The Stage

Lancashire and Speer join BBC1 Rotters’ Club

Published Tuesday 10 August 2004 at 12:15 by Joanna Taylor

Sarah Lancashire and Hugo Speer are among the stars appearing in a new BBC1 drama adaptation of Jonathan Coe’s novel The Rotters’ Club.

The three-part series has been adapted from the original book by Auf Wiedersehen Pet creators Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais and is being produced by Company Pictures.

The Rotters’ Club is a rites of passage story about three best friends growing up in Birmingham in the seventies. It mixes their personal stories with political events occurring at the time, such as the IRA bombings.

Three new actors - Geoff Breton, Nicholas Shaw and Rasmus Hardiker - will take the central roles, with Lancashire, Speer and Fast Show star Mark Williams confirmed to play parental characters.

Filming has already begun on the project, which is due for broadcast on BBC1 next year.

It is the latest in a line of ambitious projects from BBC1 controller Lorrainne Heggessey, whose recently announced autumn season includes Dirty War - a co-production with the current affairs and drama departments - about a hypothetical radiological bomb attack on London.

Other commissions include Blackpool, a comic musical thriller starring Sarah Parish and John Thomson, and A Thing Called Love with Paul Nicholls.

Last month, the BBC board of governors ordered an independent review of BBC1 in its Annual Report. This sparked rumours that Heggessey’s future at the broadcaster may be under threat.

However, new director-general Mark Thompson has moved to quash the reports, saying: “BBC governors noted this was a year in which the channel [BBC1] grew stronger. I think the channel reflects the progress Heggessey has made over the past two years in particular.

“I know from my own experience any controller’s job is a tough one but for hot seat don’t read ejector seat. This is about good governance, not a reflection of any concern over the overall health of BBC1 or any other channel.”