UKTV viewers invited to Meet the Richardsons

Jon Richardson plays an exaggerated version of himself in Meet the Richardsons

Multichannel operator UKTV has commissioned three new originals for its comedy channels Dave and Gold, including series with comedians Jon Richardson and Dave Gorman.

Meet the Richardsons is a six-part sitcom for Dave starring the comic and his real-life wife, Lucy Beaumont.

Written by Beaumont and Tim Reid (Car Share), the series offers a fictional window into the funny and frustrated marriage of Jon and Lucy, where they portray exaggerated versions of themselves.

The show is from Second Act Productions, directed and produced by Lee Hupfield and Eddie Stafford.

Dave Gorman: Terms & Conditions Apply, is an eight-part series for Dave in which the stand-up comedian is joined by three comedy guests as they compete in mischievous games and try to unscramble the “baffling morass of non-stop information that surrounds us in the internet age.”

Produced by Avalon, the series is directed by Paul Wheeler and series produced by James Fidler. It will air on Dave later this year.

The third commission, Dial M for Middlesborough, is a feature-length Agatha Christie-inspired sequel to comedy TV films Murder on the Blackpool Express and Death on the Tyne. The latest instalment is written by Jason Cook, who wrote the first two films, and produced by Shiny Button for Gold.

Richard Watsham, UKTV’s director of commissioning, said: “The latest crop of UKTV originals demonstrates our commitment to finding and backing the very best talent both in front of and behind the camera.

“Our indie partners continue to help us raise the quality and ambition of our shows across more genres. These new series span both feature-length and half-hour scripted comedy as well as an evolution of one of Dave’s most watched comedy entertainment shows, from the brilliant mind of Dave Gorman.”

UKTV yesterday promised that the BBC’s commercial arm will not be able to jump to the front of the queue for original commissions on its networks, after the company’s channels, previously owned 50/50 by the BBC and Discovery, were split.