Phoo Action

The BBC have officially announced Phoo Action, their TV series adaptation of Jamie Hewlett's Get the Freebies, a strip he did for Face magazine. One of the writers for the TV show is Jessica Hynes, nee Stevenson, so that's two film ick fan flags up already, while Peter Martin and Matthew Enriquez Wakeham are the other two members of the script team.

Quite incredibly, Carl Weathers has signed on to star as Police Chief Benjamin Benson. His daughter, Whitey Action is to be played by Jaime Winstone while Eddie Shin has been cast as Terry Phoo (that's them in the picture above). Filming started this week under Euros Lyn, director of several Dr. Who episodes - including The Girl in the Fireplace and The Runaway Bride.

In case you don't know the strip, this is going to be the kind of show in which zombies get dusted by some impossible kung fu moves while old school hip hop and dub reggae play and the online editor starts pressing as many buttons at once as they can.

As the two comics are translated to live action this may drift even closer to Scott Pilgrim territory. The movie version of Pilgrim is in the hands of Hynes' Spaced co-conspirator Edgar Wright and I can't help but fantasise about Simon Pegg feeling a little left out and cooking up his own undead chopsocky opera.

Do note that the Phoo Action MySpace page announces not only a TV series but a feature film too. Wishful thinking? Contractual small print? Or are the Beeb keeping the best bit of news back for now?

Look At Learners

The DVD cover for Learners has appeared, as you can see above. This is the first film written by Jessica Hynes, nee Stevenson and starring her alongside Dr. Who David Tennant. Don't forget that she wrote a lot of the best stuff in Spaced. This isn't as high profile as Hot Fuzz but, personally, I'm every bit as excited to see it.

Note the 01632 number on the car door. That's the UK equivalent of the 555 area code in the US.

As the DVD is released on September 24th I'd expect the film to air on BBC1 between September 21st and 23rd.

Dr. Who Meets Spaced By Way Of Maureen Rees

Jessica Stev... er, Hynes is guest appearing in an upcoming Dr. Who two-parter. her character will, apparently, be marrying the mysterious Timelord after he goes all Superman 2 and passes up his sort-of-immortality.

That's not the end of their onscreen relationship, however. The BBC have now announced Learners, a new comedy drama from BBC Films that will pair them again.

Stev... Hynes has written the script, and will star as Bev, alongside Tennant as Chris and Shaun Dingwall as Bev's husband Ian. Ding...Hyn...Dingwall was also in Dr. Who.

Sarah Hadland will play Fiona, a driving school instructor who encourages Hynes' Bev to take formal lessons rather than suffer her impatient husband's rude and antagonistic sessions. hadland wasn't in Dr. Who. Yet.

A love quadrangle ensues:

Chris, a devout Christian with the patience of a saint, is assigned as her instructor and it's not long before Bev develops a crush on him. However, Chris has feelings for Fiona, but she's having an affair with a married man Gerry, who works with Bev.

Hynes has said "It took me ten years to pass my test – this year I finally did it so I could do the film. I had a great instructor, he taught me to take my time and relax, when I passed I cried with joy."

Francesca Joseph is the director. She directed Jessica Stevenson and Dingwall in Tomorrow La Scala! and brilliantly, she also directed the Driving School reality show that made Maureen Rees into such a 'star'. Coincidence? I think not.

This is Hynes' first script to go into production since Spaced. The pressure's on.