Jamie Demetriou gets E4 lettings agency comedy
- E4 has commissioned Stath, a comedy about a lettings agency
- Jamie Demetriou will write and star in the series
- Lead character Stath was the subject of a 2013 Comedy Blaps short
Jamie Demetriou is to star in his own comedy series on E4.
Co-written with Friday Night DInner creator Robert Popper, Stath will see Demetriou play the titular property letting agent, incompetently at work in north London.
The character was first seen in one of the Channel 4 network's online Comedy Blaps shorts, published in 2013, and the new six-episode series will follow Stath's day-to-day antics at 'Michael & Eagle Lets'; a dodgy London lettings agency run by his father, Solaki.
Producers explain: "It's a real family affair, as equally inept Sophie, Stath's sister, is also employed there on continual work experience. Stath has big ambitions to take over the family business one day, but is hampered by his general ability and overall personality. In modern, overcrowded London, the business of finding tenants to rent flats should be pretty easy, but Stath makes it a struggle."
Fellow actor and comedian Natasia Demetriou, Jamie's real-life sister, played Sophie in the Blap short and is likely to return to play the character in the series. The pair regularly appear in projects together, including online sitcom 2016: Year Friends, and were seen in topical ITV2 sketch show @elevenish earlier this year.
The series will be produced by Roughcut TV, and is due to be broadcast during 2017.
Jamie Demetriou says: "Stath is an imbecile. I hope the only thing I have in common with him is a love of Euro RnB. I've been reading and applauding Robert's work since I was born. I can't believe he's now cooking me granola every morning and sending me letters from fake independent corporations saying I owe them thousands of pounds."
Robert Popper says: "When I first saw Jamie's Blap for Stath, I thought it was one of the funniest things I'd seen for ages. I'm absolutely thrilled to be part of a show that has the potential to change, not just the future of comedy, but, I believe, the future of mankind and all life on Earth."
Channel 4's Comedy Commissioner Fiona McDermott adds: "Jamie has been stealing the show in other comedies for too long, so it's about time he gets his own vehicle and Stath is just the character to do it. We're delighted to welcome him to the E4 comedy family"
Ash Atalla, Managing Director of Roughcut TV, adds: "Jamie is one of the UK's best new writer performers and hopefully his character will become a firm favourite with viewers. If it doesn't, I'm well out of pocket as I've already had 200,000 mugs and lunchboxes of STATH made!"
Below is the Comedy Blaps episode of Stath: