Olivia Colman and Julian Barratt will front Channel 4’s new sitcom Flowers

JUST when you thought you’d seen Olivia Colman in everything, she’s now signed up for a new Channel 4 sitcom.

The Broadchurch star will lead Flowers, a six-part dark comedy co-starring The Mighty Boosh’s Julian Barratt, which was first filmed as a pilot last year.

Written and directed by Will Sharpe, Flowers is based around the eccentric Flowers family as children’s books author Maurice (Barratt) and music teacher Deborah (Colman) struggle to maintain their wobbly marriage.

Maurice struggles to keep his dark secrets, while Deborah is convinced that he is having a gay affair with Japanese illustrator Shun (Sharpe). Also living with the couple are Maurice’s nutty mother Hattie (Leila Hoffman), and their 25-year-old twins Amy (Sophia di Martino) and Donald (Daniel Rigby), who are both competing for the same girl. Writer Will Sharpe said: “I feel very lucky to be making this show with Kudos and Channel 4.”

Flowers will air in 2016, with full broadcast dates still to be announced.

It wouldn’t be Christmas without Sir Bruce Forsyth on Strictly Come Dancing – and the veteran host is returning once again for the ballroom show’s festive special. The 87-year-old, who officially stood down as presenter of Strictly in 2013 after a decade, is also coming back for its Children in Need episode.

Strictly Come Dancing 2015 winner: We rank the celebrities’ chances of topping BBC One’s dance-off. Forsyth said earlier this year that he felt “stale” towards the end of his tenure on Strictly.

Claudia Winkleman replaced him as Tess Daly’s co-host on the 12th series, but Forsyth again made appearances on the 2014 Children in Need and Christmas specials. The BBC has announced that the dancing competition will be taking place at the Blackpool Tower Ballroom halfway through the series once again.

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