Earlier this year we wrote about a new series being penned by Graham Linehan, called Count Arthur Strong. Now BBC2 has confirmed the commission of a full series.

The six-part series will star Steve Delaney as his Sony Award-winning Radio 4 character, Count Arthur Strong. He thinks of himself as a show-business legend, when in reality he is an pompous, out-of-work deluded thespian who was barely famous at the height of his success.

The show will follow Count Arthur recounting his life story to the son of his former double-act partner, and is due to go into production later this year.

BBC Executive Gregor Sharp has said: “We are absolutely delighted to see Graham and Steve join the immensely talented group of writers and comedians making brilliant shows across the BBC channels.”

An interview with Linehan also features in today’s Shortlist magazine, in an issue dedicated to comedy sitcoms. In the piece he describes the process behind writing successful comedy shows, such as Father Ted and The IT Crowd. He explains, “People always go, ‘You should set a sitcom in a post office or whatever’. That’s not the crucial thing. It all comes down to character. People might say ‘Oh, The IT Crowd is just about IT guys.’ But it’s really about a woman disrupting this male world.”

To read the interview in full mosey on down to Shortlist’s website.