Casting news revealed

Jayde Adams, Katherine Parkinson and Home’s Youssef Kerkour are to star in new ITV comedies, the broadcaster has announced.

Adams will take the title role in Ruby Speaking, a comedy based on her experiences working in a call centre. Her character is described as a popular addition to the workforce who puts other people’s problems above her own – and definitely above making a sale.

Set in Bristol, the six-part series is written by Abigail Wilson, whose credits include The Larkins and Trollied and will be made by Yellow Door Productions.

Meanwhile, Parkinson and Kerkour star in the comedy-drama Significant Other, based on an Israeli series of the same name, about two lonely neighbours who embark on a hesitant relationship after drastic life events bring them together. 

Programme-makers Quay Street Productions say: ‘As this strange love story unfolds with wryly observed wit and warmth, could these deeply flawed individuals influence each other for the better?’

The six-part series, written by Dana Fainaru and Hamish Wright, starts filming next month and will also air on ITVX in 2023.

Meanwhile, Abdulla Khan will star in Count Abdulla, about a British-Pakistani Muslim doctor caught between his religious mother and his hedonistic friends – who gets bitten by a vampire played by Jaime Winstone.

And Amanda Abbington, Clare Calbraith, Claire Keelan and Alexandra Mardell will star as four sisters who have lost their parents and are packing up the family home to sell in The Family Pie.

All the programmes were announced for ITVX earlier this year, but casting has only been confirmed today.

Nana Hughes, ITV’s head of comedy, said: ‘The arrival of ITVX gives us more opportunities to commission a broad range of comedies and a dedicated place for the genre to call home.

‘We want a huge cross-section of contemporary, diverse and inclusive comedy. We want to take risks, but most importantly, we want our audiences to find shows that reflect them and make them laugh.’

Published: 22 Aug 2022