Produced by Tiger Aspect, Hitmen (working title) will be a six-part original comedy that tells the story of contract killers Jamie (Mel Giedroyc) and Fran (Sue Perkins). The duo are not your average assassins, however, nor the most professional, as the pair botch up assassinations and work from a scruffy van. Their incompetence sees the pair thrown into ridiculous adventures, testing their friendship along the way.

Speaking about the new project, Giedroyc said: "It’s THIRTY YEARS AGO that I met Sue Perkins, and we had happy times together playing ridiculous characters, then spent hours in a fetid van in order to release them around the country. Essentially nothing has changed in the Mel/Sue collective. And that's a great comfort."

“I’m delighted to be part of this project,” added Perkins.” “I can’t wait to sit for months on end in a hot van with my old, flatulent, double act partner.”

Hitmen, which will premiere on Sky One in 2019, is written by Joe Markham and Joe Parham. Arnold Widdowson will produce the series and Myfanwy Moore and Siobhan Bachman will be executive producers.

Sky has also commissioned original feature-length comedy The Queen and I, based on Sue Townsend’s novel of the same name, from King Bert Productions. David Walliams stars as Prime Minster and leader of the People’s Republican Party, Jack Barker, who dismantles the monarchy. The show follows the Queen (played by Samantha Bond) and her family as they are forced to lead normal lives in the republic.

The all-star cast will also feature Amanda Abbington, Francis Barber and Johnny Vegas.

Sky’s Head of Comedy, Jon Mountague, has also announced that In The Long Run, the award-winning comedy loosely based on Idris Elba’s childhood, will return for a second series starring Elba, Bill Bailey and Jimmy Akingbola.