BBC Two delivers Victorian medicine comedy

UK terrestrial BBC Two ha ordered a comedy from Lucky Giant about four pioneering young medical professionals in Victorian England.

Quacks will star Mathew Baynton (The Wrong Mans) as a psychiatrist, Rory Kinnear (Skyfall) as a showman surgeon, Tom Basden (Plebs) as a hedonistic anaesthetist, and Lydia Leonard (River) as a head strong social campaigner.

Set in the 1840s, the 6x30mins series will follow the four during the infancy of modern medical science as they bumble their way to new discoveries.

Lucky Giant parent NBCUniversal International Studios will have international sales rights, and the series is being produced in association with scientific research body the Wellcome Trust.

BBC comedy controller Shane Allen commissioned the series, which comes from writer James Wood (Rev), who executive produces with Lucky Giant managing director Justin Davies.

“This is a dream comedy cast allied to a very dynamic period in British social history which lends itself well to raucous high adventure and inappropriate behaviour all in the name of progress,” said Allen.

A pilot was shot last year, and filming of the full season will begin later this year.