By The phrase 'space comedy' will horrify anyone still reeling from the last Red Dwarf reunion, but Armando Iannucci new HBO project is looking considerably more promising with the addition of Hugh Laurie.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Laurie will play Ryan Clark, the American commander of a spaceship, in the pilot of Iannucci's new comedy Avenue 5. Shooting will start in London this year.
Laurie and Iannucci have worked together a lot recently, with Laurie taking up a recurring role on Iannucci's Veep and joining his adaptation of The Personal History of David Copperfield with Dev Patel. Laurie has just finished shooting George Clooney's new adaptation of Catch-22, in which he plays Major de Coverley, too.
Iannucci is the creator and executive producer of Avenue 5, but as we don't know yet how hands-on he's been with the scripts, it's hard to tell if it'll be as explosively and creatively sweary as The Thick of It and The Death of Stalin. Either way, HBO have committed to making a pilot and order back-up scripts should they commission it, so it all looks pretty promising.
