James Felton’s satirical history novel has been picked up for development…

Prolific Twitter presence James Felton has more to celebrate after the recent release of his history book, 52 Times Britain Was A Bellend – it’s set to be turned into a television series from the team behind The Last Leg.

Open Mike Productions acquired the TV rights to the book this month. The novel explores “the painfully funny history of Britain you were never taught at school, chronicling some of the ludicrous things the British have done to the world since time immemorial – and then conveniently forgetting we’ve done them, of course.”

“James Felton’s book is laugh-out-loud funny, so naturally we wanted to exploit his genius!” said Andy Thistlewood, head of development for Open Mike. “James expertly weaves fascinating historical nuggets of Britain’s bellendery with some obscenely funny jokes, so we’re confident that his book will transfer perfectly to TV. Just when we thought we couldn’t be more concerned about Britain’s global reputation, James comes along to show us that we need not worry – Britain has always been a bit of a bellend.”

Emily Barrett from publisher Sphere added: “James’ book is that wonderful combination of hilarious and informative (with a pinch of self-loathing that we Brits are either excellent at or need to become so as a matter of urgency). I have no doubt it will make perfect comedy television at a time when Britain’s global reputation is under the microscope, and I hope it introduces more people to James’ brilliant book, which we are very proud to publish on the Sphere list.”