The televisual resurgence in new wave comedy has had a surprising beacon of shiny awesomeness over the last twelve months, in the form of Sky Atlantic – and that association looks set to continue apace with the announcement of Common People.

An eleven part series of comedy shorts directed by Dave Lambert, Common People is planned as a mockumentary style peek into the ordinary lives of some unusual people.

Naturally, much like previous Sky series Little Crackers, its makers are drawing upon the excellent reserve of talents we have here in Onion land.

Katy Brand will be writing and starring in Eleanor Popplewell – which will tell the story of the titular character’s beloved organic shop slash café, which goes out of business and faces a takeover from greasy spoon owner Tony.

Tony has a serious thing for Eleanor, but will she ever see things from his point of view?  There’s currently no word on who else will be in this short, but we’ll be keeping an eye out for any developments just in case Katy draws on her friends on these pages!

Meanwhile, Brand’s former Mongrels co-star Rufus Jones, will be crafting away on short film Scoundrels alongside his regular collaborator Dan Skinner (perhaps best known for his alter ego Angelos Epithemiou).

It will tell the story of an ex-city banker, Bill (Jones), who fell from grace after accusations of embezzling.  Now lives with his brother Sinclair (Skinner), Bill must stop his sibling from revealing all to his wife, Francesca.

Another short in the series has TVO links – as the living legend that is Jessica Hynes takes her cameo appearance in Moone Boy and turns it into a full blooded misadventure called Politically Incorrect.

Having perfected the art of getting away with terrible decisions in work and real life, and approaching the menopause on mixed medication, Local Councillor Patricia David manages to dodge professional bullets with sheer luck and a talent for being… somewhere else!

Other shorts in the series will feature the likes of Johnny Vegas, Simon Day, Charles Dance, Tom Davis, Jose Lawrence, Annette Crosby, Alex Lowe, Linda Robson, double-act Totally Tom,  Big Train‘s Amelia Bullmore, and How Not To Live Your Life & Hunderby star Daniel Lawrence Taylor.

We can’t wait.  Common People looks set to air in January, and we’ll be bringing you more news closer to transmisison.  In the meantime, check out the full story over yonder with our friends at The British Comedy Guide.