Disney+ orders superhero comedy Extraordinary
- Extraordinary is a Disney+ series set in a world where everyone has superpowers - apart from one woman
- The show is the creation of BBC Writersroom graduate, comedian and writer Emma Moran
- The producers of Killing Eve are making the series, which is "uniquely British but with universal themes"
Writer and comedian Emma Moran has written Disney+'s first UK comedy series.
Extraordinary follows Jen, a young, self-aware woman who lives in a world where everyone has a superpower - except her.
Part of Disney's new Star Original brand, the comedy is about being young and finding your feet in a confusing world, when all you'll ever be is "ordinary". Moran describes her script as "somewhere between a sitcom and an existential crisis.
"This is young, female and fresh" she said. "It's a story about real life and real identity crises - it just happens to be set in a world where superpowers exist. This show is uniquely British but with universal themes: everyone can relate to the feeling that we don't quite measure up."
Produced by Sid Gentle Films (Killing Eve), Extraordinary is the debut screenplay of the sometime stand-up and sketch comic, whose writing credits include Have I Got News For You and Newsjack.
A graduate of the BBC Writersroom scheme, the Northern Irish writer performed the sketch show Galpals at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe with Sarah King.
Details of Extraordinary's shooting schedule and cast are expected to be announced in due course.
The series is one of three Disney+ originals announced today, including the dark comedy Culprits about the aftermath of a heist, where the crew have gone their separate ways but are being targeted by a killer one-by-one. The series is from writer-director J Blakeson, currently earning plaudits for the Rosamund Pike-starring black comedy I Care A Lot on Netflix. "Swashbuckling adventure" series The Ballad Of Renegade Nell has also be announced.
Extraordinary is executive produced by Sally Woodward Gentle (The Durrells), Lee Morris (The Damned United) and Charles Dawson (The Durrells).
"Emma Moran is Extraordinary" said Woodward Gentle. "An extraordinary new writer with a brilliantly distinctive and ingenious voice. This genre curve-ball will chime with the crises everyone carries with them through their neuroses fuelled lives. We love it and are delighted that Liam and the team at Disney Plus are behind us."
Johanna Devereaux, Disney's director of scripted content, added: "It is a pleasure and a privilege to be working with these exceptional writers and producers. The Walt Disney Company is deeply committed to supporting diverse, ambitious storytelling from renowned creators and brand new voices, and we are thrilled to welcome Sally, J, Emma and their outstanding producing teams to Disney Plus."
The streaming giant had a huge global hit in January with WandaVision, which transplanted Marvel Cinematic Universe characters Scarlet Witch and Vision into the suburban setting of various US sitcoms.
Meanwhile, former UK stand-up Bisha K Ali is currently in the US writing for the Disney+ series Ms Marvel, about the first Muslim superhero in the MCU. After working on Sex Education and the Four Weddings And A Funeral reboot, Ali has been hired as showrunner on the superhero series.