Dave has commissioned Zapped!, a new fantasy comedy from Baby Cow Productions with Steve Coogan as Executive Producer and a cast that includes Paul Kaye.

Baby Cow is the production company of Steve Coogan and Henry Normal which has been behind lots of TVO favourites such as The Mighty Boosh and Alan Partridge’s Mid Morning Matters, as well as Julia Davis’ Nighty Night,  Hunderby and Camping.

Their latest venture Zapped! will star James Buckley (best known as Jay from The Inbetweeners) as Brian Weaver, an online data marketing assistant who gets transported to a parallel world that he doesn’t understand, populated by strange creatures and characters who aren’t very useful in helping him get back home again.

Paul Kaye will take on the role of ‘brain-fried wizard’ Howell, with Sharon Rooney (Stag) as ‘hopeless soothsayer’ Barbara and Ken Collard (Cuckoo) as ‘armchair revolutionary’ Steg. Also among the cast is Richard Sandling. In addition to executive producing the show, Steve Coogan is set to guest star in it. The series will be directed by Dave Lambert, who has worked on recent Alan Partridge specials including Scissored Isle.

Steve Coogan has described Zapped! as “fantasy, heightened reality, lots of escapism, with one foot firmly in the real world”, going on to say: “It has all the requisite elements to take the audience on a journey to this slightly mad world; from wizards and spells to mermaids, psychopathic fairies, smartphones and then back to the boring office job.”

Dave has ordered three 40-minute episodes of Zapped! which will air from Thursday 13th October.

Simon Lupton, UKTV’s senior commissioning editor, has said: “Everyone at UKTV is very excited to be working with Baby Cow on Zapped!, the latest addition to our growing scripted comedy slate on Dave. It has already been loads of fun collaborating with the writers as they created this fantastical world and array of extraordinary characters. We know that the Dave audience loves their comedy to give them big laughs and offer escapism in a bold, joyful and distinctive way – and we really believe Zapped! will do that.”