Bless me! Atkinson to play three clergymen

Funnyman Rowan Atkinson will play three different vicars in a new Radio 4 comedy.

He will voice the role of the ministers, whose churches are based in the North-east of England, in #GODSWORK.

The new series was announced as part of a line-up of comedy commissions on BBC Radio 4. In 2009, a comedy sketch featuring Atkinson as a Christian clergyman who joked that Jesus was good at party tricks sparked more than 500 complaints after it was broadcast on ITV.

The sketch, part of a comedy gala performance to mark the 60th birthday of the Prince of Wales, was later cleared by the broadcasting watchdog Ofcom.

The new comedy commissions are expected to air on BBC Radio 4 in 2019/20.