Greg Davies will play crime scene cleaner in new BBC sitcom

Greg Davies will play a crime scene cleaning technician in a new BBC One comedy.

The 52-year-old star has been cast as Paul \'Wicky\' Wickstead in \'The Cleaner\' - a role which combines two of his early ambitions when he was younger.

He said: "As a young man I told a careers adviser that I wanted to mop blood up for a living or be a comedian.

"He told me with a giggle that neither were real jobs and I should consider learning a trade. Well he\'s not laughing now is he?!"

He quipped: "Sadly, he\'s dead. I\'m thrilled to be adapting this wonderful show with Studio Hamburg UK for BBC One and can\'t wait to get cleaning."

Greg has written the script for the upcoming six part comedy, which is based on long-running German comedy series \'Der Tatortreiniger\' (\'Crime Scene Cleaner\'), created by Ingrid Lausund.

His character Wicky - usually found at crime scenes after the police have concluded their work - is responsible for removing any signs of death.

In a press release, BBC added: "Armed with chemicals, scrubbing brushes and cleaning rags, Wicky removes the gruesome mess at the scene of the crime

"When carrying out his duties, he stumbles across the strangest of people: from the victim\'s relatives, employers, neighbours and acquaintances, to occasionally even the murderers themselves.

"And because he\'s a sociable type, he sometimes gossips more than he cleans."

Shane Allen, BBC Commissioning Controller Comedy, said: "Greg has done a knockout job of repositioning this hit sitcom for the UK audience.

"Wicky is a thoroughly decent everyman whose differing work situation each week brims with comic flourishes and opportunities to test his moral fibre.

"As with \'Ghosts\' and \'The Goes Wrong Show\' we\'re keen to back distinctive ideas that play with form and tone for a mainstream BBC One audience and take the sitcom into unexpected new settings."

And Vivien Muller-Rommel, Managing Director of Studio Hamburg UK, added: "We are very excited to be partnering with the BBC, the Holy Grail of British comedy, on this show.

"Greg Davies has always been our top choice to portray our charmingly chatty protagonist, and we couldn\'t be more delighted that he\'s also writing the series.

"In times of a global pandemic, we all need more comedies. Fortunately our protagonist already wears a mask by profession."