A special comedy night featuring stand-up comedian Dane Baptiste, (Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer nominee, 2014) and showcasing exclusive previews of his new BBC Three comedy Sunny D was held last night in Manchester. 

Stars from the small screen including actress Hannah Midgley (Emmerdale, In the Club) and Saira Choudhry (Hollyoaks, No Offence) were joined by comedy enthusiasts at Gorilla, Manchester for a sneak preview of the show as well as exclusive stand up performances from members of the cast.

Hannah Midgley said: “It was a fantastic night and I never stopped laughing. I’m really looking forward to seeing the series.” 

It was an all-star line-up performing with Dane, including David Ajao, Rudi Lickwood, Trevor Dwyer Lynch, Jonathan Mayor, Danny ‘Slim’ Gray and Samantha Baines who all took to the microphone. Dane’s girlfriend Nicola played by Sasha Dane’s ‘mum’ Gloria – Liz Hume Dawson, and ‘cousin’ Akemnji Ndifornyen were also at the event.

Rising star Dane said: “It was great fun testing my stand-up in Manchester as they’re a savvy crowd. Getting them laughing and in the spirit of Sunny D – I’m so proud of the show and can’t wait for audiences to see it! I grew up watching sitcoms on the BBC, so to have them invest in my project is an opportunity that I relish and am grateful for.”

Set in the North West, original comedy Sunny D has been commissioned for a full series for the channel after a successful pilot as part of last year’s BBC Three Comedy Feeds. Sunny D is a smart, fast-paced and stylish sitcom that captures the angst of the quarter-life crisis, family, love and loss, from Dane’s perspective. Trapped in a mundane nine to five job and still living at home with his moody twin and unsympathetic parents, Dane dreams of his escape. The series will co-star Don Warrington MBE (Rising Damp, Doctor Who, Death in Paradise) and Gbemi Ikumelo (Broadchurch). 

The 4×25 minute series is written by Dane Baptiste, commissioned by Shane Allen, Controller, BBC Comedy Commissioning and Damian Kavanagh, Controller, BBC Three. It is a BBC Comedy in-house production produced by Lucy Armitage and the executive producer is Rebecca Papworth. 

Rebecca said: ‘Sunny D gives full flight to rising star Dane Baptiste’s comic rage against an unsympathetic universe. It is laugh-out-loud, imaginative, compelling and honest storytelling from a big name of the future.’

The first episode will go live on BBC Three next month.

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