Announced at the BBC Comedy Festival in Glasgow, BBC Comedy and BBC Northern Ireland have co-commissioned a 4 x 30” series of Funboys following its successful launch as a comedy short film in 2023. Made by Mayhay Studios, Funboys is a comedy series about three emotionally-unassembled young men in small-town Northern Ireland.
Funboys sees friends Callum (Ryan Dylan), Jordan (Rian Lennon) and Lorcan (Lee Dobbin) as they attempt to navigate through the hardships of life. Life is never easy for this trio of sad worms: from first girlfriends to dead pet pigs, the lads are put through the psychological ringer. But will their shared love of innocent fun and wholesome mucking about land them in hot water?
Funboys, filmed and set in Northern Ireland, with support from Northern Ireland Screen takes a fly-on-the-wall approach, prioritising authentic, naturalistic comedy whilst exploring modern themes of male vulnerability, religious dogma and handjobs.
Writers and stars of the series, Rian Lennon (also directs) and Ryan Dylan say: "We are so happy to be making a series about the important things in our lives: innocent wholesome fun, growing up, dying, screaming mental health issues, videogames and the ultimate power of friendship."
Executive producer and story writer, Simon Mayhew-Archer of Mayhay Studios says: "I have high hopes that this show will be really good. There's a decent amount of live pig action if you like that sort of thing (we do)."
Jon Petrie, BBC Director of Comedy Commissioning says: “It’s heartening to see one of our debut BBC Comedy Short Films make the step up to series. We’re excited to dive back into the chaotic world of Funboys with the team at Mayhay Studios. It promises to be weird, wonderful, charming, and always funny.”
Eddie Doyle, Head of Commissiong for BBC Northern Ireland, says: “It’s been fantastic to see this project develop from a BBC iPlayer short we co-commissioned with BBC Comedy, into a four part network series. Rian, Ryan and Lee are uniquely brilliant in their comedy and Funboys is quite unlike anything else out there. It’s great to see Northern Ireland comedy talent being given such a great platform that will be enjoyed by audiences across the UK.”
Funboys (4 x 30’) is a Mayhay Studios production for BBC Three, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC iPlayer. Written by Rian Lennon and Ryan Dylan. The story writer and executive producer is Simon Mayhew-Archer, the director is Rian Lennon and the producer is Leah Draws. The series was ordered by Jon Petrie, Director of Comedy and Eddie Doyle BBC Northern Ireland's Head of Content Commissioning and the commissioners for the BBC are Navi Lamba and Seb Barwell. Mary McKeagney is Commissioning Executive for BBC Northern Ireland.
Transmission information for Funboys will be announced in due course. The comedy short is available to watch on BBC iPlayer here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0fmhzh4/bbc-comedy-short-films-fu...
Picture: Jolane Schaffner
