Casting revealed for new Gold sitcom Henry IX

London, Tuesday 13th September 2016

Charles Edwards heads up the cast of Gold's new series Henry IX, a three-part, single camera sitcom on a grand scale, set in the fictitious, contemporary court of Henry IX, King of the United Kingdom. Also making a welcome return to the world of comedy is Kara Tointon, while rounding out the rest of the main cast are Sally Phillips, Annette Crosbie, Colin Salmon, Don Warrington, Pippa Haywood, Gina Bellman and Robert Portal. Henry IX is scripted by Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais and begins filming today.

Charles Edwards (Downton Abbey, Holy Flying Circus) plays Henry in a modern story of a forty-something man going through a mid-life crisis - except in this instance he's the King of Great Britain and the Commonwealth. At his side are Sally Phillips (Miranda, Smack The Pony, Bridget Jones) as his aloof wife Queen Katerina, Annette Crosbie (One Foot In The Grave) as the King Mother Charlotte and Pippa Haywood (Brief Encounters, The Brittas Empire) as Prime Minister Gwen Oxlade, while Kara Tointon (EastEnders, Mr Selfridge) plays Serena, the Palace florist and potential love interest.

Also featuring in the main cast are Colin Salmon (Master Of None, Limitless, Arrow), Don Warrington (Rising Damp, Death in Paradise), Gina Bellman (Coupling) and Robert Portal (The King's Speech). Henry IX is the latest comedy from legendary pairing Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais (Porridge, The Likely Lads & Auf Wiedersehen, Pet).

Henry IX is directed by Vadim Jean (Leon The Pig Farmer, The Rebel), produced by Pete Thornton (Jonathan Creek, Benidorm, Mount Pleasant), executive produced by Jon Rolph and Tarquin Gotch, and co-produced by Retort and Serious Comedy. Tanya Qureshi is executive producer for UKTV. Henry IX will air on Gold next year.

For press requests please contact:

Ben Duncan, UKTV Publicist
or Claire Mulvey, Fremantle Media claire.mulvey@fremantlemedia.com

About Gold

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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 Comic Strip Presents...Red Top and Catherine Tate's Do Not Disturb, and the live broadcast of the final ever performance of the Monty Python Live (mostly): One Down Five to Go stage show which became the highest rating programme in Gold's history in 2014.

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About UKTV

UKTV is the biggest multichannel broadcaster in the UK.   The award-winning independent has eleven imaginative brands - UKTV Play, Dave, W, Gold, Alibi, Yesterday, Drama, Really, Home, Eden and Good Food. These include the two most popular non-PSB channels in the UK and account for 9.31% of the British commercial TV market. The company's most recent financial results showed record-breaking year-end revenue of £319m and EBITDA of £82m. It invested £148m 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, Freesat, Amazon Fire and UKTV Play, and distributes its highly valued original programmes to 200 territories.   Now celebrating its 23rd 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 in The Sunday Times top 100 companies list.

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