Beyond The Joke has learnt more details about the forthcoming BBC series Toast of Tinseltown which finds boomy voiced thespian Steven Toast, played by Matt Berry, trying to establish himself in Los Angeles.

This first episode of the new series, which starts on January 4 a 10pm on BBC Two, finds Toast visiting an anger management specialist played by his fellow What We Do In The Shadows star, Kayvan Novak. There are also reports that another What We Do In The Shadows star, Natasia Demetriou, also makes an appearance.

Previous characters in Toast have been notable for their unusual names and that tradition continues in this series, which again is written by Berry and Arthur Mathews. Novak's character is called Des Wigwam.

And there are other notable appearances with silly names too. American comic Fred Armisen plays Russ Nightlife. Armisen previous cast Matt Berry is his US series Portlandia.

Fans of Toast when it originally ran on C4 as Toast of London will be relived to hear that Toast's long-suffering landlord Ed Howzer-Black, played by Cold Feet star Robert Bathurst is back, as is hipster sound engineer Danny Bear (Tim Downie). Caroline Harker is also on board as Sue Pipkins. 

And long-term fans will be pleased to hear that Toast's perpetual rival/nemesis Ray Purchase (Harry Peacock) appears in one episode.

The director is Michael Cumming, who has previously worked on Toast and alsowith Chris Morris and directed the recent acclaimed Stewart Lee documentary about Robert Lloyd of The Nightingales, King Rocker.

BTJ has not been able to ascertain at this stage if Clem Fandango appears in the new series. 

Toast Of Tinseltown starring Matt Berry will start on BBC Two on Tuesday, 4 January, 2022 at 10pm.

Pictured Des Wigwam (Kayvan Novak), Steven Toast (Matt Berry): BBC