The BBC have released first-look photos and details for the brand new series ‘Leonard and Hungry Paul’, set to air later this year and starring Derry’s own Jamie-Lee O’Donnell.

Actress Jamie Lee, best known for her role as Michelle in Derry Girls, has been cast in the upcoming BBC series as one of the main characters, Shelley.

The show is based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Rónán Hession, and has been adapted for BBC One Northern Ireland, BBC 2 and BBC iPlayer by writers Richie Conroy and Mark Hodkinson.

The BBC have called it a “feel-good series” that follows two friends in their thirties; Leonard, a ghost writer of children’s encyclopaedias, and Hungry Paul, a part-time postal worker who still lives at home, who meander through leafy suburban life finding solace in their quiet routines.

Jamie-Lee O'Donnell as Shelley and Alex Lawther as Leonard.

placeholder image — Jamie-Lee O'Donnell as Shelley and Alex Lawther as Leonard.

The unexpected death of Leonard’s mother, the approaching wedding of Hungry Paul’s sister and a tentative new romance for Leonard, prompts both men to meet a world that is suddenly wider and full of unfamiliar possibilities.

Shelley, Jamie Lee O’Donnell’s character, is the romantic interest of Leonard, played by Alex Lawther (The End Of The F***ing World, Alien: Earth). In the original work, Shelley is an ex-art school student with an eight-year old son, who works as the fire marshal at Leonard’s office.

Also joining the cast is Laurie Kynaston (Fool Me Once, Sandman) as Hungry Paul, Helen Behan (The Virtues), Lorcan Cranitch (Bloodlands), Niamh Branigan (Harry Wild), Paul Reid (Sherlock & Daughter), Charlotte McCurry (Say Nothing) and David O’Reilly (Doctors).

Former St Cecilia’s College pupil Jamie-Lee rose to international fame and acclaim as chief mischief-maker Michelle Mallon, who was one of the main characters in Lisa McGee’s hit Channel 4 series Derry Girls. The show proved a huge hit over the course of its three seasons, all of which premiered at cinemas in Derry, and was later picked up by Netflix and shown around the world. Jame-Lee also has a starring role in the Channel 4 prison drama series ‘Screw’.

All five of the main Derry Girls actors have gone on to have success in subsequent film, TV and stage productions.

Leonard And Hungry Paul is a Subotica production for BBC Northern Ireland in association with BBC Comedy, Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland and RTÉ, and a co-production with Avalon, who will distribute the show internationally.