a landlord and “local legend.”

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“It’s great to be making a new show for Channel 4, a broadcaster which has always been huge supporter of new comedy” David Mitchell

For Stephen, divorced and whose only achievement so far has been a “slightly disappointing pub refurb”, taking over the pub is his chance to shine.

But his plans are thwarted by the arrival of the charismatic Andrew (Webb), one of a number of children fostered as a teenager by Stephen’s parents.

New dysfunctional relationship for duo

Andrew, who has traveled the world and can do no wrong in the eyes of Stephen’s mother and sister, wants his family back.

Mitchell’s character has always resented Andrew and thinks he’s a “glib, dangerous sociopath who’s about to steal his family, his business and his life.”

Mitchell and Webb played a dysfunctional pair sharing a Croydon flat in Peep Show, Channel 4’s longest-running comedy series, which aired from 2003 to 2015 and became cult viewing.

Mitchell said: “It’s great to be making a new show for Channel 4, a broadcaster which has always been huge supporter of new comedy, and with a writer of Simon Blackwell’s talent. And, in Simon Blackwell, we’ve found a writer of precisely Simon Blackwell’s talent. His writing is deep, dark, warm and funny – like a hot tub brimming with laughing gravy.”

Webb added: “That sounds disgusting.”

‘Brilliant comic actors – funny and real’

Blackwell said: “I always jump at the chance of writing for Robert and David. They are brilliant comic actors – funny and real. I can’t wait for us to start making this.”

Kenton Allen, CEO of producers Big Talk Productions, said: “Simon, David and Robert are the Holy Trinity of British Comedy and it’s a rare privilege to be working with such exceptional comic minds.”

Hopes are high for the series which will be sold internationally by BBC Worldwide.

The series was announced at Channel 4’s Upfronts 2017 event for advertisers, where it also pledged to give away £1m of commercial airtime next year for adverts which “encourage a broader spectrum of diversity” to build upon the broadcaster’s coverage of the 2016 Paralympics Games. Channel 4 will also launch “interactive adverts” allowing viewers with smart televisions to choose between different versions of commercials and click-through directly to make a purchase.

@adamsherwin10