ITV has renewed comedy hit Birds of a Feather for another season of 8 episodes. The series will return in 2015 for its second season on ITV and its eleventh overall.
The revival of Birds of a Feather caught up with original Essex girls Sharon and Tracey Stubbs and Dorian Green, who has reinvented herself as racy novelist Foxy Cohen. The comedy series, produced by Retort and QuirkyMedia Stuff, starred Pauline Quirke, Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph. The new season will again be written by Laurence Marks, Maurice Gran,Gary Lawson and John Phelps. The executive producers are Jon Rolph and Steve Sheen. FremantleMedia International are releasing the first ITV season of Birds of a Feather on DVD on Monday, March 10th.
The renewal comes after Birds of a Feather launched to 9.5 million viewers, making it ITV’s most successful comedy launch in over a decade. Season-to-date the comedy series has been averaging a consolidated audience of 8 million viewers. The strong ratings for a comedy were good news for ITV, who have been struggling to establish a comedy hit since returning to the genre in the past 2 years. Other ITV original comedies that have done ok, but not been huge hits, include Vicious and The Job Lot.
“We’re delighted Birds of a Feather was such a success on ITV and really pleased to be asked to write another series”, said co-creator Maurice Gran. “We hope the further adventures of Sharon, Tracey and Dorien will continue to thrill audiences young and old.”
While ITV’s Director of Comedy and Entertainment Elaine Bedell, who ordered the new season, added: “We’re very pleased that the brilliant chemistry between these three great actresses once again attracted the large and loyal audience that Birds of a Feather deserves. The writers and producers have done a fantastic job in making the show feel funny, fresh and relevant. “
