Sky orders cancer comedy

Rupert Grint and Nick Frost in Sick Note

Sky Atlantic in the UK has ordered a sitcom about a misdiagnosed cancer patient starring former Harry Potter actor Rupert Grint.

Sick Note has been written by Nat Saunders and James Serafinowicz and is being produced by King Bert, the prodco from David Walliams, Jo Sargent and Miranda Hart.

The six-part comedy is about a compulsive liar who claims to have cancer to make people be nicer to him. Filming has started on the show, which has been slated to air 2017.

Sky has been ramping up its comedy programming over recent months and in February secured the third season of comedy travelogue The Trip, starring Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan.

The show, created and directed by Michael Winterbottom for Revolution Films, had its first two runs on BBC2.