UK: New Comedy Hang Ups Begins On Channel 4 In August

Stephen Mangan's new comedy Hang Ups launches on Channel 4 next month, with the first episode airing on Wednesday 8th August at 10pm. The six part series is based on Lisa Kudrow's Emmy Award-winning Showtime show Web Therapy and has been adapted for the UK by Stephen with Robert Delamere, who also directs. David Tennant is among the all star cast, playing an eerie cloakroom attendant called Martin Lamb. 

Hang Ups is an unconventional comedy about an unconventional therapist trying to keep his unconventional life, and patients, from falling apart. Stephen stars as Dr. Richard Pitt, a therapist with a chequered professional career, who finds himself at a crossroads in life – a crossroads precipitated by the startling realisation that his life appears to be falling apart at the seams….

After the collapse of his previous group therapy practice, Richard is no longer able to conduct the traditional 50-minute sessions most therapists have with their patients. Instead, he’s developed a new form of therapy –weekly quick-fire sessions with his patients which take place online, through a webcam. The few patients on his list present a hilarious and outrageous catalogue of neuroses, phobias, issues, anxieties and psychopathies, but even these short sessions, where he’s confronted by everything from the sublime to the ridiculous, are not his greatest challenge... His patience and temperament are stretched to their limit by the daily interruptions of a demanding extended family, errant teenagers and his own trouble-filled past...

The cast also includes Richard E Grant, Jessica Hynes, Katherine Parkinson, Lolly Adefope, Harry Lloyd, Paul Ritter, Celia Imrie, Charles Dance and more. The show is largely improvised and shot through computer screens. Stephen recently spoke about how David created the character of Martin:

"He was given this character - this cloakroom attendant who does not like to talk with people. He was asked to work as a head waiter in a chic restaurant in London, but he can't cope. Everything else was improvisation, and David came up with such a terrific dark character who can't talk to people, but likes to take their hair from their clothes and touch their things. He's a real pervert."

Hang Ups was produced by Slam Films. Kevin Loader and Stephen Mangan serve as Executive Producers with Louise Delamere as producer.