STEPPING UP: FIRST LOOK AND FURTHER CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR NEW CHANNEL 4 COMEDY FROM JOSH PUGH
Channel 4 and Roughcut Television (Big Boys, Things You Should Have Done) have released images for upcoming comedy, Stepping Up, which is written and created by Josh Pugh (Sneakerhead, How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge)).
These pictures feature series lead Josh Pugh as Josh, alongside his mum Sue (Denise Welch, Waterloo Road, Benidorm); Josh’s partner Becky (Sophia Di Martino, Loki, Flowers), Becky’s ex husband Sean (Tom Hanson Brassic, The Outlaws) and Josh’s friend Kelcie (Lucia Keskin, Things You Should Have Done, Big Boys).
Also confirmed to be joining the guest cast are Colin Hoult (Afterlife, Black Ops) and Liam Jeavons (Andor, Sherwood).
Filmed in the West Midlands, Stepping Up follows Josh, a stepdad determined to step up. Every day behind closed doors in Britain a stepdad negotiates the tricky paradox of bringing up another man’s kids. Locked in awkward power struggles with his new partner and the ex, the kids and the biological dad, there’s no easy way to play it.
Josh is desperate to prove his worth as the perfect role model to his stepchildren, the ideal supportive partner to his girlfriend, and as an all-round ‘Good Bloke’. Unfortunately for Josh, absolutely everyone in his life is totally fine and would much rather he stopped trying so incredibly hard to help and impress them all the time.
Josh Pugh, Writer of Stepping Up, says: "I'm over the moon to be doing something that very few people get to do in their lives and make a sitcom. I live and grew up in a small town with stepparents on both sides, and I think it's a huge untapped well of comedy. A huge number of people in Britain are navigating the complexities of bringing other people's kids up and I want to capture that in a really funny and authentic sitcom that is also hopefully financially lucrative."
Steve Monger, Executive Producer at Roughcut TV, comments: "Josh is a brilliantly talented writer, performer, stand-up and king of socials skits. In Stepping Up he’s created a truly original, raucous and refreshing take on the family sitcom; Roughcut are very proud to be bringing this to life with Josh and Channel 4. See you in the Midlands!"
Charlie Perkins, Head of Comedy Channel 4, says: “There’s something magic in Josh’s naturalism that I don’t think we’ve seen in a sitcom before - he’s magnetic on screen and his writing under the expert shepherding of Roughcut is the perfect mix of hyper silly and hyper real. An exciting, new, natural born sitcom star in a simple sitcom world. Channel 4 are really proud that Stepping Up continues our work with Josh across the channel.”
Stepping Up is a 6x30” production from Roughcut Television.
