Ardal O'Hanlon to star in new Radio 4 sitcom
Father Ted star Ardal O'Hanlon has signed up to play the lead role in a new BBC Radio 4 sitcom.
The Best Laid Plans, which will be recorded in front of an audience later this month, focuses on the adventures of an angel living on Earth in human form.
The comedy has been created by Mark Daydy, a comedy writer who has previously worked on the likes of Shaun The Sheep, Bremner, Bird And Fortune and The 11 O'Clock Show.
The producers describe the plot as follows: "In 1885, God nodded off. In 2014, he awoke to discover that his idiot servant, the angel Smallbone, had accidentally handed out God's plans for the next millennium when he was only meant to hand out plans for the next century. A thousand years of leisurely human progression (we weren't even meant to have pocket calculators until 2550) has been crammed into the last 129. No wonder we're all so stressed.
"Not only that, but God's blueprints should have run out in the mid-eighties - but we kept going. Humans are now inventing things God never even dreamt of: mobile phones, wireless internet and Made in Chelsea.
"Smallbone is cast down to Earth in human form by God, tasked with the dauntingly vague mission of 'reversing the last thirteen decades of human progression.' The problem is, Smallbone doesn't have a clue how to even begin such a task, and even if he did, he probably wouldn't want to finish it - Smallbone loves the modern world, and is becoming distracted by everything that he's meant to destroy (especially escalators)."
Once on Earth, Smallbone meets an activist called Tanya. The producers add: "Tanya always has a cause to protest against, and Smallbone always tags along and inevitably gets roped in. And sometimes, through small victories, they change the world for the better. At least, they do if Smallbone doesn't get distracted by playing Angry Birds on Tanya's iPhone.
O'Hanlon will play Smallbone, with Uncle and Cuckoo star Esther Smith playing Tanya. Producers are set to name the actor who will play God nearer the recording date.
The series will be recorded at the RADA Studios in London on Wednesday 22nd and Thursday 23rd October. To apply to be in the audience see our free tickets page
Should The Best Laid Plans prove to be a hit with Radio 4 audiences it could become a TV series too. NBC-Universal has signed a deal with Daydy which includes an option for TV development.