BBCS, Clerkenwell Films shortform comedy drama Cheaters lands at BBC

Cheaters is told in 18 10-minute chapters

The BBC has acquired the shortform comedy drama Cheaters from its commercial arm BBC Studios and the latter’s London-based prodco Clerkenwell Films.

Cheaters, an 18-part returnable series told in 10-minute chapters, was announced in 2019 and is described as a sexy, messy comedy-drama about morality and monogamy, and everything in between.

The series is written and created by writer Oliver Lyttelton (The Listener), directed by Elliot Hegarty (Ted Lasso) and produced by Alex Walsh-Taylor (In The Long Run).

It tells the story of a chance meeting after a cancelled flight that leads to an unlikely night of drunken airport-hotel sex between two strangers, who then end up living on the same street as each other.

The series stars Susan Wokoma (Enola Holmes) and Joshua McGuire (Industry) alongside Callie Cooke (Rules of the Game), Jack Fox (Sanditon), Andrea Valls (Waffle the Wonder Dog), Shiloh Coke (Pirates) and Jay Lycurgo (Titans).

The series, which will launch on February 8, was both commissioned and funded by BBC Studios and producer and financier Anton as part of a long-term development deal.

The executive producers are Murray Ferguson, Petra Fried, Emily Harrison and Matt Jarvis for Clerkenwell Films, Caroline Stone for BBC Studios and Sebastien Raybaud for Anton. It was acquired for BBC One and BBC iPlayer by Piers Wenger, director of BBC Drama. BBC Studios is distributing the series internationally.