Austin is a new comedy coming to BBC One and is now available in full on BBC iPlayer, starring Ben Miller.
Ex-Death in Paradise star Ben has co-created the eight-part series, which also stars Sally Phillips (Veep, Bridget Jones’s Diary).
Ben plays Julian, a bestselling children's writer whose career is in crisis following a social media storm. He faces further turmoil when the autistic son he never knew existed turns up. Julian is at first hesitant to accept the eccentric but charming 28-year-old Austin Hogan (played by neurodivergent actor Michael Theo) into his life.
Ben tells us: "We saw Michael in an Australian reality show about dating called Love on the Spectrum. He was brilliant in it and that was the germ of the idea. We got in touch and it turned out he'd always wanted to be an actor, so that's where Austin came from."
Ben adds: "Austin is trying to find out who he is and getting to know his birth family, but, of course, there are a lot more other things on his list. When he arranges a meeting between Julian and his mum Mel [Big Little Lies star Gia Carides], Austin says to her, 'I want you to be nice to my father, partly because I want to ingratiate myself with him, and partly because I'd really like to go to England,' which I love! A lot of things in the show are inspired by things Michael has said or done."
Here's everything we know about Austin...
Austin release date
Austin will be released on BBC One on Friday, April 4 at 9.30 pm. The BBC has already made the whole series available as a box set on BBC iPlayer. It's eight episodes and each episode is just under 30 minutes long.
Austin plot
The makers tease: "When much-loved children’s author Julian Hartswood (Ben Miller) inadvertently causes a social media storm, his career and that of his illustrator wife Ingrid (Sally Phillips) appears to be over. That is until Austin (Michael Theo), the neurodivergent son that Julian never knew existed, turns up out of the blue. Could embracing this modern nuclear family be Julian’s route back from cancellation? Will Ingrid ever forgive him? One thing is for certain: if Julian thinks Austin is going to be a pushover, he’s in for a rude awakening." We know that Julian decides to make a documentary about everything that's going on in his life...
Cast
Ben Miller stars as children's author Julian, which shouldn’t be too much of a stretch for Ben as he is of course a real life children’s author. Sally Phillips plays his wife Ingrid, with Michael Theo, described as "the breakout star of the international hit romantic docuseries Love on the Spectrum", as Theo. Gia Carides (My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Big Little Lies) and Roy Billing (Jack Irish, Underbelly) also feature.
Austin reviews
The Guardian gave the series a positive review, stating: "The plotline involving Julian making a documentary about himself gets a tad silly, but even when the story slips a little, the writing and performances never lose their wit and sharpness. Another season, please!”
Is there a trailer?
Yes, there certainly is and it's funny...
