The Stage

Schneider to write estate agent comedy for BBC Radio 4

Published Monday 18 February 2008 at 16:15 by Matthew Hemley

Comedian David Schneider is developing a sitcom for BBC Radio 4 that will take a satirical look at Britain’s obsession with property.

Called Gazumped, the comedy will be set in an estate agents and will be written by and star Schneider, who is best known for his work on The Day Today and I’m Alan Partridge.

The project marks Schneider’s first solo sitcom project for radio and is being made by independent production company Unique.

Producer Simon Jacobs said Schneider will play an estate agent called Danny Berg, who is a “sympathetic estate agent in a world that is not so sympathetic”.

He added: “He can’t just say a property is conveniently placed to local amenities if those amenities are a sewage farm and a half-way house for drug offenders. He is no good at selling houses. It is set in and around the estate agents in which he works and it is all about his world.”

Unique has been commissioned by BBC Radio 4 to develop two pilot scripts, but Jacobs said he was hopeful a full series will be given the green light.

The production company has also been commission by BBC Radio 4 to produce a third series of Stage to Screen, presented by Paul Gambaccini, which will examine three musicals that have made the transition from being theatre productions to successful films.

Meanwhile, Unique is making Fragile, a play penned by Tena Stivicic, a new writer from Croatia. Fragile was first performed at the Arcola in London, but Stivicic is now adapting it for the 60-minute Friday play slot on BBC Radio 4.

It is being produced by Unique’s Frank Stirling, who said the show explores the “reality of the immigrant experience in London”.

He added: “We heard of Fragile as a stage play, read the script and we were blown away by it. Tena is particularly big news in Croatia but Fragile was the first play she has written in English. She is one of the most exciting playwrights I have come across in a very long time.”

The play will be broadcast in May. Casting has not yet been confirmed. However, Stirling said it was likely to include actors from the original production.