Possible casting for TV version of comic's cosy crime novels

It’s a dinner-party fantasy conversation many people will have had: who would play you in a movie of your life?

Well, comedian-turned-author Ian Moore might have been handed the answer: Jude Law.

The first of his series of cosy crime novels, Death and Croissants, has been optioned by Agatha Raisin makers Free@Last TV for a possible TV series, 

And he has revealed: ‘The producer got in touch with me and said, Jude Law is interested in reading a script for Richard.’

While the central character is fictional, he is a middle-aged Englishman who lives in the Loire Valley in France when he runs a B&B – all true of Moore himself.

Speaking to the Always Be Comedy podcast, the comic admitted ‘whether it’ll come off, I don't know. 

‘Every single time you hear something, you just take it with a pinch of salt. Until it's up there or being made, it's a game. 

‘Having been a comic for so long and having  had, over the course of 30 years, sort of half promises that never actually materialised, you never take anything too seriously unless it's really happened, unless it's actually concrete.’

He added: ‘Initially, I wrote the main character, Richard, with Hugh Bonneville in mind.  He was my idea for Richard. 

‘And Richard, like I say, is loosely based on me because of the B&B side of things.’

Moore has also written two books of first-hand accounts of his life in France, and is currently working on a third, entitled  Monsieur So British - his nickname when he first moved to his village, and also the name of his own podcast. He said it is due out next year. 

Moore now has  French nationality, and used to pop back to England for gigs, but has now more-or-less given up comedy, admitting he doesn’t miss it.

But he added: ‘I'm actually making the least called-for showbiz return to stand up’ as his son is a booker at the Komedia in Brighton.  Sharing the bill on the on July 12 line-up show are French comics Arielle Souma and Celya AB, plus Francophone Maureen Younger, performing in a mix of French and English.

Published: 12 May 2026