Dave to pilot Dead Canny, Holier Than Thou, Perfect and The Other Half
- Dave has commissioned four half-hour pilots off the back of its UKTV WriterSlam competition
- Dead Canny by Anna Costello focuses on a young psychic. Misha Adesanya's Holier Than Thou is set around a African Evangelical church
- Perfect by Laurence Clark focuses on three young disabled people; and The Other Half by Kate Reid and Zak Ghazi-Torbati is about a half-Welsh, half-Iranian intern
Channel Dave has commissioned four half-hour pilots: Dead Canny, Holier Than Thou, Perfect and The Other Half.
The formats have derived from the UKTV WriterSlam competition, the initiative between UKTV and TriForce Creative Network which is aiming to "shine a spotlight on diverse and emerging talent."
The commissions are as follows:
Dead Canny
Created by Anna Costello, Dead Canny follows a questionable young psychic from Consett, Co. Durham, whose ability to see dead people not only earns her a few quid cash-in-hand down the local pub, but also lands her as the prime suspect in a murder investigation.
The episode will be produced by TriForce Productions with Fraser Ayres as executive producer and Jon Macqueen as producer.
Holier Than Thou
This pilot, by Misha Adesanya, is set in contemporary Manchester. It follows the journey of three young adults as they navigate sex, faith, and relationships, while attending the conservative, African Evangelical church they were raised in.
Produced by Big Deal, with Thomas Stogdon (Dreaming Whilst Black) as the executive producer.
Perfect
Set in Liverpool, Perfect (a working title) is by comedian Laurence Clark (pictured). It focuses on three young disabled people become unexpected friends when they meet on a half-cocked and pointless work preparation scheme. Together they navigate life, dating, and a system that seems designed to only benefit the people who run it.
Produced by Happy Tramp North, the executive producer is Neil Webster.
The Other Half
Kate Reid and Zak Ghazi-Torbati have written The Other Half.
It follows 20-something Navid who is half-Welsh, half-Iranian and "100% that bitch", who gets the chance to escape his small Welsh town when he lands an internship in the big city: Bristol. But as he runs headlong into his new life, shacking up with his best friend and her painfully privileged family, he's also running away from his old life in the closet, living with his overprotective father. And the more he tries to keep the two halves of his life apart, the more they keep crashing into each other.
The episode will be produced by Ranga Bee Productions with Romesh Ranganathan, Benjamin Green and Michelle Farr-Scott as executive producers.
Commissioning editor Sarah Asante says: "I was delighted to join the UKTV scripted comedy team just as they had launched a search for emerging diverse writers. The added commitment from the Dave team by offering the initiative a transmission target set the bar really high for our search. We have proudly developed shows that organically span the nations and regions, showcasing the breadth of storytelling from across the UK. This initiative has demystified the script to screen process in a unique way and has nurtured enormous growth in confidence and vision from the writers, which has been a pleasure to witness. It's been heartening for us at UKTV to see what can happen when we invite new writers to share their dreams and talents with us and the wider industry. I also want to thank our impressive production partners for taking this leap and going on this journey with us."
Filming on the episodes will start in the new year, with casting underway for diverse and underrepresented talent.