The BBC has released new pictures from the sets of Dennis Kelly’s Waiting For The Out, Mackenzie Crook’s Small Prophets, plus a trailer for Aimee Lou Wood’s Film Club.
Liverpool-based Waiting For The Out (working title) is a 6-part series based on Andy West’s acclaimed memoir, The Life Inside. Written by Dennis Kelly (Together, Utopia, Matilda The Musical), the drama is produced by SISTER (Black Doves, This Is Going to Hurt, Chernobyl).
Josh Finan (The Responder) leads the cast as Dan, a philosopher who begins teaching a class of men in prison. Through his work, Dan begins to dig deeper into his own past – growing up with an abusive father (Gerard Kearns) who ended up in prison, as did his brother Lee (Stephen Wight) and uncle Frank (Phil Daniels).
Levi David Addai (Damilola, Our Loved Boy) and Ric Renton (One Off) are part of the writing team, with the series directed by Jeanette Nordahl (The Responder) and Ben Palmer (Douglas is Cancelled), with Louise Sutton (Black Mirror) and Ken Horn (Line of Duty) serving as producers.
The executive producers are Dennis Kelly, Jane Featherstone (Black Doves, This is Going to Hurt), Chris Fry (Coldwater, Black Doves), Katie Carpenter (Kaos, Landscapers) and Andy West for SISTER, and Tanya Qureshi for the BBC.
It’s set to air in 2026 on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in the UK.
Meanwhile down the road in Manchester, on-set photos have also been released for Mackenzie Crook’s Small Prophets.
The 6-part comedy features Crook, Sir Michael Palin, Pearce Quigley, Lauren Patel, Sophie Willan, Jon Pointing and Paul Kaye
Produced by BAFTA-winning Gill Isles (Car Share, Alma’s Not Normal), Small Prophets was filmed and set in and around Manchester and also incorporates animation elements throughout “as a story of the magical and the mundane unfolds in a suburban cul-de-sac.”
READ MORE – Michael Palin and Detectorists’ Mackenzie Crook film Manchester comedy
Michael Sleep (Pearce Quigley)’s partner Clea disappeared seven years ago, since then he’s lived a very ordinary life. He eats Shreddies, works in a DIY store, visits his dad Brian (Michael Palin), and hopes for Clea to return. One day Brian shares an old recipe involving rainwater, horse manure and more than a little alchemy. With recipe in hand, Sleep sets out (albeit with some scepticism) to create Homunculi – magical prophesying spirits that can predict the future.
Sleep gets help from young work mate Kacey (Lauren Patel), an unlikely friendship that blossoms “partly, but not wholly,” through their mutual dislike of store manager Gordon (Mackenzie Crook).
Their friendship adds to the frustration and intrigue of his nosy neighbours (Sophie Willan and Jon Pointing) who are obsessed with trying to find out what’s going on in the garden shed.
Small Prophets (6×30′) is a Treasure Trove and Blue House production for the BBC. It has been commissioned for iPlayer and BBC Two by BBC Director of Comedy Jon Petrie.
It is written and directed by Mackenzie Crook. The executive producers are Mackenzie Crook and Lisa Thomas for Treasure Trove Productions, and Christine Gernon and Emma Strain for Blue House Productions. The commissioning editor for the BBC is Emma Lawson.
Lastly comes rom-com Film Club, the screenwriting debut from Aimee Lou Wood (Daddy Issues, Sex Education, The White Lotus) and Ralph Davis (House of the Dragon, Big Boys, Othello).
Also filmed in Manchester, it’s made by Gaumont (Obsession, Locked In, The Wives, Lupin, Narcos).
Ahead of the series airing on Tuesday 7 October, the BBC has released a trailer.
