As filming gets under way in Glasgow

The supporting cast for Ashley Storrie’s BBC sitcom Dinosaur has been announced as filming gets under way in Glasgow.

In the six-part series, stand-up Storrie plays Nina, an autistic woman in her 30s whose life is turned upside-down when her sister and best friend Evie rushes into an engagement after only six weeks.

The relatively unknown Kat Ronney will play Evie in a cast that also includes It’s A Sin’s David Carlyle and Still Game’s Greg Hemphill and Sanjeev Kohli.

Storrie, who is autistic herself, said: ‘I’m so excited that we’ve started filming, I’m jazzed to showcase Glasgow in all its magical beauty to the world.’

She created the show with Matilda Curtis, and they worked with neurodiverse writers to pen the script.

Curtis says: ‘I'm thrilled that the series is moving ahead with such a superb cast. It's been a joy to work on the scripts with the very gifted Ashley Storrie and the brilliant team at Two Brothers Pictures’ – the production company that was also behind Fleabag.

Also in the cast are Lorn Macdonald, Danny Ashok, Sabrina Sandhu, Ben Rufus Green, Jim Kitson, Sally Howitt  and Kate Dickie.

The commission for BBC Three and BBC Scotland follows a successful pilot in 2021. At that time, Storrie said: ‘Playing Nina was probably the most liberating thing that’s ever happened in my entire life.

'A big part of my autism is "masking" but Nina just kind of wears it out there. That’s what I loved about her. When you’ve got autism, you spend so much time trying to hide it, which just takes up so much energy.’

Both of the show’s creators have mothers in showbusiness. Curtis is the daughter of Downton Abbey star Elizabeth McGovern and Storrie’s mum is fellow stand-up Janey Godley.

Made by: Two Brothers Pictures
Based on an original idea by: Matilda Curtis. 
Commissioned by: Jon Petrie, director of BBC comedy and Louise Thornton, head of commissioning for BBC Scotland
Commissioning editors:Emma Lawson and Gavin Smith.
Executive producers: Sarah Hammond, Daniel Walker, Harry Williams, Jack Williams
Co-executive producer: Catriona Renton
Director: Niamh McKeown
Producer: Brian Coffey.

Published: 11 Aug 2023