The Stage

Rab C Nesbitt to return for BBC2 special

Published Friday 22 August 2008 at 16:15 by Scott Matthewman

Gregor Fisher is to reprise his role as Rab C Nesbitt for the first time in nearly ten years as part of a slate of new comedy commissions from BBC2.

Fisher will be reunited with Elaine C Smith as Rab’s wife Mary in a one-off 45-minute special episode penned by series creator Ian Pattison, which will air later this year.

The original comedy ran for eight series between 1990 and 1999, based on a character which originally appeared in sketch show Naked Video.

Lucy Lumsden, controller of BBC Comedy Commissioning, also announced two new six-part sitcoms for BBC2 which will go into production in 2009.

Simon Nye, best known for creating sitcom Men Behaving Badly, will pen In My Country, with additional material by Omid Djalili. Set in a London guest house populated by immigrants, Djalili will play an Iranian immigrant opposite Stephen K Amos and Amelia Bullmore.

Actress Miranda Hart will write and star in her first solo television series, Miranda Hart’s Joke Shop, about an agoraphobic misfit who is a constant disappointment to her mother. Hart has previously written a radio version of Joke Shop for BBC Radio 2, the second series of which starts on Saturday, August 23.

Speaking about the new commissions, Lumsden said: “The return of a great character such as Rab C Nesbitt, along with two new audience sitcoms, reflects the wide range of diverse, distinctive, quality comedy BBC2 continues to offer viewers.”