Ruth Jones will play rambler Christine. Photo: The Joneses CC-BY-SA-2.0
A group of ramblers will find themselves the butt of many a joke in an upcoming television series.
The Great Outdoors will feature writer and actress Ruth Jones, best known for her parts in Gavin and Stacey and Nighty Night and will follow the ‘hikes, heartaches, friendships and rivalries of a group of ramblers’ according to the BBC.
The three-part comedy series will screen in the summer on BBC Four, as part of an Outdoor Season.
Ruth Jones will play Christine, who battles with Bob, played by Mark Heap, to gain leadership of a rambling group. Bob is described as a vain, deluded, tragicomic character.
The BBC’s blurb says: “While mud flies between Bob and Christine, he is also trying to come to terms with the love-life of his 18-year-old daughter Hazel, and Victor, a chess-loving geek.
“Although Victor only has eyes for Hazel, he finds himself the focus of the attentions of 30-something Sophie, a stressed-out businesswoman seeking to escape her claustrophobic marriage to Joe, a charming yet manipulative freeloader.
“Each week the misfit group heads off on a new adventure across the British countryside and, as they do so, their intertwined lives become more complicated, resulting in a true fight for survival.”
BBC executive producer Paul Schlesinger said: “Rambling is such a great British institution. It’s a brilliant subject for a character comedy. And what’s really exciting is that with Ruth Jones and Mark Heap we have two of the best comedy actors around at the centre of it.”
Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley, described as a rambling-loving duo, are the writers. Previous credits include Black Books and Armstrong and Miller. The series is being shot on handheld cameras to ‘offer viewers the virtual experience of walking alongside the characters, without having to leave the comfort of their armchairs’.
Clare Balding will go in search of 1950s-style cycling. Photo: BBC
The Outdoor Season will also include Britain by Bike, in which Clare Balding aims to rediscover the magical world of 1950s-style cycling in a cross-Britain odyssey following the routes of guidebook author Harold Briercliffe.
Mark Benton will camp it up with a tribute to mud, sweat and tentpegs in The Great British Outdoors and viewers can take the plunge with Wild Swimming with Alice Roberts.
No transmission dates have been released, but the season is due to screen this summer.
