iPlayer pots snooker comedy drama

The BBC iPlayer has commissioned its first original comedy drama film from the writing team behind A Young Doctor’s Notebook.

The Rack Pack was written by the team behind A Young Doctor’s Notebook

The UK pubcaster’s on-demand service has greenlit The Rack Pack, from Endemol Shine Group-owned prodco Zeppotron, which will be released in early December.

Starring Luke Treadaway (Clash of the Titans) and Will Merrick (Skins) and directed by Brian Welsh (Black Mirror), the story focuses on the UK snooker scene of the 1970s and 1980s when the players became household names and the world championship final drew a television audience of 18.5 million.

The rivalry between players Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins and Steve ‘Dangerous’ Davis is at the centre of the story.

The film is written by Shaun Pye, Mark Chappell and Alan Connor, who are behind A Young Doctor’s Notebook. It was ordered by Victoria Jaye, head of TV content at BBC iPlayer, and Shane Allen, the corporation’s controller of comedy commissioning.

It is part of a growing original commissioning drive for iPlayer as the BBC’s youth-skewing linear channel BBC3 prepares to switch to online-only in 2016.