Following a successful pilot as a Comedy Feed for BBC Three last year, Man Like Mobeen has been commissioned from Cave Bear Productions. Damian Kavanagh, controller of BBC Three announced the four part series while speaking at Edinburgh TV Festival yesterday.
Man Like Mobeen is the latest BBC Three Comedy Feed to have a series commission, other successful series that started life as a Comedy Feed include People Just Do Nothing, Josh and A Brief History of Tim which is currently in production.
Welcome to the life of Man Like Mobeen (Guz Khan), a 28-year-old from Small Heath in Birmingham, who has a job, doesn’t know any terrorists, is pretty excellent when it comes to social skills and… maybe, just maybe, dealt drugs for a little bit.
Mobeen has many challenges in life - the biggest one being providing for his younger sister Aqsa. He does this alone, acting as a very hairy mother, father and brother figure in the hood.
He gains emotional support from possibly two of the best friends a person could have, Nathaniel ‘Nate’ Dixon and Arslan ‘Eight’ Kushi. Although when we say emotional support, we mean they add to his likelihood of an emotional breakdown every minute of every day.
Mobeen’s parents have done a disappearing act that would make the love child of David Blaine and Dynamo proud, leaving the (reluctant) hero with the full financial and emotional responsibility of the ‘family’ they've left behind in Birmingham.
All Mobeen wants to do is follow his faith, lead a good life, and make sure his younger sister fulfils her potential. But can he juggle this, with his criminal reputation and murky past always chasing him?
Guz Khan says: “Mobeen as a character epitomises the funny yet complex realities of life for young working class men and women in Britain today. Inner city Birmingham, in which the show is set, gets almost no positive representation in the media. Man Like Mobeen will at the very least give a 'real' depiction of life in the ends. I'm so honoured to be able to bring this character to you and I hope the people of Brum will be proud of what we produce, and have a real character that they can finally relate to.”
Damian Kavanagh, Controller, BBC Three says: "I loved Man like Mobeen when it first came to BBC Three via the comedy feeds and I'm delighted to have brilliant comedic talent like Guz back on BBC Three in this new series."
Man Like Mobeen is a Cavebear and Tiger Aspect production written and created by Guz Khan and Andy Milligan. Full casting details will be announced in due course.
