King Gary renewed for Season 2
David Farnor | On 16, Feb 2020
BBC One has renewed King Gary for a second season.
The sitcom, made by Shiny Button, part of EndemolShine UK, follows Gary King (Tom Davis) and love-of-his life, Terri (Laura Checkley), as they bowl through family-life in suburbia. The first season saw the couple handle minor crises at home, at work, on the local Little-League football pitch and even on Deliveroo, as only a pair of major drama-queens can.
“The sitcom has laughs and warmth in abundance,” we wrote in our review of Season 1. “The result is a beautifully simple yet deceptively complex comedy that gets every detail just right.”
As well as viewers tuning in on BBC One weekly on Friday nights, Season 1, which was released all-at-once as a box set, has attracted over 2 million views each to date on BBC iPlayer.
Now, BBC has renewed the show for six more episodes. The Executive producers are Andy Brereton, Tom Davis and James De Frond and the Producer is Rupert Majendie. King Gary was commissioned by Charlotte Moore, Director of BBC Content and Shane Allen, Controller Comedy Commissioning. The Commissioning Editor for the BBC is Alex Moody.
Returning cast for Season 2 include Simon Day (The Fast Show), Camille Coduri (Him & Her), Neil Maskell (Humans) and Romesh Ranganathan (The Misadventures Of Romesh Ranganathan).
Davis says: “Both James and I have been overwhelmed by the lovely response to the first series and the way people have taken the King family into their hearts. We are so humbled it resonated with so many and are both excited to be returning to Butterchurn Crescent. Lully stuff.”
Shane Allen, Controller Comedy Commissioning, describes it as “jam packed with colourful characters and family friendly jokes which embody the BBC’s unique commitment to cross generational comedy starring UK talent at the heart of them”.
“The iPlayer figures have transformed comedy’s fortunes as the very healthy uplift in consolidated viewing and young audiences brings renewed faith in a genre where shows continue to be increasingly popular and discovered by new audiences over the months and years and even decades that follow,” he adds.
BBC One orders full series from King Gary
14th June 2019
BBC One has ordered a full series of King Gary, following its pilot last year.
A working-class sitcom with a big heart, the series follows childhood sweethearts Gary and Terri King, a husband and wife double act, and their aspirations to achieve social acceptance and moderate material success in competitive suburbia. This, accompanied by drama queen Gary’s constant need to impress his prehistoric old school Dad, Big Gary, and attempt to fill his big boots, equals a massive ‘try hard’ douchebag. King Gary is a study of how the small things in life can be blown up to absurd proportions as the pressures of the modern world, and how we think we must exist within it, spiral out of control.
It is written by Tom Davis and James De Frond, who star and direct respectively.
Shane Allen, Controller of Comedy Commissioning for the BBC, says: “King Gary is big on laughs, big on heart and big on talent. Landing a mainstream family sitcom with a modern tone is a tough nut to crack but these scripts are bursting with great lines and well-earned set pieces. We look forward to Gary and Terri bringing cheer to a year of bafflement.”
Davis adds: “James and I are honoured to be given the opportunity to bring the world we’ve grown up around to BBC One. We were both blown away with the tip top response to the pilot and can’t wait to get cracking with the series. We love writing these characters and it’s going to be an absolute joy to muck about in their world.”
Returning to the cast are Simon Day (The Fast Show) as Big Gary; Camille Coduri (Him & Her) as Denise; Laura Checkley (The Detectorists) as Terri; Neil Maskell as Winkle (Humans) and Romesh Ranganathan (The Misadventures Of Romesh Ranganathan) as Stuart. They will be joined by Dustin Demri-Burns (Stath Lets Flats), Lisa McGrillis (Mum), Mim Shaikh (BBC Radio 1Xtra), and Emma Sidi (Pls Like).
The Beeb has ordered six episodes from Shiny Button Productions, part of EndemolShine UK, and production stars this weekend.
‘king Gary: BBC One orders new comedy from Tom Davis
31st August 2018
Tom Davis will write and star in ‘king Gary, a new comedy pilot for BBC One.
The actor, who stars in BBC Three’s uniquely hilarious Murder in Successville, and has since stolen scenes in everything from Judge Romesh to Paddington 2, has been commissioned to write a pilot for BBC One’s Comedy Playhouse series.
‘king Gary is a larger than life working-class sitcom with a big heart. The series is written by Davis and James De Frond, who will star and direct respectively. Joining the cast is Simon Day (The Fast Show), Camille Coduri (Him & Her), Laura Checkley (Bridget Jones’s Baby) and Romesh Ranganathan (The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan).
The story follows childhood sweethearts Gary and Terri King, a husband and wife comedy double act, and their aspirations to achieve social acceptance and moderate material success in competitive suburbia. This, accompanied by drama queen Gary’s constant need to impress his prehistoric old school Dad, Big Gary, and attempt to fill his big boots, equals a massive ‘try hard’ douchebag. ‘king Gary is a study of how the small things in life can be blown up to absurd proportions as the pressures of the modern world, and how we think we must exist within it, spiral out of control.
‘king Gary is a Shiny Button Productions show for BBC One, produced by Rupert Majendie.
The pilot was announced alongside Scarborough, a brand new comedy series from Derren Litten, the creator and writer of Benidorm. It follows the lives and loves of a small handful of residents in Scarborough, the sometime sunny beach resort in North Yorkshire, who meet most nights in the local karaoke bar where they swap gossip and sing 80’s classics. Made by BBC Studios, the six-part series will feature an ensemble cast, which will be announced in due course, and filming is set to take place on location in summer 2019.
Charlotte Moore, Director of BBC Content, says: “These two new shows highlight BBC One’s continued commitment to breaking new comedy on the channel. Both are real gems; Scarborough, from sitcom writing heavyweight Derren Litten and ‘king Gary’s writer performer Tom Davis pens a mainstream sitcom with tons of heart.”
Shane Allen, Controller, BBC Comedy, adds: “Its a real coup to have someone of Derren’s great experience land a broad sitcom with a Northern comedy heart to it, it’ll do Scarborough very proud. With ‘king Gary we also get a big daft southern comedy voice in Tom Davis at the centre of a very exciting cast. The Comedy Playhouse strand has been really prolific in launching series with the very best of emerging UK comedy talent.”