Walliams to play Frankie Howerd in BBC4 biopic

Published Monday 17 December 2007 at 15:40 by Matthew Hemley

David Walliams is to play Frankie Howerd in BBC4’s biopic on the entertainer.

As revealed by The Stage last month, the broadcaster has lined up the 60-minute Howerd drama, called Frankie Howerd: Rather You Than Me, as one of four new dramas looking at some of Britain’s best loved personalities.

The other three dramas explore the lives of Hughie Green, Tony Hancock and the two actors behind Steptoe and Son, Harry H Corbett and Wilfrid Brambell.

Walliams, best known for Little Britain, said he had been a “life-long fan” of Howerd and claimed it was a “dream role”.

The drama has been written by Peter Harness, who constructed the story from intimate interviews with Howerd’s partner, Dennis Heymer.

It is being made by BBC Drama Production and directed by John Alexander, who has directed the forthcoming Billie Piper drama The Shadow in the North.

The season of four dramas will be screened in spring 2008 and follows in the footsteps of biopics on Fanny Cradock and Kenneth Williams.