E4 snaps up Almost Royal | UK airing for Ed Gamble and Amy Hoggart's comedy © Burning Bright / BBC America

E4 snaps up Almost Royal

UK airing for Ed Gamble and Amy Hoggart's comedy

E4 has bought the rights to Almost Royal – the blue-blooded American comedy series starring comics Ed Gamble and Amy Hoggart.

The show is the first original comedy series to be commissioned by BBC America and revolves around privileged young siblings, Georgie and Poppy Carlton, who are distantly related to the Royal Family.

First revealed by Chortle in March, the show premiered in the States on June 21 and has already become the channel's highest-rating comedy.

Now E4 has brought the rights to the show, in which the aristocratic Georgie and Carlton travel the US meeting 'real people' – and plans to air it in the autumn.

The show was largely well received by critics in the States, with a few reservations.

The Los Angeles Times said: 'Fortunately, Gamble and Hoggart can be quite funny in their pretended confusion. Their strategies are sometimes too obvious, but often the humor takes a nicely absurdist turn.'

The Washington Post called it 'a cute, Borat-esque antidote to last month’s moronically cruel Fox reality show I Wanna Marry Harry' but said it it missed some opportunities so 'the funniest parts are only just mildly funny'.

Time Out said: 'The show never succeeds in finding any great comic opportunities from their real-world marks, as if everyone they encounter has already entertained the idea that this might actually be a hoax. Gamble and Hoggart are a funny duo, though, and seem more than capable of making this concept work.'

And Variety concluded: 'Their antics ought to win them a small but devoted following of commoners in the colonies.'

Published: 7 Jul 2014

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