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Jesse Armstrong met his longtime collaborator Sam Bain at university and the pair later wrote for UK comedy-sketch series Smack The Pony, before creating sitcoms Peep Show and The Old Guys, and comedy dramas Fresh Meat and Babylon. Together they also co-wrote Chris Morris’s 2010 Bafta-winning feature Four Lions.

Armstrong collaborated with Armando Iannucci on The Thick Of It, Veep and feature In The Loop – for which he was nominated for a best adapted screenplay Oscar – and with Charlie Brooker on Black Mirror.

In 2018, Armstrong created Succession, a comedy drama detailing the machinations of a family that runs a vast media conglomerate.

Danny Boyle's first TV show Babylon is to be aired in the Us.

SundanceTV is working in partnership with Channel 4 to show the six-part police satire. The feature-length pilot, directed by Boyle, aired in the UK back in February.

Channel 4 will air the six follow-up episodes in the autumn while SundanceTV plans to show them in 2015. The channel has no plans as yet to air the pilot.

Sarah Barnett, President of SundanceTV, said: "As you'd expect with Danny Boyle's first foray into television, this project is unrelentingly original, and underneath its stylish surface has true heart."

The show is written by Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, the writers behind Peep Show, The Old Guys and Fresh Meat.

Brit Marling, James Nesbitt, Paterson Joseph, Bertie Carvel, Adam Deacon, Jill Halfpenny, Jonny Sweet and Nicola Walker all star in the programme as staff in a modern metropolitan police force,...

SundanceTV has boarded the Danny Boyle-directed Babylon. The network said today it is co-producing with UK’s Channel 4 six new TV format episodes which will air on Sundance in 2015. FX had been exploring joining the comedy-drama series, which is set inside a modern London police force in desperate need of a spruced-up public image. Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, 28 Days Later, Trainspotting) executive produces with Robert Jones (The Usual Suspects, Dirty Pretty Things) and Derrin Schlesinger (Southcliffe, Four Lions) producing. Brit Marling (Another Earth, Sound Of My Voice) and James Nesbitt (The Hobbit, Millions) star. Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong (Peep Show, The Old Guys, Fresh Meat), penned the script. The feature-length pilot aired on Channel 4 in the UK earlier this year with the series set to air on the UK broadcaster this fall. Related: Hot TV Trailer: Danny Boyle’s ‘Babylon’...

SundanceTV, in partnership with UK broadcaster Channel 4, has issued a six-episode order for the Danny Boyle cop satire, "Babylon." Us-uk co-productions like "Babylon" have become increasingly common in scripted television over the past few years, including Showtime's "Penny Dreadful" (co-produced by Sam Mendes' Neal Street Productions and Sky). Executive produced by Boyle, "Babylon" centers on an ambitious, young American public relations professional, played by indie darling Brit Marling, who is brought in to usher London's Metropolitan Police into the age of new media. Former "Murphy's Law" star, James Nesbitt plays opposite Marling as the Metropolitan Police Commissioner. With writing duo Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong at its helm, "Babylon" has limitless potential as a series. Together, Bain and Armstrong have created three comedy shows together: "Peep Show," "The Old Guys" and "Fresh Meat." Combine their shared resume with Armstrong's recent experience writing for...

BBC

The sad death of Roger Lloyd-Pack last week marked the passing of one of the UK’s great comic actors. A hugely recognisable face in British film and television, Lloyd-Pack’s comedic talents shined in shows such as The Vicar Of Dibley and the hugely underrated The Old Guys, while more serious appearances in the likes of 2011′s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy allowed him to flex his acting muscles.

Indeed, despite being largely associated with comedy, he was a classically trained and accomplished stage actor and recent performances in Richard III and Twelfth Night were acclaimed by critics.

Yet it will always be the role of simple road sweeper Trigger in the immortal Only Fools And Horses that the man will be best remembered for. And it’s not hard to understand why. The only actor other than Del Boy and Rodney to appear in both the first and final episodes of the show,...

Stage and screen actor best known for his roles in Only Fools and Horses, The Vicar of Dibley and Harry Potter

The talented and idiosyncratic character actor Roger Lloyd Pack, who has died of pancreatic cancer aged 69, achieved national recognition, and huge popularity, as Colin "Trigger" Ball, the lugubrious Peckham road sweeper in John Sullivan's brilliantly acted comedy series Only Fools and Horses. He appeared alongside David Jason's Del Boy and Nicholas Lyndhurst's "plonker" Rodney from 1981 for 10 years, with many a seasonal "special" for another decade.

This success cemented a career in which, up to that point, he had played important roles at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre and the Almeida theatre in north London – he was a notably anguished Rosmer in Ibsen's Rosmersholm at the National in 1987, opposite Suzanne Bertish – without recognition any wider than usually appreciative reviews.

His enhanced status led to another...

Only Fools and Horses star Roger Lloyd-Pack has died at the age of 69.

The actor was born in Islington, North London on February 8, 1944. His father Charles Lloyd-Pack was known for several appearances in Hammer horror films.

At a young age he performed glove puppet shows, before his Hampshire school Bedales allowed him to take part in small theatre productions.

He began concentrating on acting during his studies, inspired by his drama teacher Rachel Carey-Field. Having achieved three A-levels, he successfully enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada).

Lloyd-Pack made his stage debut in a Northampton production of The Shoemaker's Holiday by Thomas Dekker. After a number of stage productions across the UK, he made his screen debut in the 1968 film The Magus.

For the next three decades he played several small roles in films including The Go-Between, 1984 and Vanity Fair.

He finally had his breakthrough in 1981, when...

Canada's VisionTV report they have signed a deal with BBC Worldwide Canada, to air more classic Brit TV including "Fawlty Towers", the comedy series starring John Cleese as hotel owner 'Basil Fawlty' and Prunella Scales as his domineering wife 'Sybil'. Episodes to be aired include Series 1-2 and the Special "Basil the Rat".

VisionTV has also acquired "Jam & Jerusalem", written by Jennifer Saunders ("Absolutely Fabulous"), starting October 6, 2011, airing Series 1-3 and two Specials;

"Yes, Minister", starring Nigel Hawthorne, airing Series 1-3 and one Special;

"Yes, Prime Minister", airing Series 1-2;

"The Vicar of Dibley", starring Dawn French ("French & Saunders"), airing Series 1-3 and five Specials;

"The Old Guys", starring Clive Swift ("Keeping Up Appearances"), airing Series 1-2.

"We're very pleased to have acquired these powerhouse series from BBC Worldwide and to bring them to audiences across Canada," said Mark Prasuhn, Chief Operating & Content Officer of Zoomer Media Ltd, Television Division.

BBC One sitcom The Old Guys slid to under 3 million viewers on Friday night, according to overnight data. Penned by Peep Show writers Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, the programme appealed to just 2.89m (13.9%) at 9.30pm. This represents a 440k audience drop since its premiere rating a fortnight ago. Earlier at 8.30pm, Celebrity Masterchef picked up 3.68m (17.4%) for the channel, after which My Family averaged 4.04m (18.9%). Meanwhile, at 10.35pm, the fourth series launch of Would I Lie To You? had 3.12m (19.7%). Channel 4's Big Brother grabbed 2.3m (10.9%) [+1: 222k/1.3%] and 2.54m (15.7%) [+1: 237k/2.5%] at 9pm and 10.30pm respectively, while The It Crowd amused 1.79m (9.4%) [241k/1.9%] (more)...

Amid fears of plans to cut the broadcaster's funding and Tory threats to disband the BBC's governing body, more than 40 top performers sign a letter in bid to safeguard its future

Peter Kay, John Barrowman, Peter Capaldi and Romola Garai are among leading entertainers calling this weekend for voters to protect the BBC on polling day.

More than 40 of the best known performers in the country, including comedians Catherine Tate, Meera Syal, Stephen Merchant and Terry Jones, and the acclaimed actors Sam West, Hugh Bonneville and Harriet Walter, have signed a public letter denouncing plans to cut the licence fee and accusing opposition politicians of "a cavalier attitude towards the BBC's independence".

The letter, which has also been signed by directors Sir Richard Eyre and Stephen Frears and by the popular comic performers Harry Enfield, Charlie Higson, Eddie Izzard, Robert Webb, Stephen Mangan, Sanjeev Bhaskar and Jo Brand, goes on...

A new sitcom starring Roger Lloyd Pack and Clive Swift made an encouraging debut in the ratings last night (Saturday). The Old Guys, starring the veteran actors as a pair of co-habiting OAPs, managed 4.95m (22.5%) from 9.30pm. The show benefited from a strong lead-in from medical drama Casualty, seen this week by 6.89m (30.2%). The day's top audience was 7.43m (32.7%) for National Lottery gameshow In It To Win It at 7.50pm. It defeated ITV1's ongoing action drama Demons, which dropped to a new low of 3.5m (15.4%). ITV1's new celebrity charity drive The Feelgood Factor, fronted by Eamonn Holmes and Myleene Klass, launched to 2.8m (14.3%) at 5.50pm. It was followed by You've Been Framed, which averaged a decent 5.21m (24.2%), then a new series of Harry Hill's TV Burp started with 5.85m (26.1%). The (more)...