PRU: BBC THREE COMMISSION FULL SERIES OF COMEDY FOLLOWING SUCCESSFUL PILOT

The comedy has been picked up for series on the strength of the pilot, which will be available on BBC iPlayer as part of the Festival Of Funny on Tuesday 2 March.

PRU is a comedy about a group of teens navigating the pitfalls of adolescence in a Pupil Referral Unit, a school for excluded kids, told through the eyes of four gloriously reckless young people who can’t help but say the unsayable and do the undoable.

Halil, Hanna, Jaden and Belle are four very different 15 year-olds, with one thing in common. They’ve all been perm’d. Now, teetering on the edge of the education system, they’re negotiating Year 10 together at their local PRU.

In the pilot episode they constantly come unstuck, seemingly determined to make the wrong call at every turn, wreaking havoc on teachers and each other’s feelings as they go.

Why can’t Jaeden ever turn up for school? Why is Belle kicking bins down the corridor? And what has Halil done to annoy Hanna so much that she wants to dash a chair in his face?

Amidst all this chaos, will long-suffering behaviour manager Anthony ever get to eat his lamb stew and jollof rice?

The cast features YouTuber Michael ‘MBbants’ Boahen (Jaeden), Pia Somersby (Belle), Jaye Ersavas (Halil), Kerry Godliman (Jean) Tom Moutchi (Anthony), Umit Ulgen (Berdan) and Kosar Ali (Hanna), who has just won the BIFA (British Independent Film Awards) Most Promising Newcomer and Best Supporting Actor awards.

Teddy Nygh, Director, says: “We are incredibly proud of what we have created together with the writers, the young team at Fully Focused, our amazing cast and the whole process from Insta Live castings to our phenomenal crew, who worked so hard to create the show during the pandemic. To now get the series commissioned we are over the moon and can't wait to raise the bar again, whilst ensuring the authenticity and humanity of our leading characters shine through. All the while delivering the realness we always do, with bundles of laughter at the forefront!”

Nick Bedu, Executive Producer says: “All the team at Fully Focused are crazy excited to see PRU hit your screens in its very own series commission! We'd like to send special thanks to Fiona Campbell at BBC Three and Shane Allen and Emily Allen at BBC Comedy for seeing the potential in what we have created. We've assembled an amazing cast of young, on-fire talent and established comedic brilliance, who have absolutely smashed it in bringing the idea to life. We want the characters to jump from the classrooms and into your hearts, bringing with them a belly full of laughs along the way.”