Susan Calman gets Radio 4 sitcom with Hat Trick
Comedian Susan Calman is to star in her own Radio 4 sitcom, it has been confirmed.
From production company Hat Trick, Calman has also written the four-part series, Sisters, which will be produced by Sarah Cartwright and Paul Schlesinger (Twenty Twelve, Citizen Khan).
Hat Trick explain: "Lynn and Susan Corday are sisters. But that's all they have in common. Where Lynn is serious, neat and grounded, Susan is unpredictable, eccentric, messy and stubborn. Where Lynn has been diligently working away at her admin job and quietly in love with her boss, Susan has been slobbing around in a dressing gown and calling herself a writer.
"And when Susan moves into Lynn's flat because Lynn needs the rent and Susan needs someone to pick up after her, Susan immediately starts causing trouble, with the help of geeky, oddball neighbour Blake."
Susan Calman says: "I'm delighted to be working with Radio 4 on my sitcom. The station has shown a huge amount of faith in me as a new writer and I can't wait to get started with Hat Trick on producing the series. Sisters is a show that's funny, warm and stuffed full of great characters. And its two leads are women. Which is always positive in my book! It's exciting, exhilarating and nerve wracking all at the same time."
Sisters will be broadcast early in 2015.
Hat Trick also revealed a second new series commission today, starring early 1990s comedy-rock star Robert Newman.
Also broadcasting in 2015, Robert Newman's Entirely Accurate Encyclopaedia Of Evolution will present a mixture of stand-up and sketches as the comic aims to "challenge notions of Survival of the Fittest and the Selfish Gene with a new theory that's equal parts enlightening and hilarious".
Hat Trick describes the series as "guiding us through a unique A-Z of evolution that takes in everything from altruistic amoebae to the origin of flight. Rob will also correct some major distortions of Darwinism in the light of what we now know about epigenetics, mirror neurons and The Flintstones."
The company has also confirmed the widely-expected return of cricket sitcom Dave Podmore next year, as the Ashes come back to England. Dave Podmore's Toughest Test is written by Christopher Douglas, Andrew Nickolds and Nick Newman.
Finally, Ian Leslie will be back on Radio 4 early next year with a new series of Before They Were Famous, the comedy that brings to light the often surprising first literary attempts of some of the world's best known writers.