Romesh Ranganathan to star in sitcom Avoidance
- BBC One has ordered a new 6-part sitcom from Romesh Ranganathan
- Avoidance follows an aimless father attempting to get his life on track after being dumped by his partner
- Co-written by Ranganathan, it will co-star Jessica Knappett, Mandeep Dhillon and Lisa McGrillis
Romesh Ranganathan will star in a new sitcom for BBC One.
A "warm and bittersweet comedy series", Avoidance follows a man with severe conflict avoidance issues who is forced to change for the sake of his son.
Filming begins shortly, with the programme set to air later in 2022.
The BBC explains: "Jonathan's (Romesh Ranganathan) life revolves around his nine year-old son Spencer, and he's always deferred the big and small decisions to his partner Claire (Jessica Knappett). So when Claire asks him to leave, Jonathan realises he has no home, no friends and no ambition. Except one: to try to preserve his son's happiness in the face of his parents' break-up.
"Jonathan takes Spencer and runs away. But he only gets as far as the home of sister Danielle (Mandeep Dhillon) and her wife Courtney (Lisa McGrillis). Over the course of the series, the unlikely foursome gradually become a loving but utterly dysfunctional family unit. Can a beta male find some backbone? And can Jonathan avoid passing his failings (and his really bad dress sense) on to his son?"
Romesh - whose real first name is Jonathan - has written the comedy with his long-term collaborator and business partner Benjamin Green, who will also direct the six episodes for their production company, Ranga Bee. The commission is the first under which a new development and distribution agreement deal with BBC Studios will see the corporation's commercial arm distribute its formats internationally.
Romesh Ranganathan says: "Ben and I first conceived this idea in 2017 and have been thinking about it on and off ever since, so if it disappeared after one series it would be really annoying. If I say the BBC have committed to three series in this quote, do they have to honour that?"
Tanya Qureshi, Commissioning Editor of Comedy for the BBC, says: "Romesh, Ben and the Ranga Bee team have assembled a fantastic cast to bring their modern take on a family sitcom to life. We couldn't be more excited to share it with audiences on BBC One later this year."
Benjamin Green adds: "It was not exactly a tough ask for Romesh and myself to imagine what life would be like for a useless, conflict averse, procrastinating beta male. It was trickier to work out what would happen if he was actually forced to change. We are delighted the BBC have allowed us to make a show for all those people that cannot turn an invitation down or tell a waiter they have the wrong order and especially for those poor souls that have to live with them."
Jonathan Blyth, Director of Comedy for BBC Studios, says: "We are thrilled to be working with Romesh and Ben on this brilliant and contemporary family sitcom and its wonderful characters, which we know audiences around the world will fall in love with. I am delighted we can support Ranga Bee's ambition to develop new content as fresh and exciting as Avoidance."