Sue Johnston lands new BBC Sitcom

Former Brookside, Waking The Dead, and current Coronation Street actress, Sue Johnston is to star in a new sitcom for BBC One.

Johnston, who has a long comedy association with the BBC thanks to her lead role in The Royle Family and regular part in Jam and Jerusalem, is to star in a heartwarming comedy series which follows the lives of the Lewis family from Birkenhead, Merseyside. Entitled Lapland, the series commission follows  the success of the 90-minute special that aired to an audience of over six million during Christmas 2011. The six 30-minute episodes will be made at the corporations prestigious Media Centre in Salford. External scenes will be recorded in Manchester, Liverpool and Birkenhead.

Mark Freeland, Controller, UK Comedy Production, BBC says: “After its rating success last Christmas, it’s exciting that Lapland is coming back as a series. It shows BBC One backs fresh, new, comic writing.”

Sue Johnston plays Eileen Lewis, the recently widowed matriarch of the chaotic Lewis clan, a large, close-knit and dysfunctional Northern family. The trip to Lapland that took place in the Christmas Special changed Eileen’s outlook on life and left her determined to live life to the full rather than ‘sitting in the corner dressed in black’. But life back in Birkenhead is a little less inspiring than the spectacular vistas and Northern lights of Lapland.

Pete Thornton, Executive Producer, BBC adds: “Michael Wynne has penned a beautifully nuanced, warm hearted Northern comedy featuring a highly original comic family. With the brilliant Sue Johnston leading a stellar cast, we’re thrilled to welcome this hit ensemble back to BBC One.”

The series centres on Eileen’s continued struggle to find her own peace and joy in life after Ted, as often confounded by her hilariously self-centred children and loveable but trying grandchildren. The series will air next year.