The latest edition of the long-running comic franchise, Comic Strip Presents, will satirise the tabloid newspaper industry in a new 75-minute film on Gold channel.
The Comic Strip Presents…The Red Top! is once again masterminded by Peter Richardson and will star Maxine Peake in the lead role as a kind of Rebekah Brooks character, while Nigel Planer will play Rupert Murdoch and Russell Tovey will play Andy Coulson.
The stellar cast will also feature Johnny Vegas, Alexei Sayle, Harry Enfield, James Buckley, John Sessions and Eleanor Matsuura as Wendi Deng.
Stephen Mangan will reprise his role as Tony Blair, and creator Peter Richardson will also appear.
Peter said: “Like our previous The Hunt For Tony Blair which was set in the Sixties, The Red Top lampoons the phone hacking scandal and the world of politics and press proprietors, and is set in a colourful Seventies Boogie Nights-style parallel universe with a disco soundtrack. I’m thrilled to have such a fantastic cast. It should be huge fun.”
Commissioning editor for UKTV Simon Lupton said: "There's nothing quite like The Comic Strip anywhere else in the world of comedy and so it's incredibly exciting to be part of this next chapter. The script is wonderfully hilarious and playful, and as always the cast list is an embarrassment of riches. The Comic Strip history is littered with iconic moments, characters and performances, and I'm confident Peter and his team will be creating some more with this latest installment."
The Red Top! will be the second outing of the Comic Strip on Gold, following the 30th anniversary special The Comic Strip Presents… Five Go To Rehab in 2012, three decades on from the group’s debut Five Go Mad In Dorset in 1982.
‘The Comic Strip Presents… The Red Top! (WT)’ was commissioned by Simon Lupton for UKTV. Executive Producers are Peter Richardson and Nick Smith for Great Western Features, and Simon Lupton for UKTV. The new film has been written by Peter Richardson alongside Pete Richens and Brigit Grant.
The brand new commission follows a raft of exciting original scripted announcements for Gold, including Bull, a three-part studio sitcom fronted by Robert Lindsay. Bull comes to the channel in Autumn alongside Marley’s Ghosts, a heartwarming comedy featuring Sarah Alexander, John Hannah, Jo Joyner and Nicholas Burns. Also coming to Gold is originally scripted Legends of Stand-Up & Bernard Righton, a six part series where John Thompson resurrects his legendary alter ego to celebrate the worlds greatest comedians.
