Aidan Gillen to play Dave Allen in new biopic on the Irish comedian

Written by Stephen Russell (Peaky Blinders), the BBC Two film begins shooting this month and "will explore how Dave's comedy genius was shaped by the tragic loss of his father, his brother… and his finger. How he survived decades of the Roman Catholic Church's wrath, death threats from the IRA and a ban by Irish and Australian TV, only to have his television career end in controversy when he used the f-word in an innocuous joke."

The film will feature performances from Joanne Crawford (St. Patrick's Day, Mammal), Robert Bathurst (Downton Abbey), Ian McElhinney (Game of Thrones), Simon Day (The Fast Show) and Julian Rhind-Tutt (Lucy, A Touch of Cloth).