New sitcom with Alison Steadman

The BBC has confirmed that John Cleese is returning to the corporation with a new sitcom called Edith.

The six-part series stars Alison Steadman as a widow, with Cleese playing Phil, an old boyfriend who lives across the road.

Phil has long dreamed of marrying Edith, and on the day she finally says ‘yes’, her 50-year-old son Roger (Jason Watkins) turns up, having left his wife, his kids and his good job at the bank.

The cast also includes Jessica Hynes as Roger's abandoned wife Wendy, Anne Reid as the interfering housekeeper Mrs Gale, Rosie Cavaliero as Roger's money-driven sister Sandra, James Cosmo as Edith's troublesome ex-boyfriend Bob and Peter Egan as the confrontational local resident Mr Dugdale.

Steadman said: ‘I’m thrilled to be in Edith and working with such an amazing cast.’

Cleese added: ‘These are the most enjoyable scripts I've been sent in the last 100 years. It will also be particularly nice to work with Alison again since we joined forces in Clockwise all that time ago.’

The show – which Chortle reported on in October  – shows a thawing of relations between the BBC and Cleese,  who in 2015 vowed: ‘There’s no way I want to work in TV, especially at the BBC.’

Shane Allen, the BBC’s controller of comedy commissioning added: ‘f you had carte blanche on your fantasy BBC One comedy cast then you’d not be far off the Edith line-up. 

‘It’s also a huge pleasure to welcome John Cleese back to the land of BBC sitcom - his last one did alright. This is the cream of British talent giving the BBC One audience the very best comedy on television.’

Edith is written by Charles McKeown, Oscar-nominated co-author of Terry Gilliam’s Brazil and will be made by ,BC Studios production,

McKeown has existing links with Cleese and other Pythons. He started off his career with minor roles on Michael Palin’s Ripping Yarns and Life of Brian, and even appeared in an episode of Fawlty Towers as a guest caught with a blow-up doll. His character was called Mr Ingrams, Cleese’s revenge on journalist Richard Ingrams, who wrote a negative review of the sitcom in The Spectator.

Published: 11 Apr 2017