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E4 has ordered a second series of PhoneShop, the sitcom about a team of highstreet retail sales assistants which is written, directed and produced by Phil Bowker.
The comedy earned the re-commission after achieving strong ratings during its recent run. It averaged 739,000 viewers across the six episodes that made up Series 1.
PhoneShop centres on the working day of the employees of a mobile phone shop, the like of which you can find in every high street and shopping mall across the country. The show stars Tom Bennett as nervous graduate trainee Christopher, Andrew Brooke and Javone Prince as cocky sales assistants Ashley and Jerwayne, Emma Fryer as the ambitious Janine, and Martin Trenaman as the shop’s ineffectual manager.
The pilot of PhoneShop, created for the broadcaster’s 2009 Comedy Showcase season and script edited by Ricky Gervais, was so highly regarded internally within Channel 4 that they ordered a full six-part series of the show before the trial episode had even aired.
The new series is expected to be shown on E4 in the Autumn of 2011.
The high street is a dangerous battle zone. On the frontline are the brave soldiers of the PhoneShop sales floor.
After a hugely successful pilot as part of 4’s Comedy Showcase season, PhoneShop makes its full series premiere on E4 on Thursday October 7th at 10pm.
On the mean, cut-throat UK high street, the priority is to ‘shift units, make money, smash targets…’ and no one knows that better than the staff of PhoneShop. But with top salesman Little Gary Patel back in jail, the staff’s position as ‘Kings of the High Street’ may be in jeopardy for the first time.
Manager Lance has a secret weapon in the form of new recruit and graduate Christopher. But Lance’s young protégée looks more damp squib than battle-ready expert. It’s up to Ashley, Jerwayne and Janine – the elite Sales Professionals – to knock this eager-to-please, bag of nerves into shape.
Together it’s their job to make sure that every mug punter within five square miles gets locked down to the tightest and most expensive mobile phone contract known to mankind.
PhoneShop has been written, directed and produced by Phil Bowker (Pulling, Sean Lock’s 15 Storeys High) with additional material written by Jon Macqueen and the cast.
The show features a hugely-talented ensemble core cast, including Tom Bennett (Pulling, Eastenders), Andrew Brooke (Pulling, Cemetery Junction), Emma Fryer (Home Time, Ideal), Javone Prince (Horrible Histories) and Martin Trenaman (The Inbetweeners) with cameo support from Kayvan Novak (Fonejacker, Facejacker).