With Romesh Ranganathan and Michelle Collins

Jack Dee, Harry Hill, Romesh Ranganathan and former EastEnders actor Michelle Collins are set to star in a new sitcom described as 'The Vicar of Dibley meets The Thick of It'.

Set in a local council, The Mayoress has been written by Brenda Gilhooly, creator of 1990s comedy character Gayle Tuesday, the 'Page Three Stunner', and a writer on Harry Hill's TV Burp.

And she will next week launch a crowdfunding campaign, with an ambitious £75,000 target, to get it made.

Gilhooly has turned to Kickstarter after the BBC turned down the show, which she had been developing with Peep Show makers Objective Television.

'So much creative stuff is happening online now there's no need to wait for the commission from a traditional broadcaster,' she said. 'And you're never really told why something's been turned down, in fact I don't even remember the name of the person who was supposed to have read it!

'I thought, "Well I still believe in it, there must be another way". So I showed the script to Jack Dee and Harry Hill and they really liked it. Then brilliantly Romesh and Michelle came on board and the fabulous director David Schneider offered to direct it and David Quantick joined too as a script editor.

'So it really started to gather momentum, which would never have happened if the script was still sitting on someone's desk. It really is an amazing creative team with outstanding comedy credentials.'

Gilhooly also plays Susan, the 'glamorous' new mayoress of the fictional borough of Mansford; Dee is the 'pompous, daft' Tim; Collins plays Denise, 'a bit nouveau, likes to swan around in her Phase Eight clothes like she owns the place'; Hill is Roger the Registrar, 'very silly, eccentric and not remotely in control of his Citizenship Ceremony'; and Ranganathan is Ravi 'the only sane one of the lot'

The pilot will also star Ella Kenion as Susan's devoted, frumpy PA and James Holmes as 'giddy and camp' Liam.

All the cast have agreed to work for nothing, with the crowdfunding appeal aimed at covering the costs of a professional production costs. The intention then is to put a pilot episode online for free in the hope of selling it as a series to an on-demand broadcaster such as Netflix or Amazon Prime.

'It's empowering,' says Gilhooly. 'Viewing habits are changing and with the social media revolution taking place, we believe we can now make the quality show we want to, funded entirely by the comedy fans who want it. Crowdfunding is a really exciting way to make innovative new comedy.

'And what's brilliant about doing it this way is we can make the show we want without having to deal with all the normal restraints from a broadcaster, without loads of different people telling us what to do, which often stifles the originality or comic flair of a project. We're connecting the comedian to the comedy lover and cutting out the middle man.'

Once the appeal launches here on Monday, backers will be given rewards ranging from joke council newsletters, to visits to the set.

The appeal follows Richard Herring's recent success in raising £100,000 to fund a professionally-shot series of his sketch and stand-up series As It Occurs To Me.

Published: 6 May 2016