Gold orders six more episodes from the Big Yin

Gold has commissioned six more episodes of Billy Connolly Does… in which the comic looks back at the worlds of politics, celebrity, sex, TV and football from the heyday of his stand-up career.

The hour-long episodes will be filmed at his Florida home, and each will focus on either the 1970s, 1980s or 1990s.

Connolly said: ‘I love this series. Who knew that the secret to making TV was hanging out at home, eating biscuits, drinking tea and blethering on about the past?’

The commission from production company Moonshine Features follows the success of the seven-part first series, which aired in March this year.

Connolly will again be prompted for his reminiscences by director Mike Reilly, who has been working with the comic for more than a decade.

Reilly said of Gold’s parent company: ‘UKTV have been brilliant in having the confidence to let this series flourish under its simple ambition to show that regardless of time or age, Billy is still the best company to hang out with. He never stops being funny or surprising and there is always a new tale to be told that floors you with its comic brilliance.’

Connolly’s personal recollections will be mixed with news and pop culture footage from the time, along with stand-up from the archives. The show will run as two three-part series, airing in early 2023 and 2024.

Iain Coyle, the broadcaster’s head of comedy entertainment, said the programmes ‘consistently deliver warm, fascinating and hilarious insights into the mind and memories of this country’s greatest living comedian’.

And Gold’s channel director Gerald Casey added: ‘It’s fantastic to have more Billy Connolly on Gold. These new series are set to be just as entertaining and heart-warming as the first and I’m excited for viewers to have a thoroughly enjoyable history lesson from the Big Yin.’

Published: 26 Sep 2022