Channel 4 orders comedy drama about civil servants
Channel 4 has given then green light to a new comedy drama series called Cut.
The 6-part comedy, which the channel describes as "highly original and inventive", explores the shattered personal and professional lives of a group of highly dysfunctional civil servants, forced to relocate from London to Northampton following public sector cuts.
Cut follows the mercurial Katherine, in her early 30s, who is turned down for an attractive redundancy package and so reluctantly bound for a new home when her department moves from London to Northampton.
There she meets a disparate yet similarly disillusioned group of new workmates: Danny, in his late 20s, is perma-wasted despite his co-workers believing him to be a strict Muslim. Thirty-something Angela joins him on his binges. Jenny, somewhere in her mid-20s, is far too eager for her own good, while Nathanial, also in his mid-20s, is naïve and clueless.
They're joined by the shell-shocked 40-something Jeffries, head of Human Resources and responsible for the department's relocation, who finds herself in the unlikely position of being on the receiving end of her own wave of cuts. Together they must readjust to their new life, their new surroundings and an inescapable new surrogate family of colleagues.
The 45 minute long episodes have been written by DC Moore, who has previously worked on the network's Coming Up drama strand.
Channel 4 says: "Full of black humour, razor sharp dialogue and intricately drawn relationships, Cut is a timely workplace comedy drama that is laced with an acerbically surreal sensibility which cuts straight to the quick of a lost generation."
Piers Wenger from Channel 4 comments: "DC Moore is a very special talent and the perfect writer to give voice to a generation of young people for whom the first step on the career path is to realise that there no longer is one."
The show will be made by Clerkenwell Films, the producers behind Misfits and the forthcoming C4 sitcom Scrotal Recall. The company's Chief Executive, Murray Ferguson, says: "DC Moore has created an unexpected, very funny yet searing portrayal of our lives, society and the personal challenges we face day by day. Cut is a truly original series that we're very excited to be making for Channel 4."
Casting details for the new series will be announced at a later date.