IT was announced in the spring that the award-winning Scottish comedy, Two Doors Down, will be returning to UK screens for a fifth series on BBC Two next year.
But in a surprise move, the BBC has now also signed up for a Christmas special of the comedy to go out this December on BBC Two and BBC Scotland. The Christmas special will be filmed in line with Covid-19 industry guidelines but will be taking a side-step from the current pandemic to focus on laughs.
Steven Canny, executive producer at BBC Studios Comedy, which makes the series in Scotland, said: “I’m delighted that Two Doors Down is going to give people the neighbourly get-together they have been missing out on in recent times.
“Eric, Beth, Colin, Cathy, Ian, Gordon and, of course, Christine get together to celebrate in the way that only they can. This special episode is the complete package of uncomfortable comments, barbed compliments and, of course, a ton of laughs.”
Further details of the Christmas special will be released at a later date but it will feature Arabella Weir as Beth and Alex Norton as Eric – the long-suffering Bairds – and Elaine C Smith as Christine, Doon Mackichan as Cathy and Jonathan Watson as her husband Colin Whyte, Jamie Quinn as the Bairds’ son Ian and Kieran Hodgson as his boyfriend Gordon.
Graeme ‘Grado’ Stevely and Joy McAvoy, who play young couple Alan and Michelle, will not feature in the Christmas special but will be back for the fifth series, which is due to be recorded and shown next year.
Two Doors Down was launched with a Hogmanay special at the end of 2013 before going onto become the much loved series.
It last had a Christmas special in 2018, with its fourth series going on to air in 2019. It has received multiple awards including the Best Comedy award at the 2017 Royal Television Society Scotland Awards and Elaine C. Smith won Best Actress at the BAFTA Scotland Awards in 2018. It is one of BBC Two and BBC Scotland’s top performing comedies.
Over the course of 2020, Two Doors Down has been shown on the BBC Scotland channel, with all four series available to watch on BBC iPlayer where it has been gathering an army of new fans. In total the four series have amassed more than 30m requests on BBC iPlayer. It is a BBC Studios Comedy production, written by Simon Carlyle and Gregor Sharp.
The fifth series had been re-commissioned by Shane Allen, Controller of BBC Comedy, and Patrick Holland, Controller of BBC Two, who also gave the go-ahead for the Christmas 2020 special.
Picture caption: The cast of the Two Doors Down Christmas 2020 special – Kieran Hodgson as Gordon, Jamie Quinn as Ian, Arabella Weir as Beth, Alex Norton as Eric, Doon Mackichan as Cathy, Jonathan Watson as Colin, and Elaine C Smith as Christine.
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