Mark Addy, Jimi Mistry and Alison Steadman are to star in the second series of The Syndicate on BBC1.

Written by Kay Mellor, the cast also includes Siobhan Finneran and Natalie Gavin.

Like the first series, which starred Joanna Page and Matthew Lewis, the new episodes will focus on a group of employees who win the lottery.

Mellor said: “The Syndicate is a drama series of our time. As the world recession bites harder and deeper, more and more people are doing the lottery. It gives them the weekly hope of winning their way out of debt and poverty.”

The Syndicate’s executive producer Polly Hill added that Mellor’s scripts had “attracted an incredible cast”.

Commissioned by BBC1 controller Danny Cohen and controller of drama commissioning, Ben Stephenson, the drama is being made by Mellor’s company, Rollem Productions.

The series will be directed by Sid McCartney, Dominic Leclerc and Mellor and will air on BBC1 next year.