James Nesbitt is heading back to Northern Ireland for a new BBC comedy alongside Derry Girls favourite Jamie-Lee O'Donnell.

The Cold Feet star has joined Hopley Hall, a six-part workplace sitcom now filming on the County Antrim coast. The series comes from Daniel Peak, whose previous credits include Not Going Out and Code 404.

Welcome to Britain's most dysfunctional stately home

The comedy takes place at Hopley Hall, a crumbling Grade A-listed stately home in a fictional coastal town where keeping the attraction running appears to be a daily battle.

Its heating barely works, the gift shop is dominated by tea towels and the staff harbour a particular resentment towards a rival tourist attraction down the road. Running the place is an eccentric collection of employees and volunteers who have very little in common beyond desperately trying to keep the roof on and visitors away from the private toilets.

Nesbitt joins O'Donnell alongside James Martin, Leela Harris, Georgie Glen, Tommy Belshaw and Jeany Spark.

The role also has a personal connection for Nesbitt. The Ballymena-born actor said returning to the Antrim coast, where his mother grew up and where he spent much of his childhood, was “an absolute treat”. He also praised the scripts' distinctly Northern Irish humour.

The setting should be another attraction, with Nesbitt saying the programme will showcase the beauty of Northern Ireland while delivering a workplace comedy populated by people barely managing to tolerate one another.

Hopley Hall is coming to BBC One, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC iPlayer. The BBC has not yet announced an exact transmission date.

Images: BBC/Hopley Hall Ltd.