At over two metres tall, with a gravelly voice that rumbles up out of his chest before skittering around in the thick beard that populates his face, Tom Davis could be an intimidating figure.
But he isn’t. In a soft cap, and chunky glasses, looking dapper and approachable, the Bafta-winning scaffolder-turned-comic reflects on an unusual career trajectory that has brought him to his most recent role: Court Bailiff in Dave’s new series Judge Romesh.
UKTV has announced plans to build on the successes of 2017, which saw record viewing figures across its channels and soaring ratings for Gold’s Murder on the Blackpool Express. The broadcaster intends to increase its total number of commissioned hours from indies by nearly a third, and will push into commissioned drama.
The Luther star joins forces with Bill Bailey who plays his best friend in the programme.
The show is the latest in a line of British comedies for Sky 1 which also includes The Reluctant Landlord from Romesh Ranganathan, and Sick of It from Karl Pilkington, best known for Sky programme An Idiot Abroad.
The series of commissions is part of Sky’s effort to corner the market on daring, late night, grown up comedy programmes, to air in the 10pm slot on Sky 1.
The sitcoms will been shown in a new 10pm slot that aims to be a platform for bolder comedy shows.
Karl Pilkington's first scripted comedy will see him take on the role of himself (and the voice inside his head) in the parallel mundane life he might have led if he hadn't met Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.
“TFI Friday for the Brexit era” chimes in his co-star Alex Brooker.
“I think we’re a version of [Jon Stewart and Trevor Noah’s] The Daily Show for a country that has a pub culture” suggests Adam Hills, the host of the Channel 4 show.
The Last Leg launched during the 2012 Paralympic Games as a comedy breakdown of the day’s sporting highlights.
Ranganathan has been nominated alongside Ant and Dec, and The Last Leg boys in the Entertainment Performance category of this year’s RTS Programme Awards.
“I finally feel like I’ve got the validation I need to continue,” he says, when I meet him at his agent’s office in a hard-to-find Clerkenwell backstreet.
“It’s nice to be nominated alongside them, but I hope I win” he laughs. “And I’m not going to be humble about it if I do win either. I’m going to make sure I visit everyone and really go on about it.”
What does he make of his fellow nominees, I ask.
The programme has been renewed for two more series and will increase each series run from five to eight episodes. The news comes as the show is nominated for Best Entertainment Programme at the 2016 Broadcast Awards, and became the most watched commission on UKTV's video-on-demand service, UKTV Play, in 2015.
Available on BBC iPlayer
The show ended in revelatory fashion this week on BBC 2. Written by Tom Rob Smith, it tells the story of Danny, played by Ben Whishaw (James Bond), who falls in love with a mysterious man, Alex (Edward Holcroft – Kingsman: The Secret Service, Wolf Hall.) After Alex disappears Danny begins to look into the life of his partner, revealing a twisted tale of murder, betrayal and espionage. A fantastic supporting cast including Jim Broadbent and Charlotte Rampling enhance this tense thriller.
