BBC commissions ‘gay dad’ sitcom pilot for 2013

As part of its ongoing programme of commissioning new television drama, the BBC has ordered a pilot episode of It Takes a Village.

Gay Star News reports that the pilot, It Takes a Village will be adapted by Richard Hurst from the US TV movie of the same name that starred Leah Remini and Cheyenne Jackson. Hurst has previously worked on Miranda – the sitcom vehicle for Miranda Hart – and Confessions of a Call Girl, which starred Doctor Who’s Billie Piper. In August, the BBC announced it had commissioned a gay-themed sitcom from Sue Perkins, a presenter of The Great British Bake Off. Perkins will write and star in Heading Out, which tells the story of a vet who is afraid to tell her parents she is a lesbian. The series will also star Dawn French (The Vicar of Dibley), Joanna Scanlan (Getting On) and Nicola Walker (Spooks). Last month, ITV announced that it had commissioned it's own gay-themed sitcom. Written by Gary Janetti (Will And Grace), the six-part series will star Sir Derek Jacobi (I, Claudius), 74, and Sir Ian McKellen (The Hobbit), 73. The two knights are well-known Shakesperean actors who are also out gay men. According to an article in the Star on Sunday, Jacobi and McKellen will play "elderly gay men living together in London’s ­Covent".