The first look at a new Stockport-set BBC sitcom starring Aimee Lou Wood and David Morrissey due to air this year has been released.
Further casting details have also been announced too.
It comes after filming on the six-part comedy series, which is titled Daddy Issues, officially got underway last year and has now wrapped.
First announced in mid-December last year, with the initial plot and stars confirmed, and already being described as “genuinely laugh-out-loud”, the show follows Gemma, played by Manchester actress Aimee Lou Wood – who is most-known for her role on Netflix’s Sex Education – who lives for the weekend when she can “get blasted and party hard” in Stockport.
But after joining the mile-high club with a random hook-up on her way back from a holiday to Portugal, she finds out she’s pregnant.
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📢 BBC Comedy orders Daddy Issues for @bbcthree with Aimee Lou Wood and David Morrissey to star
At its heart, the new series is a classic odd couple comedy about two funny, deeply flawed characters, who just happen to be father and daughter
The pregnancy couldn’t have come at a worse time for Gemma, as the only person she has left in her life is her dad Malcolm – played by David Morrissey – who is “kind hearted but useless”, and is suffering from the collapse of his family and living in a bedsit for divorced men.
Gemma and her dad end up living together in Gemma’s flat, as she needs support at a critical time in a woman’s life, and he needs help microwaving rice without it exploding.
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According to the BBC, at its heart, Daddy Issues is a “classic odd couple comedy” about two funny but deeply-flawed characters, who just happen to be father and daughter, and along the way, there’ll be dating disasters and failed romances, toxic friendships and messy family dynamics, plus a dangerously-sociopathic antenatal teacher.
Daddy Issues stars Aimee Lou Wood and David Morrissey in the lead roles / Credit: BBC
The show is written by Danielle Ward, who has notably written for other shows such as Brassic, and In The Long Run.
“It had been a very long time since a script had made me laugh out loud, but Danielle’s did exactly that,” commented Aimee Lou Wood as the new show was announced.
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“Then when I heard David was involved, I was even more excited, as he’s someone I have admired throughout my life. Watching shows like Blackpool and Red Riding when I was younger fuelled my interest in acting and so it feels surreal and amazing to be working with someone I class as a legend and inspiration.”
David Morrissey added: “I’m delighted to be working with Aimee Lou Wood as she’s someone I’ve admired for a while now. She’s a truly unique and gifted talent. Danielle has crafted such a funny and heartfelt piece and I’m so excited to be part of it.”
📸 Here's your first look at Aimee Lou Wood & David Morrissey in Daddy Issues, coming to @BBCiPlayer & @bbcthree
When Gemma discovers she’s pregnant after a random hook-up, she has no choice but to turn to her hapless father Malcolm for support
As well as releasing the long-awaited first look image, the BBC has also made some supporting casting announcements set to star in the series alongside Wood and Morrissey.
These include both famous names and rising stars alike.
David Fynn, Sharon Rooney, Sarah Hadland, Taj Atwal, Arian Nik, Tom Stourton, Susan Lynch, Susannah Fielding, Lauren O’Rourke, Cyril Nri, and Cora Kirk are just some of the other actors who have been confirmed as part of the Daddy Issues cast.
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Perry Fitzgerald, Claire Keelan, Damien Molony, Sherrie Hewson, Humphrey Ker, and David Reed all round out the talented cast.
Daddy Issues will air on BBC Three sometime in 2024, with further details and scheduling set to be announced “in due course”, according to the BBC.
Featured Image – James Stack (via BBC)
TV & Showbiz
Manchester streets transformed into London as huge film set descends on town
Daisy Jackson
The streets of Manchester have been transformed by a huge film set this week, with street signs and posters subtly transforming the city centre into London.
The area surrounding Spring Gardens is at the heart of the filming, with scenes being shot in the dead of night this week.
Film crews are working on a new Channel 4 thriller from the creators behind hit shows like Top Boy, Mobland, and The Day Of The Jackal.
Army of Shadows will star major names like Kit Harrington, Paddy Considine, and Olivia Colman, along with Susan Sarandon, America Ferrera, and Alex Hassell.
While filming is mostly taking place after dark, traces of the film sets have been left in Manchester today – including red phone boxes, Greater London Police signs, and posters of a fictitious resistance movement.
And there are several road closures in place, including Chancery Place, Chancery Lane, Brown Street, Booth Street, Kennedy Street, and parts of Tib Lane and Clarence Street.
In a note shared to local residents and businesses, StudioCanal said the scenes being filmed in Manchester involve ‘a group of people running through the streets putting up posters on properties’.
Fake posters in ManchesterThe film set includes Greater London Police signsFake posters in ManchesterProp bikes in Manchester as a huge film set appears
According to Channel 4, the new drama is inspired by Jean-Pierre Melville’s 1969 film and Joseph Kessel’s seminal book of the same name, which dramatised the emergence of the French Resistance to the Nazi Occupation of France during World War 2.
Army of Shadows is a ‘bold new story’ from Ronan Bennett of how resistance takes shape in an occupied Great Britain.
The show summary says: “Britain looks almost normal, but the flags are different, the news is careful, and nobody says certain things out loud anymore. But everyone can feel it. Somewhere beneath the surface of ordinary life something has gone terribly, quietly wrong.
“Out of the shadows emerges a former soldier known only as Berry, who starts building a secret resistance network. He knows one thing above all else: don’t act before you’re ready.
“An unlikely group starts to coalesce around him – people who’ve decided they can’t look away any longer: a soldier, a student, a radiographer, a journalist. Ordinary people, with ordinary lives, making an extraordinary and irreversible choice.
“Against them: a state with unlimited reach, a ruthless minister who’ll do whatever it takes to maintain “order”, and an American intelligence operative called Jessie, who is very, very good at her job.”
Mancs wanted to take part in a new series of the ‘hardest quiz show on TV’
Emily Sergeant
Call yourself a clever clogs? The BBC is currently looking for contestants to take part in what is widely considered the hardest quiz show on TV.
That’s right – Only Connect is back for another series on BBC Two.
Presented by Victoria Coren Mitchell and first broadcast all the way back in 2008, Only Connect takes TV quizzing to the next level, as it sees two teams compete against each other by finding connections between seemingly unrelated clues.
In this quiz show – which viewers have dubbed one of the most challenging there is – knowledge only takes you so far, as the ability to think laterally is also deemed ‘vitally important’.
A casting call for the upcoming 2027 series has been shared on the BBC website, with people from Greater Manchester encouraged to apply.
Mancs wanted to take part in a new series of the ‘hardest quiz show on TV’ / Credit: BBC
The casting call reads: “The popular BBC Two quiz show presented by Victoria Coren Mitchell returns for a new series in 2027.
“Only Connect is seeking teams of three players OR single applicants or teams of two looking for like-minded teammates to pool their combined wits to solve fiendish conundrums and vexing puzzles.
“This is the quiz series where, as in life itself, knowledge will only take you so far: patience and lateral thinking are also vital. It’s all about making connections between things which may appear, at first glance, not to be connected at all.”
Reckon you’ve got what it takes then? Applications are now open, and all applicants must be aged 18 or over and a resident in the UK or Channel Islands.
Emily Sergeant -
28th February 2024 
