Sue Johnston to star in new Sky1 football sitcom Rovers
Sky1 is making Rovers, a new sitcom set in the clubhouse of a lower league football club.
The six part series, which will follow the useless Redbridge Rovers FC, has been written by Joe Wilkinson (Dan in Him & Her) and David Earl (Kev in Derek).
The Royle Family's Sue Johnston will lead the cast, playing the club's matriarchal, hardworking and loose lipped clubhouse manager.
Described as a "down-to-earth comedy about the fans of a local lower league football team", the show will be directed by Early Doors co-creator Craig Cash through his production company Jellylegs.
The sitcom will focus on the fictional Redbridge Rovers FC. Established in 1884, the club's attendance figures currently average around 27. The team is lying second from bottom in their league and their ground is two miles down a dirt track, next to the local rubbish tip.
Doreen has run the place over the past quarter of a century, with her legendary meat raffles keeping punters coming through her doors all those years.
Other characters include obsessive fan Pete Mott, who likes nothing more than talking stats over the scratchings with his best mate Tel - only Tel has recently "thrown Pete for a loop by coming out as gay and bringing his new boyfriend Mel to the club.
The creators add: "Then there's Pete's young lodger Tom, who has got eyes for new barmaid Sam; bossy pensioner Francis; and a whole host of other loveable eccentrics."
Earl and Wilkinson will play characters called Bruce and Lee. The rest of the cast list will be announced at a later date.
Sue Johnston says: "I've completely fallen in love with the world Joe and David have created in Rovers and I can't wait to start filming. And, of course, it will be a joy to be working with Craig Cash again."
Craig Cash, talking about Sky commissioners Adam MacDonald and Lucy Lumsden, comments: "It's great to be a part of Sky's ongoing commitment to comedy. Lucy and Adam continue to commission new writers, a bold move and one that can only be a good thing for the audience and the genre. In Rovers David and Joe have created a world that is both laugh out loud funny and as warm as toast. A series populated by great characters played by a brilliant cast. Six half hours of pure joy."
Revealing how the project came together, Joe Wilkinson and David Earl - who have previously starred together in Derek as brothers (pictured) - explain: "We first got together to try and write a sitcom because of our joint love of Craig Cash's Early Doors and The Royle Family. So, obviously the first person we sent our script to was Craig, and we almost wet ourselves when he said he liked it. Then, when Sky backed it as well, we did actually wet ourselves. It's been an absolute joy working with Sky and Craig and definitely a dream come true.
"We are both huge football fans and so we wanted to create a show that captures and revels in the comedy of everyday fans, but that also resonates with the football widows who suffer along the way. It felt natural for us to write about idiots talking rubbish, so this isn't a show about watching the action on the pitch, it's a show about watching the inaction in the clubhouse after the game."
Rovers will be shown later this year on Sky1. It will join a line-up that includes another series from Trollied, Stella, Mount Pleasant, Agatha Raisin, Duck Quacks Don't Echo and The Moaning Of Life, plus new shows After Hours, and You, Me & The Apocalypse.