Sarah Parish and Mark Heap to star in new ITV police comedy

Sarah Parish and Mark Heap are joining forces in a brand new ITV comedy series called Piglets, which is set in a police academy.

The new series, which will air weekly on ITV1 this summer and will be available on ITVX, is from the team behind Smack the Pony and Green Wing, with Sarah and Mark leading the line-up of talent. While we don't have full plot details just yet, we do know that Piglets will follow the lives of officers within a police academy, likely with chaotic results!

With Mark best known for roles like the overbearing Dr. Alan Statham in Green Wing and nosy next door neighbour Jim in Friday Night Dinner, and Sarah previously having comedic roles such as Cheryl Fairweather in Trollied and Anna Rampton in W1A, it will be interesting to see what their characters are like this time!

The series is set at Norbourne Police Training College, and our first look sees Sarah wearing a jumper while Mark looks very serious next to her in police uniform, suggesting they might be quite different from one another.

Piglets is among the comedy shows heading to ITV this summer, with Alan Carr's comedy Changing Ends, a semi-autobiographical series about comedian Alan Carr growing up in Northampton during the 1980s, as the son of a professional football manager, returning for a second season.

The first season was a huge success for the broadcaster, where they're reporting that it became the biggest comedy ever on ITVX with over 6.5 million streams. So it's no surprise that fans are hungry for more.

In addition to these two shows, Edinburgh Fringe LIVE is a first for ITVX, where they'll be broadcasting live comedy from the Fringe.

Speaking about the commissions, Nana Hughes, ITV’s Head of Comedy said: “We wanted to build on the success of last year’s comedy season knowing there is strength in numbers.

"We have packaged for your pleasure the return of Alan Carr’s hilarious autobiographical comedy, Changing Ends, alongside a brand new comedy, Piglets set in a police academy from the team behind Green Wing, acquisitions from around the world and a first for ITVX, we’re stripping live comedy from the Edinburgh Comedy fringe."

Meanwhile, Craig Morris, Managing Editor of ITVX said: “Comedy has proved to be one of the most popular genres on ITVX, with streaming hours increasing by 80% year-on-year. We already have over 2,500 hours of funny on ITVX - and these programmes will be a welcome addition."