David Farnor | On 24, Sep 2019

Will Arnett will star in BBC Two’s The First Team, the new comedy from the creators of The Inbetweeners.

Formerly known as Afternoons, the comedy is produced by Fudge Park and written by the award-winning duo Iain Morris and Damon Beesley. This series is their first as co-writers since their massive success with The Inbetweeners series and films.

The First Team follows the off-the-pitch misadventures of three young football players as they find themselves struggling with their mercurial Italian manager Cesare (Paulo Sassenelli).

Shaquille Ali-Yebuah (The Feed, The Children Act), Jack McMullen (The Souvenir, Ford v Ferrari) and Jake Short (SuperCool, This Is the Year) will lead the cast, alongside Theo Barklem Biggs (Sliced, White Gold), Chris Geere (You’re The Worst, Modern Family) and six-time Emmy nominee Will Arnett (Arrested Development, BoJack Horseman).

Arnett plays the team’s eccentric American Chairman (Will Arnett), with Biggs and Geere playing resident hard-man Petey Brooks and ineffectual coach Chris Booth.

The cast also features Tamla Kari (The Inbetweeners, The Musketeers), Vadhir Derbez (How To Be A Latin Lover), Phil Wang (8 Out Of 10 Cats, Taskmaster), Neil Fitzmaurice (Peep Show, Mount Pleasant) and Yetunde Oduwole (Enterprice).

Emmy award-winning producer Tom Werner (Roseanne, That ‘70s Show) and Caroline Leddy (The Inbetweeners, Derry Girls) are executive producing and Sam Pinnell (Flowers, Derry Girls, Motherland) is producing the series, which has been commissioned by Shane Allen, Controller Comedy Commissioning at the BBC and Patrick Holland, Controller of BBC Two.

Iain Morris and Damon Beesley say: “We’re so lucky to be working with such an incredible bunch, some new faces and some we’ve worked with over the years, all making us laugh enormously.”

Production on the six-part series is now under way.

 

The Inbetweeners creators head to BBC Two for Afternoons

22nd February 2019

The co-creators of The Inbetweeners are heading to BBC Two for their latest comedy series.

The Beeb has commissioned Afternoons from Iain Morris and Damon Beesley. The six-part series follows the mostly off-the-pitch misadventures of three young football players from a fictional Premier League team. The stories focus on their friendship: these boys from around the world are far less proficient with women, money and social media than they are at scoring goals.

The series is produced by Fudge Park and written by the duo. The pair, who will act as showrunners during production, are writing together for the first time since the massive success of The Inbetweeners series and films.
Emmy award-winning producer Tom Werner (Roseanne, That ‘70s Show) and Caroline Leddy (The Inbetweeners, Derry Girls) are executive producing the comedy, which was commissioned by Shane Allen, Controller of BBC Comedy, and Patrick Holland, Controller of BBC Two. Gregor Sharp is the BBC Commissioning Editor.

Allen says: “Having Iain and Damon back together on a new scripted piece is about as good as it gets in comedy. Their take on what happens off the pitch brims with their skill at creating a gang of instantly recognisable characters, memorable dialogue and deftly tuned plots – excruciating humiliation is never far away.”

Morris and Beesley say: “We’re delighted to be working together again, and incredibly grateful to Shane Allen and the BBC for the faith they have shown in the idea. We’re hoping to show viewers the hilarious inner lives of three young men who just happen to have a very stressful job in the public eye.”

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