BBC confirms air date for Slow Horses star in adaptation of beloved Eric Morecambe novels

New upcoming comedy The Reluctant Vampire, which features a starry cast, has been given a release date on BBC – and it's soon!

The Reluctant Vampire is an adaptation of the book series of the same name by comedy legend Eric Morecambe, and stars BAFTA winner Lenny Rush as its lead.

Episode 1 of the new series will air on Sunday 4th October at 6:40pm on BBC One, with a full boxset release on BBC iPlayer.

The series follows Val, played by Rush, a young vampire who finds out that he is not, in fact, a vampire at all, and starts living a double life.

As Val grapples with his newly discovered human side, he has to contend with high expectations from his tradition-obsessed vampire father Victor, played by Tom Davis.

A first-look clip from the new show was released on what would have been the 100th birthday of Morecambe, and features a brief introduction from Rush, before we’re given a glimpse at the actor in character as he attempts to sneak out of a window and interacts with two gargoyles (Ross Noble and Bill Bailey).

You can watch the clip from The Reluctant Vampire below:

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Eric Morecambe was best known as part of the double act Morecambe and Wise, alongside his comedy partner Ernie Wise, a partnership that lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death in 1984.

Gary Morecambe, Eric’s son, recently told Radio Times magazine that the new series stays true to its source material.

Speaking about the show, he said: "We’ve got the wonderful Lenny Rush starring in it, and the Gibbons brothers, Neil and Rob, who’ve done a lot of Alan Partridge, came in and wrote their own scripts but they did it without ‘losing Eric’ – which is a fantastic achievement."

Lenny Rush rose to fame starring in the Daisy May Cooper comedy drama series Am I Being Unreasonable? for which he won a BAFTA for best male comedy performance.

Most recently, Rush has acted in the award-winning spy drama Slow Horses and will also feature as Dobby in the upcoming Harry Potter TV series from HBO.

Alongside Rush, The Reluctant Vampire stars a plethora of British comedy acting legends who require no introduction including Charlie Cooper (This Country), Sian Clifford (Fleabag), Kiell Smith-Bynoe (Ghosts), Joe Wilkinson (Have I Got News For You, 8 Out of 10 Cats), Ross Noble (Have I Got News for You), Bill Bailey (Black Books), Gabriel Nagy (Extra Geography), Asim Chaudhry (People Just Do Nothing), Esther Smith (Trying) and Ellie-May Sheridan (Dodger).

Meanwhile, behind the camera, Shane Allen is executive producing the show, which was written by Rob and Neil Gibbons, while Ali Marlow serves as producer and Emily McDonald as director.

The Reluctant Vampire will air on at 6:40pm Sunday 4th October on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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