David Tennant to Star in Disability-Themed Comedy for the BBC

Former “Doctor Who” star David Tennant will play the father of a severely learning-disabled girl in “There She Goes,” a new comedy for the BBC from Sharon Horgan’s production company Merman.


The five-part series will go out on the pubcaster’s BBC Four channel. Tennant and Jessica Hynes (“Shaun of the Dead”) star as Simon and Emily, respectively, the parents of 9-year-old Rosie, played by Miley Locke. Edan Hayhurst appears as Ben, Rosie’s brother.


Shaun Pye (“Todd Margaret”) penned the series. The producers said that each episode would shine a light on day-to-day life with Rosie, from simply trying to take her to the park to explaining that every day isn’t her birthday. Sky Vision is selling the series internationally.
Merman also won a second-season order for “Motherland,” its comedy about modern parenting and family life.


The shows were announced as part of the BBC’s new comedy slate. Shane Allen, controller of BBC Comedy commissioning, told a London event Tuesday that “in a world where there’s more competition for established talent from an array of competitors, we want to broaden and cement our commitment to finding the very best of new wave talent.”


New commissions include “Ghosts,” from the team behind Sky series “Yonderland” and hit kids series “Horrible Histories.” Set in a crumbling country manor, “Ghosts” follows the day-to-day lives of the spirits that have come to live there over the years. Mathew Baynton (“The Wrong Mans”) and Simon Farnaby (“Paddington 2”) are among the cast, and the six-part series will be made by Monumental Television.


The BBC also announced a 60th birthday special for British comic and actor Lenny Henry, which will be hosted by veteran newscaster Trevor McDonald, and a Halloween special of “Inside No. 9,” the anthology series from “The League of Gentlemen” team.


Online youth-skewing channel BBC Three has been a testing ground for breakout comedies such as “People Just Do Nothing” and has greenlit new shows, including “Back To Life,” a comedy about a 30-something woman adjusting to normal life after being released from prison.