A Touch of Cloth

Comic writer, Charlie Brooker, is set to try his hand at penning an upcoming detective drama. The Sky 1 show will star John Hannah alongside Suranne Jones and is based on a story by novelist Boris Starling.

John Hannah and Suranne Jones - partners in (very silly) crime.

The show will be titled A Touch of Cloth and is said to take the form of a spoof British crime drama. Brooker is part of a team of writers who have put together the screenplay and he’s certainly no stranger to the world of satire. Back in 2005, Brooker co-wrote the popular sitcom Nathan Barley, along with Four Lions’ director, Chris Morris. He is also well known for presenting TV shows including Screenwipe, Gameswipe and Newswipe, as well as for writing the script for Dead Set, a five part zombie spoof set in the Big Brother house.

However, it seems that Brooker has now turned his attentions to the conventions of detective TV drama. However, this spoof version of the classic format is unlikely to be the sort of thing which your grandparents will enjoy watching with a cup of tea, (or, in the case of mine games of Partypoker). Brooker’s input into the programme is set to make sure that this detective drama parody is a heavily satirical and perhaps a slightly dark comedy.

Both John Hannah and Suranne Jones have some experience with more conventional detective dramas having starred in Rebus and Scott & Bailey, respectively. The pair will team up in A Touch of Cloth to pursue a devious killer, encountering “arrogant TV chefs [and] vampish pathologists” along the way. The programme will be a one-off two-hour special and is being commissioned as part of Sky’s initiative to invest in more original British programming rather than broadcasting American shows. There is no official broadcast date as of yet for the show but it is expected to hit our screens at some point during 2012.