Acorn, Free@Last prep Benny Hill biopic

Benny Hill died in 1992

Acorn Media Enterprises (AME) and UK indie Free@Last TV are working on a scripted biopic of late comedian Benny Hill.

AME, the UK-based development division of the Acorn TV brand of RLJ Entertainment in the US, is pairing with Free@Last to produce Lonely Boy: The Benny Hill Story, which is being made as a 2×90’/4×45’ drama.

Caleb Ranson (Midsomer Murders, Distant Shores) is attached to write the show, which will follow British comic Hill’s life from the mid-1930s through to his death in 1992.

Earlier this year, AME and Free@Last TV announced the first sole commission for US-based VoD service Acorn TV – a revival of Sky series Agatha Raisin.

Lonely Boy takes its name from one of Hill’s classic 1960’s hits and was developed by Free@Last TV’s David Walton in partnership with Ranson.

Barry Ryan, creative director at Free@Last TV, said: “Benny Hill is a lost national treasure and a much-misunderstood man. Our drama will reignite his legacy and address some of the misconceptions about the man and his material while also chronicling the dying days of variety entertainment and the birth of television.”