BBC The Split spin-off The Split Up is here and it features a number of exciting guest stars.
BBC The Split Up stars Sir Lenny Henry in its first episode. (Image: BBC)
Two British comedy icons are taking on rather less cheerful roles in BBC drama The Split Up.
Sir Lenny Henry and Jane Horrocks play a couple whose marriage is falling apart in the Manchester-set spin-off from The Split.
Their characters’ divorce puts them at the heart of a high-profile case for the Kishan family’s law firm.
Comic Relief co-founder Henry appears in the opening minutes as Alex Edwards, an old friend of the Kishans.
Meanwhile, Absolutely Fabulous, Little Voice and Trollied stra Jane Horrocks features later on in the debut episode as his wife Tash Edwards.
Alex decides to end their marriage after photographs emerge suggesting Tash has been having an affair with “someone half your age”, reports Wales Online.
Speaking to lawyer Aria Kishan (played by Ritu Arya), a devastated Alex looks back on the start of their relationship: “We met when I was 19. Working in a chippy.
“I didn’t know what I was doing or where I was going. And then she turned up and just made sense of it all.”
The role also brings Henry into a drama alongside his life-long friend Sanjeev Bhaskar, who plays Aria’s father, Dhruv. Henry previously appeared in Bhaskar’s sitcom The Kumars at No 42.
Bhaskar was full of praise for his friend’s performance when he told Digital Spy: “I saw Lenny last week actually and I told him how brilliant I thought he was in it and I think he was quite surprised at his own performance.
“I think it’s a testament to the writing and to the directing to get that out of him.”
Henry and Horrocks are not the only recognisable names joining the cast either with The Good Place actress Jameela Jamil also set to feature as Nisha Mantri.
Away from Alex and Tash’s marital troubles, the six-part series follows Aria as she prepares to take over the family firm while planning her wedding.
Her mother died six months earlier, and Dhruv, the founder of Kishan Law, is beginning to doubt whether his daughter is ready for the responsibility.
In addition, the return of a former flame adds another complication to Aria’s life.
The Split Up is available to watch on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.