John Hannah, Jo Joyner, Sarah Alexander & Nicholas Burns star in new Gold comedy

Gold

June 10 2015

John Hannah (A Touch of Cloth, Atlantis, Spartacus), Sarah Alexander (Jonathan Creek, Me & Mrs. Jones, Undercover), Jo Joyner (EastEnders, Ordinary Lives) and Nicholas Burns (The World's End, Benidorm) lead the cast of Gold's new three-part scripted comedy series Marley's Ghosts, currently filming in and around London.

Marley's Ghosts is a high concept single camera sitcom; a distinctive and original ensemble piece about a woman, Marley (Sarah Alexander) who has a rare gift that comes with mixed blessings. She can talk to the dead, which sadly now includes both her husband Adam (John Hannah), her lover Michael (Nicholas Burns) and her vicar (Jo Joyner). Awkward.

Written by Daniel Peacock and produced by John Stanley Productions (part of the All3Media Group), the series is directed by Ben Gosling Fuller (Bad Education, Pramface, You, Me & Them) and produced by Katie Mavroleon. The Executive Producer is Layla Smith.

Simon Lupton, Commissioning Editor, comments,

In Marley's Ghosts, Danny Peacock has taken a brilliantly simple and relatable conceit - a woman torn between her lover, and the love she leaves behind - and pushed it to a wonderful comedic extreme. It's a common fear that events from your past will one day come back to haunt you - and in Marley's case that is exactly what is happening. Fortunately for us, it's hilarious.

The UKTV Commissioning Editor also says about the show,

For these four characters there literally is no escape from one another, but rather than just revel in that awkwardness, which would be funny in itself, Danny also puts them in fantastic situations and sends them on joyous adventures which force this dysfunctional bunch to get along. We really believe over the course of the three episodes the Gold audience will fall in love with these characters, and in Sarah Alexander, Jo Joyner, Nicholas Burns and John Hannah we really couldn't imagine any one better to bring them to life... even in death.

John Stanley Productions was originally set up by award-winning comedy writer and performer Matt Lucas and has since become part of the All3media group. It specialises in high quality comedy and entertainment shows for television and radio, nurturing new comedy talent as well as working to develop programmes with established writers and performers.

Its slate includes Pompidou for BBC1, Relatively Clever for Sky 1, three series for BBC Radio 4 - Chat Show Roulette, Britain V The World and The Casebook of Max and Ivan and in development the television adaptation of its hit BBC Radio Wales sketch series Here Be Dragons.

For further information please contact:

Julie Pickford, Group Publicity Manager or email: pressoffice@uktv.co.uk.

Notes to editors

About Gold (Sky 110, Virgin 126, TalkTalk 408, Top-Up TV 20)

Dedicated to celebrating the best of British comedy, Gold is the nation's favourite comedy channel. Much-loved comedy series such as Only Fools and Horses, The Vicar of Dibley and Outnumbered sit alongside successful commissions including Porridge: Inside Out, The Comic Strip Presents: Five Go To Rehab (starring Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders), You, Me and Them, Bring Me Morecambe and Wise, Monty Python Live (mostly): One Down Five to Go and the ultimate Python documentary Monty Python: The Meaning of Live. The perfect tonic to make you laugh whatever the time of day, Gold shows universally funny content that everyone can enjoy. Gold.uktv.co.uk / @goldtvchannel

About UKTV

UKTV is the multi-award winning media company that reaches over 42 million viewers every month. UKTV's eleven imaginative brands - UKTV Play, Dave, Watch, Gold, Alibi, Yesterday, Drama, Really, Home, Eden and Good Food - include the most popular non-PSB channel in the UK and account for 9% of the British commercial TV market. The company's most recent financial results showed record-breaking year-end revenue of £278m, and EBITDA of £67.4m. It invested a record £125m in programming and related launches last year, and is becoming an increasingly significant investor in UK creativity.

UKTV has a truly innovative model, curating brand-defining commissions, high-profile acquisitions and the very best of BBC, alongside programmes originally shown on ITV and Channel 4. The network embraces technology to deliver inspired channels to audiences through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView and UKTV Play, and distributes its highly valued original programmes to 200 territories.

Now celebrating its 22nd year at the forefront of digital television, UKTV - an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (SNI) - is proud to be the only British television broadcaster to be recognised by Best Companies.

corporate.uktv.co.uk / pressoffice.uktv.co.uk / @uktv_press