Harry Hill’s thrilled with Kickstarter campaign to make new sitcom The Mayoress

Harry Hill is backing a Kickstarter campaign to bring a sitcom set in the cut-throat world of local politics to the screen.

The comedian has joined a cast including Jack Dee, Romesh Ranganathan and Michelle Collins to film a trailer for The Mayoress, which was written by Hill’s long-term collaborator Brenda Gilhooly.

They are trying to raise £75,000 by June 8 to make a pilot for the show, which they hope can be developed into a series.

Hill said: “Brenda is an old friend of mine and worked on TV Burp for years but Romesh doesn’t know her from Adam and he got involved as well so that makes me feel better that I’m doing it for the right reasons.”

He said crowdfunding gave the creative team more power and reminded him of his days starting out on the stand-up circuit.

“There is nothing more free than stand-up, no one tells you what to say, if a joke works you keep it, if it doesn’t you write another one,” he said.

“With something like TV Burp it involved talking to hundreds of people, from lighting to directors and getting permissions to use things.

“Filming this trailer just reminded me of my days playing Edinburgh where I would always make a short film and I’d just turn up in a field without asking anyone with a camera and there is something inspiring about that.”

Gilhooly plays the title role in the show, which Hill describes as a “very British” sitcom.

He said: “It is all bound up with class and of course she is the mayoress which is just a funny thing in itself because she doesn’t have any power but she turns up to all these things with a big brass chain on.”

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