''Year of the Rabbit'' is a

British television Regular television broadcasts in the United Kingdom started in 1936 as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

, created by

Kevin Cecil Kevin Robert Cecil (born 1969 in London) is a British screenwriter. Writing alongside Andy Riley (with whom he has been friends since attending Aylesbury Grammar School), he has won two BAFTA awards, the first for writing the Comic Relief one-o ...

and

Andy Riley Andy Riley (born 1970) is a British author, cartoonist, and Emmy-winning screenwriter for TV and film. Riley has written and drawn many best-selling cartoon books, including '' The Book of Bunny Suicides'' (2003) and its sequels, and ''Great L ...

, that began broadcasting on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

on 10 June 2019. Set in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1887, the series follows "a group of Victorian

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

s including

Detective Inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...

Rabbit, a hardened booze-hound who’s seen it all, and his new, hapless, by-the-books partner. While investigating a local

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

, the chief of police's lewd but insightful adopted daughter becomes the country's first female officer. Together, the trio must fight crime while rubbing shoulders with street gangs, crooked politicians,

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

princes,

spiritualist Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century The ''long nineteenth century'' i ...

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...

stars, and the

Elephant Man Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890), often erroneously called John Merrick, was an English man known for having severe deformities. He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "the Elephant Man" and then wen ...

Production

Development

On 9 October 2017, it was announced that

had given the production a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

order, with the episode set to be written by

and

. On 7 June 2018, it was announced that the production had been given a series order, for a first series consisting of six episodes and that American television network IFC had joined the project as a co-producer. It was further announced that

Matt Berry Matthew Charles Berry (born 2 May 1974) is an English actor, comedian, musician, and writer. He is best known for his roles in comedy series such as '' The IT Crowd'', ''Garth Marenghi's Darkplace'', ''The Mighty Boosh'', ''Snuff Box'', ''What ...

would serve as an additional writer and that the series would be directed by Ben Taylor. Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist of Objective Fiction with All3Media International handling distribution. On 29 January 2019, it was reported that Ben Farrell and Toby Stevens would serve as executive producers and Hannah Mackay as a producer. Production visited the

Chatham Historic Dockyard The Historic Dockyard Chatham is a maritime museum on part of the site of the former royal/naval dockyard at Chatham in Kent, South East England. Chatham Dockyard covered 400 acres (1.6 km²) and was one of the Royal Navy's main faciliti ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

for some of the filming of the series, where exterior street scenes were filmed and the interior of the Tarred Yarn Store.

Casting

Alongside the pilot order announcement, it was confirmed that

, Freddie Fox, and Susan Wokoma would star in the series. On 29 January 2019, it was announced that

Keeley Hawes Claire Julia Hawes (born 10 February 1976), known professionally as Keeley Hawes, is an English actress. After beginning her career in a number of literary adaptations, including ''Our Mutual Friend'' (1998) and '' Tipping the Velvet'' (2002), Ha ...

Sally Phillips Sally Elizabeth Phillips (born 10 May 1970) is an English actress, television presenter, and comedian. She co-created and was one of the writers of the sketch comedy show '' Smack the Pony''. She is also known for her roles in '' Miranda'' as T ...

Jill Halfpenny Jill Halfpenny (born 15 July 1975) is an English actress. Her notable roles include Rebecca Hopkins in ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (1999–2000), Kate Mitchell in BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' (2002–2005), Izzie Redpath in '' W ...

, David Dawson,

Ann Mitchell Ann Mitchell (born 22 April 1939) is a British stage and television actress. She came to prominence in the 1980s when she starred as Dolly Rawlins in the crime series ''Widows'' as well as the sequels '' Widows 2'' and ''She's Out'', all writte ...

Alistair Petrie Alistair Petrie (born 30 September 1970) is a British actor. He has starred in ''The Bank Job'' (2008), ''Cloud Atlas'' (2012), '' Rush'' (2013) and '' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'' (2016). Petrie has also starred in the Channel 4 television ...

Matthew Holness Matthew James Holness (born 1975) is an English comedian, writer, director, and actor. He is best known for creating and playing the fictional horror author Garth Marenghi. Early life and education Born in Whitstable, Kent, Holness became a f ...

, and

Craig Parkinson Craig Parkinson (born 11 March 1976) is an English actor and podcaster. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Shaun in the E4 series '' Misfits'', twins Jimmy and Johnny Kray in the ITV series ''Whitechapel'', and DI Matthew "Dot" Cottan ...

would also appear. On 6 June 2019, it was announced that

Taika Waititi Taika David Cohen (born 16 August 1975), known professionally as Taika Waititi ( ), is a New Zealand filmmaker, actor, and comedian. He is a recipient of an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Grammy Award, and has received two nominations at t ...

would be making a cameo appearance.

Cast

Main

as Detective Inspector Eli Rabbit; a seasoned investigator *

Alun Armstrong Alan Armstrong, known professionally as Alun Armstrong, is an English actor. He grew up in County Durham in North East England, and first became interested in acting through Shakespeare productions at his grammar school. Since his career began ...

as Chief Inspector Hugh Wisbech; Rabbit's senior officer * Freddie Fox as Detective Sergeant Wilbur Strauss; Rabbit's junior partner * Susan Wokoma as Sergeant Mabel Wisbech; Britain's first female police officer and Chief Inspector Wisbech's adopted daughter *

Paul Kaye Paul Kaye (born 15 December 1964) is an English comedian and actor. He is known for his portrayals of shock interviewer Dennis Pennis on '' The Sunday Show'', New York lawyer Mike Strutter on MTV's '' Strutter'', Thoros of Myr in HBO's ''Game ...

as Detective Inspector Tanner; Rabbit's arch-enemy *

as Gwendoline; landlady of the Bar of Gold *

as Lydia; leader of The Vision, a secret women's organisation

Recurring

* David Dawson as

Joseph Merrick Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890), often erroneously called John Merrick, was an English man known for having severe deformities. He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "the Elephant Man" and then wen ...

as George Larkham *

Peter-Hugo Daly Peter-Hugo Daly (born 1956 in Islington, London) is an actor and musician. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he was a member of new wave band the Cross along with fellow actor Phil Daniels. The band released a 1979 single, "Kill Another Night" ...

as Murky John *Amer Chadha-Patel as Detective Sergeant Keith *

as Princess Juliana of Bulgaria *

as Flora Wilson

Episodes

Series 1 (2019)

Broadcast and release

As well as being broadcast weekly at 10:00pm on Mondays, the entire first series was also made available as a box-set on

All 4 All 4 is a video on demand service from the Channel Four Television Corporation, free of charge for most content and funded by advertising. The service is available in the UK and Ireland; viewers are not required to have a TV licence—required ...

from 10 June 2019. Outside of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, the series is broadcast on IFC in the United States—beginning 19 February 2020. In the autumn of 2019, the series was heavily promoted as part of the range of programming on Virgin Atlantic's onboard entertainment service Vera. On February 11, 2020, the programme was renewed for a second series of six episodes, however Channel 4 pulled out of funding the series in January 2021 due to budgetary concerns brought by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, with production company Objective Media Group said to be "on the hunt for a new partner for the comedy" as a result.

References

External links

* * {{IFC programming 2019 American television series debuts 2019 British television series debuts 2019 American television series endings 2019 British television series endings 2010s British black comedy television series 2010s British police comedy television series 2010s British police procedural television series 2010s British sitcoms 2010s British workplace comedy television series American detective television series British detective television series Channel 4 sitcoms Cultural depictions of Joseph Merrick English-language television shows Fiction set in 1887 IFC (American TV channel) original programming Murder in television Television series by All3Media Television series set in the 1880s Television shows set in London