Star set to direct the dark comedy Classic with its writer Tony Pitts

Pre-production work has started on Sally Phillips’s directorial debut, a dark comedy set in the world of classic car enthusiasts

The movie is called Classic, and the Bridget Jones and Taskmaster star calls  it  ‘Best In Show with cars’.

She is co-directing with its writer Tony Pitts, who is also taking his first turn behind the camera. In an interview with Metro this morning, Phillips called Pitts ‘the poet laureate of petrol’ and ‘Clarkin’ as he’s a cross between Jeremy Clarkson and Philp Larkin.

The story is set on the North Yorkshire coast and filming is set to start later this year. Phillips has previously spoken about spending time interviewing members of a Sheffield classic car club for research.

It is being made by Captain Dolly, the production company she set up with Ronni Ancona to write, produce and distribute independent films. Phillips joked: ‘We’re middle-aged actresses pretending to be businesswomen – my finest role yet.’

Both women are set to appear in Classic alongside Pitts and former Coronation Street and Liar actress Katherine Kelly, who is another producer of the film, trade website ScreenDaily reported in May, when it was been touted to buyers at the Cannes film festival.

Pitts is best known for playing  Archie Brooks in Emmerdale and  Lester Hargreaves in Line Of Duty – but he also penned the 2017 comedy-drama Funny Cow, about a 1970s female comedian played by Maxine Peake, while his  audio sitcom Curl Up & DI, starring Vic Reeves and Morgana Robinson and revolving around crime-solving hairdressers, has just been released as a podcast. Pitts also presents the Three Little Words podcast with his pal John Bishop.

Another project in the pipeline from Captain Dolly is Palme Dog, about a man who believes his late wife is a dog and inspired by the real-life prize of that name given to canine thespians at the Cannes Film Festival. Phillips first revealed the project in a 2018 Chortle interview.

Philips has also written a rom-com based around a character with Down's Syndrome. The star, whose eldest son Ollie has the condition,  wrote  Don't Fuck Juliet (The Wedding) – with Swedish-Kurdish actress Nisti Stêrk – with Nick Hornby as script editor.

Shooting on the movie – originally called  My Big Fat Down Syndrome Wedding – had been planned for 2020, but then the pandemic struck.

Phillips’s other comedy credits include Smack The Pony,  Miranda, I'm Alan Partridge, Green Wing and Veep,  in which she played  Finnish prime minister. Minna Häkkinen,

Published: 14 Jul 2022