British Comedy Guide

BBC films hospital sitcom for Comedy Playhouse pilot

Tuesday 26th January 2016, 11:15am

Ivan Brackenbury. Tom Binns

The BBC is working on a new TV sitcom about the staff of a hospital.

Hospital People will be one of three comedies to form part of this year's Comedy Playhouse season on BBC One.

The comedy is based around a number of characters, including Ivan Brackenbury, an established creation of stand-up comedian and actor Tom Binns. The radio DJ, whom Binns has performed as live for a number of years and also starred as in the Radio 2 comedy The Ivan Brackenbury Radio Show, is a hopeless but permanently upbeat presenter.

The BBC explain: "Hospital People is a mockumentary set within the fictional Brimlington General Hospital. Comedian Tom Binns plays multiple characters, including deluded radio DJ Ivan Brackenbury, ambitious hospital manager Susan Mitchell, spiritualist porter Ian D Montfort, overenthusiastic priest Father Kenny and serial hypochondriac patient Terry Boyle."

Roughcut Productions, the company behind shows such as Trollied and Cuckoo, have made the programme. Executive Producer Ash Atalla says: "The words 'hospital' and 'funny' are rarely seen together, but for 30 minutes at least we hope to change that. Roughcut are delighted to be working under the spotlight of BBC One, the biggest comedy stage of them all."

The pilot has just been filmed in Hartlepool's University Hospital. Emma Lawson from the company told the local paper: "I'm originally from Durham and spent the first five years of my career filming in the North East before working in London. When we were recce-ing I recommended the North East as it has great crew and I wanted the opportunity to film there again. The filming went really smoothly, I don't think I've ever had so many positive responses from cast and crew. We would love to come back again."

On Thursday, Tom Binns posted a number of pictures from the set on his Facebook page, commenting "Ivan Brackenbury invited me to his hospital radio studios today for a tour. Dream come true."

Hospital People also stars Harki Bhambra, Liz Kingsman, Mandeep Dhillon, Aidey Pugh and Maggie McCarthy.

Hospital People will be shown alongside the other Comedy Playhouse pilots - Broken Biscuits and Stop/Start - on BBC One later this year.

In 2014, Tom Binns filmed a short mockumentary based around Ivan Brackenbury. This can be viewed below:

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