The Stage

Head, Clarke and Agutter to star in new BBC1 series Desperados

Published Thursday 15 November 2007 at 14:00 by Matthew Hemley

Shameless producer Company Pictures is developing a new comedy drama series for BBC1 starring Warren Clarke, Anthony Head and Jenny Agutter.

The six-part series, called Desperados, follows two villains played by Head and Clarke, who leave a life of crime in Spain to retire in a sleepy Devon fishing village, but soon resort to their old ways.

The show has been created by William Ivory, writer of BBC drama A Thing Called Love, who said: “Desperados is an ensemble piece, which means every character relies on the one next to them to give full value in terms of what the script is trying to achieve. And that means, in an ideal world, you’re looking to fill every role with a heavy hitter - but in truth you seldom achieve that. This time, I think we have.”

The show is being executive produced by George Faber and Charlie Pattinson at Company Pictures.

Faber said: “This action-packed comedy drama delivers top stars in a warm, funny show that also takes a wry look at the late 50-something generation who still feel they have much to offer the world.”

The series was commissioned for BBC1 by the Corporation’s controller of fiction, Jane Tranter.