Vic & Bob to star in new BBC sitcom pilot
Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer are to star in a new BBC studio sitcom pilot.
Currently very few details are known about the project, but tickets for the studio recordings are currently being organised via Twitter. The production team have set up an account under the name 'The Vic & Bob Sitcom' (@VicandBobSitcom), with Mortimer linking to the account from his personal verified Twitter account.
The account confirms that the pilot will be recorded twice in front of an audience on Friday 22nd March, once at 3pm and once at 6pm. The sitcom is being filmed at BBC Television Centre - with the BBC shortly due to complete its move out of its HQ, it is likely to be one of the last shows to be filmed at the historic studios until the site's extensive redevelopment is completed over the next two years.
Twitter traffic directed at the show's account suggests demands for tickets to the pilot is very high, with the account tweeting an hour ago "Inundated with requests! We're working our way through the requests on a first come first served basis, could take a while!"
The BBC is not commenting on the project, but it is understood, based on a now-deleted tweet that Mortimer made on the 8th February, that Dan Skinner, who has appeared with the duo in many of their other recent projects, sometimes in character as Angelos Epithemiou, will also appear in the show, as will Matt Berry (The IT Crowd), Dylan Edwards (Pramface) and Morgana Robinson (VIP). Young Norwegian stand-up Daniel Simonsen, the winner of the best newcomer prize at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, was also name-checked in Mortimer's tweet.
The topic of the sitcom is unknown, however in 2008 the duo were trying to get a sitcom about superheroes commissioned, whilst last year at the Loaded Laftas, Reeves told British Comedy Guide they were thinking about a comedy based around a hotel.
At The British Comedy Awards in December, where the duo were awarded the Writer's Guild of Great Britain Award, they told reporters they were working on a film project. However, the BCG overheard the duo giving wildly different and ludicrous premises of the film to different journalists, so it is unclear how factual that statement may have been, or indeed what any film project may be about.
Vic & Bob have previous worked together on the sitcom Catterick (pictured left), a surreal single-camera show which aired for six episodes on BBC Three in 2004. Their most recent joint projects have been quiz show pilot Lucky Sexy Winners (pictured above) for Channel 4; and Vic & Bob's Afternoon Delights, an online series of sketches sponsored by Foster's lager.
The duo are also working separately on comedy projects. Reeves has filmed two series of comic educational show The Ministry Of Curious Stuff for CBBC with Dan Skinner, and he is due to reprise his role as Joe Pearson in BBC Two sitcom Hebburn later this year. Meanwhile, Mortimer has recently appeared as a panellist on various entertainment shows and has signed up to play a father in Drifters, E4's new comedy drama dubbed 'the female Inbetweeners'.
Reeves & Mortimer are best known for Shooting Stars, which the BBC axed in 2011 despite good ratings and an outcry from fans. Speaking after the decision, the duo said they felt unwanted by the BBC. They went on to pilot Lucky Sexy Winners, which had a similar premise to Shooting Stars, for Channel 4 as part of its 30th anniversary celebrations in August 2012.
More details about the duo's new sitcom pilot are expected to be announced soon.
Below is a clip from Catterick: