BAFTA and RTS award-winning writer and actor, Charlie Cooper, has always been obsessed with folklore and tales that become bigger than the towns and villages they hail from. Now, the co-creator and star of This Country – the show which brought pastoral perspectives into the mainstream – is about to shine a light on the gloriously bonkers rural myths of the UK in brand new funny factual series, Charlie Cooper’s Local Legends (working title) for BBC Three and BBC iPlayer.
The series – made by Naked West, a Fremantle label – sees Charlie step out alone from This Country for his British factual debut. It will follow him as he tours the UK in his campervan, investigating everything from Crop Circles and UFOs in Wiltshire to roaming ghost dogs on the coast and countryside of East Anglia. Charlie will meet the believers and the naysayers, visiting iconic locations and gathering evidence in a bid to get to the bottom of the truth.
In an era of social media misinformation and online echo chambers, where can we go to separate the news from the nonsense? The happenings from the hoaxes? The facts from the fiction? This 3 x 30 minute part series will see Charlie search spooky small-town goings on, uncovering eye-witness accounts and elusive evidence as well as staging his own experiments in a bid to bring him closer to the truth. Along the way, he will pay homage to the countryside legends of brilliant Britain and will explore how they have come to define the places and people they originate from.
Charlie Cooper says: “I’m really excited about this new series, as I’ve always been fascinated by local legends, myth and folklore. As I see it, my mission is to explore our ancient world, seek out mythical creatures and boldly go where no TV presenter has gone before.”
Nasfim Haque, Head of Content for BBC Three says: “It is super thrilling and scary in equal measure to see what mysteries and magic Charlie uncovers on his adventures. We are so pleased to be working with him on his factual debut at the BBC and we are sure that audiences will be captivated by everything he discovers.”
Tom O’Brien, MD of Naked and Executive Producer says: “We’re delighted to be working with Charlie and BBC Three on a brand-new adventure series ripe with character, kookiness and the uncanny. British folktales are finding new life once again with a real explosion of interest, so it’s a great time to unearth their origins, quirks and meaning for the present-day.”
Broadcast details will be confirmed in due course.
Charlie Cooper’s Local Legends (w/t) is a 3 x 30’ series for BBC Three and BBC iPlayer and was commissioned by Catherine Catton, Senior Head of Commissioning and Nasfim Haque, Head of Content for BBC Three. The series is made by Naked West, a Fremantle label. The Executive Producers for Naked West are Tom O’Brien and John Comerford and Series Producer Director is Rob Gill. The Commissioning Editor for the BBC is Patrick McMahon.
