Pastures new for the Fields

Leigh Holmwood

Tuesday April 10, 2007

MediaGuardian.co.uk

Richard Herring

Herring: the comedian will also appear in You Can Choose Your Friends

The stars of 1980s sitcom Fresh Fields, Julia McKenzie and Anton Rodgers, are to be reunited in a new ITV1 comedy drama from the producer of Harry Hill's TV Burp.

The pair, who also appeared in the spin-off series French Fields, will star together in You Can Choose Your Friends, a 90-minute special written by comedian Richard Herring.

The one-off, to be made by Avalon Television, is set at a family gathering celebrating the 45th wedding anniversary of Margaret and Ken, played by McKenzie and Rodgers, where "childhood arguments are revisited and present-day fractures papered over".

The drama will also feature Herring - best known for his comedy partnership with Stewart Lee - and Robert Daws, who has appeared in The Royal and Heartbeat.

The commission is the first comedy drama from Avalon, which was behind shows such as ITV1's Al Murray's Happy Hour and BBC1's Not Going Out.

Paul Jackson, the ITV director of comedy and entertainment, said: "You Can Choose Your Friends has its roots in a traditional comedy drama set up, but the freshness of Richard's writing and the on-screen talent that such a great script attracts make it edgy, original and distinctive and we're delighted to have it on ITV1."

The drama, which is currently in production and is due to transmit later in the spring, is produced by Charlie Hanson, whose credits include Extras, and directed by Delyth Thomas.

It will be executive produced by Jon Thoday and Richard Allen-Turner.

Fresh Fields, which attracted a loyal audience between 1984 and 1986 when it aired on ITV1, featured McKenzie and Rodgers as devoted middle-class couple Hester and William Fields.

The show moved to a French setting in 1989 when the family relocated to Calais after William accepted a new job across the Channel.