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ENTERTAINMENT

‘Good Omens’ Stars David Tennant, Michael Sheen to Star in BBC One Lockdown Comedy

By John Hopewell

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Following Amazon Prime Video’s big hit with “Good Omens,” David Tennant and Michael Sheen will reteam to star in a brand new BBC lockdown comedy “Staged,” produced for BBC One by Infinity Hill and GCB Films and due to air in June.

“Staged” turns on the cast of a play, described as the cream of British acting talent, who, furloughed when their upcoming West End production comes to a halt, attempt to keep rehearsals on track despite lockdown, BBC announced Friday.

The set up looks set to play with on-stage and off-stage fiction and true-life reality, with a dose of bathetic realism added by self-shooting and video conference technology as well as Tennant and Sheen’s portraying lockdown at the expense of their own dignity. The line-up also includes actor Georgia Tennant (“In the Dark”) and Anna Lundberg, Tennant and Sheen’s partners in real-life, as well as theater actress Lucy Eaton.

“It’s so important that the BBC provides moments of humor and light relief and this mischievous idea shows what great sports Michael and David are,” said Charlotte Moore, director BBC Content, who commissioned the show.

A six-part, short format of 15 minutes per episode – which could well also encourage a more off-beat style – the show will also have a selection of guest stars, such as Nina Sosanya (“Last Tango in Halifax”). More guest stars will be confirmed in due course, BBC announced Friday.

“Staged” is based on an original idea by British theater director Simon Evans and Infinity Hill producer-partner Phin Glynn, and written and directed by Evans.

Producers are Phin Glynn, Victor Glynn and Georgia Tennant. David Tennant and Michael Sheen executive produce. Executive producers for Infinity Hill are Axel Kuschevatzky and Cindy Teperman and for GCB, Geoff Iles. The series  will also be available as a box set on BBC iPlayer after transmission.

Evans directed Orlando Bloom in “Killer Joe” in the West End; his most recent play was  “A Day in the Death of Joe Egg,” starring Toby Stephens. He is working with Infinity Hill on his feature debut “Hunters in the Dark,” adapting the Lawrence Osborne novel, which was due to go into production this Spring but stymied by COVID-19.

Comedy “Staged” marks the first TV series from Infinity Hill which was launched at November’s American Film Market by longtime Telefonica and Viacom producer Kuschevatzky (“The Secret in Their Eyes,” “Wild Tales” ),“Waiting for Anya” producer Phin Glynn and producer Teperman (“Animal”).

With offices in London, Los Angeles and Buenos Aires, its upcoming titles also take in the William Boyd Graham Greene adaptation “The Captain and the Enemy” and “Amor es Amor,” Rob Schneider’s Spanish-language movie debut as both an actor and director, produced with El Estudio.

GCB Films is a London-based production company that has its first feature film, “Belle,” in development.

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