David Farnor | On 22, Feb 2022

Here We Go again. The BBC has greenlit a full comedy series once more following the Jessop family as they navigate a combination of life’s everyday challenges.

The Comedy Playhouse pilot, originally titled Pandemonium and broadcast in December 2020, featured an all-star cast including Alison Steadman (Gavin & Stacey), Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd), Jim Howick (Ghosts), Tom Basden (After Life), Freya Parks (School’s Out Forever), and Tori Allen-Martin (London Kills). Written by Tom Basden and made by BBC Studios Comedy Productions, Here We Go follows the highs and lows of the Jessop family – last time, it was the family’s disastrous attempt to carve out a holiday in the midst of Covid-19.

“The show’s strength lies in the way it focuses on one family’s joint commitment to sticking together. It’s admirable, universal and – thanks to shrewdly observed and sharply delivered dialogue – highly entertaining,” we wrote in our review. “Once this pandemic is over, it’s easy to imagine the Jessops being just as fun to watch in a fully-fledged sitcom, no matter what they’re going through.”

Now, youngest son Sam will continue to document the Jessop family across the year. Moving back and forward in time, each episode offers an intimate, observed and absurd exposé of a modern British family doing its best to support each other, if accidentally annoying everyone else in the process. Although nothing quite goes to plan for the Jessops, their indomitable spirit sees them find moments of unexpected delight among the disappointment and laughing in the face of disaster – from changing careers, keeping the romance alive within a marriage and adopting a healthier lifestyle to kidnapping a dog, destroying a swimming pool and sabotaging a wedding.

Basden says: “I’m delighted to be bringing the Jessop family to BBC One this year. Hopefully their spectacular failures will make the rest of us feel a bit better about ourselves.”

Jon Petrie, Director of BBC Comedy, adds: “Tom is a comedy writer at the very top of his game and we can’t wait to see this modern family sitcom develop into a full series on BBC One, which it truly deserves.”

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