David Tennant, Jessica Hynes and Charles Dance join new Channel 4 comedy Hang Ups
A star-studded line up will play patients and associates of Stephen Mangan's psychotherapist in the Channel 4 show adapted from Lisa Kudrow's Web Therapy
David Tennant, Jessica Hynes and Charles Dance have joined the cast of Stephen Mangan's new therapy comedy Hang Ups.
They are part of a star-studded ensemble of supporting actors who will appear in the Channel 4 series as patients or associates of Mangan's main character.
Also joining are Richard E. Grant (The Fear, Game of Thrones), Katherine Parkinson (Humans), Celia Imrie (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), Paul Ritter (No Offence), Karl Theobald (Alan Partridge, Green Wing) and Arsher Ali (Ackley Bridge, Line of Duty).
Other guest stars in the six-part series include Monica Dolan (W1A), Sarah Hadland (Miranda), Conleth Hill (Game of Thrones), Lolly Adefope (Loaded), John Macmillan (Chewing Gum, Back) and Harry Lloyd (Manhattan).
Hang Ups sees Episodes and Green Wing star Stephen Mangan play Dr Richard Pitt, a highly unconventional therapist with a chequered past.
Pitt starts the action with his personal life beginning to unravel after the collapse of his previous group therapy practice. He is no longer able to conduct the traditional 50-minute sessions most therapists have with their patients so has developed a new form of treatment – weekly quick-fire sessions with his patients which take place online, through a webcam.
The series will follow these lively exchanges with his patients as well as chronicling the daily interruptions of a demanding extended family, errant teenagers and his own trouble-filled past.
“Hang Ups is a farcical, dark and perceptive comedy about a man trying to help other people keep their s*** together while his own inexorably falls apart,” said Channel 4. “Heavily improvised, each of Dr. Pitt’s therapy sessions are startling, unpredictable, discomfiting and hilarious.
“Hang Ups, with pathos and humour, presents a family and a society that have the opportunity to be more connected than ever before, but who in reality find themselves utterly disconnected. Time poor and technology rich, self-obsessed and neurotic, image-conscious but insecure, the world is full of hang ups and is it any wonder why…?”
Mangan has said of the show: “People are complex and complicated and they lead messy, knotty lives. We’ve tried to put some of that all-too-familiar turmoil onscreen and the result, I think, is chaotic, glorious and disturbing.”
Hang Ups has been adapted from the Emmy-nominated series Web Therapy, co-created by former Friends star Lisa Kudrow, which was cancelled by Showtime in 2015 after four seasons.
Mangan has previously worked with Kudrow's former Friends co-star, Matt LeBlanc, in comedy series Episodes.
Hang Ups will begin filming later this year and will air on Channel 4 in 2018.
