About "The IT Crowd"

The IT Crowd is a sitcom from Father Ted and Black Books writer Graham Linehan and producer Ash Atalla (whom comedy fans will know as the guy who helped get The Office to our screens).

The IT Crowd takes a surreal look at the "underclass" of a company - the Information Technology department. The comedy focuses around the fictional Reynholm Industries and its computer department which is made up of Roy, Moss and Jen. Whilst the rest of the company works upstairs in fantastic surroundings they've been banished to the horrible dark basement - once you've seen the series you'll probably realise why...

Socially-awkward Roy and Moss are total geeks but Jen on the otherhand hardly knows what a computer is! The reason she joins the boys in the basement is that she embellished the truth in her interview with Reynholm and thus has been un-wisely appointed as the IT Relationship Manager.

Roy is played by Chris O'Dowd who has won a Scottish BAFTA for his role in the FilmFour comedy Festival. Chris, who is from west Ireland, has also appeared in BBC drama Red Cap and two RTE-produced dramas prior to The IT Crowd.

Richard Ayoade takes on the role of Moss. He is probably best known for his work alongside long-time writing partner Matthew Holness as co-creator of the award-winning and very funny cult sitcom Garth Marenghi's Darkplace and his appearance in Nathan Barley. Richard already knew Chris O'Dowd before they began filming this sitcom as he too had a part in Festival. Ayoade will soon be appearing in the American version of The IT Crowd too.

Katherine Parkinson, who plays Jen, was seen on TV before The IT Crowd playing Pauline in the ITV comedy drama series Doc Martin. She's also been in Casualty, Ahead of the Class and has various theatre credits to her name too. Chris O'Dowd also knew Katherine before they appeared together in this comedy because, after graduating from Oxford, Katherine studied drama at LAMDA... which was where Chris went too.

In addition to the three main cast, the series also features a wealth of cameos from the comedy world including the likes of Adam Buxton (The Adam & Joe Show), Oliver Chris (Green Wing), Nicholas Burns (Nathan Barley) and Alex McQueen (The Thick of It).

In the second series changes are afoot at Reynholm Industries as the company enters a new era with a new boss, the son of Denholm - Douglas Reynholm (played by Matt Berry - Garth Marenghi, Stuff Box, Mighty Boosh).

Amongst all the talk of the "death of the British sitcom" it is interesting to note that Graham Linehan opted to go back to the traditional idea of filming in front of a studio audience. The restraint on swearing makes it suitable for family viewing too which certainly is a different route from the one most other new situation comedies are going down (however it should be noted that more swearing has crept into the second series).

Whilst it may be a very old-skool style sitcom, The IT Crowd has also broken new ground. It became the first comedy to be premiered on the Channel 4 website before being broadcast on the main channel, and the new series was used to promote the thirty-day catch-up service on 4oD.

Graham Lineham has indicated that once he has moved back to England he will be writing a third series of The IT Crowd. C4 have commissioned the series but we're not yet sure when it will be broadcast - we are predicting late 2008?!?