The Other One bigamy comedy returns
- The Other One is to return for a full series on BBC Two after a successful pilot
- The comedy focuses two families who discover they had the one same husband and father after he dies
Sitcom The Other One has been commissioned for a full series on BBC Two.
A pilot for the sitcom - starring Ellie White, Lauren Socha, Rebecca Front and Siobhan Finneran - was broadcast in September.
The comedy focuses on two very contrasting mother-and-daughter pairs who are brought together when the husband/father of each dies. It quickly transpires that he was the one same man, leading a double life.
The channel explains: "Cathy's dad just died. Colin was the most caring, generous and funny man you'd ever meet. He was a brilliant husband and father, and now he's bloody died. Kicking the bucket was the most selfish thing he ever did.
"But Colin had a massive secret. He had a mistress; which is weird because people with a subscription to Which? magazine aren't usually risk-takers. And not only that, Colin had another daughter with this woman - born exactly a week after Cathy. To cover his tracks Colin decided to call both daughters Catherine, so as to reduce confusion and getting caught (you know, like how married men buy their lover their wives' perfume - but way worse). His other 'family' - Marilyn and Cat - live 13 miles away in a neighbouring town and knew him as an unreliable but sporadically wonderful sh*t of a dad."
White and Socha play the contrasting Catherines, whilst play their respective and equally contrasting mothers, Tess and Marilyn, are played by Front and Finneran. All four lead actors will return, alongside Amit Shah as the sensible Catherine's boyfriend.
Created by Holly Walsh, the series is written by Walsh and Pippa Brown, who is also the producer for Cave Bear Productions.
Brown and Walsh say: "What an absolute honour and privilege to be able to work with these four fantastically funny, incredibly talented women (ditto one man) for a full series. We love Siobhan, Rebecca, Ellie, Lauren and Amit so much so cannot wait to start thinking of brilliant things for them to get up to. P.S. please can all children of dead polygamous men get in touch with us and tell us their stories as a matter of urgency."
Executive Producer Ben Cavey adds: "The Other One is a fantastically funny and charming show with a great story at the heart of it. We are very happy to once again be making comedy for BBC Two which continues to be the home for a lot of the UK's best comedic talent. It's absolutely right that Holly and Pippa, as two of the UK's leading comedic lights, should be joining BBC Two's impressive line-up of comedy brilliance."
BBC commissioner Shane Allen concludes: "The pilot landed fully formed with a powerhouse of female comedy talent established and new. Holly's writing is incredibly impressive as she brings new layers, nuance and depth to the knockout original concept."
The series is expected to be shown on BBC Two later this year.