Austin

Austin – BBC start date confirmed for Ben Miller’s new comedy

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The series also stars Sally Phillips, with Love on the Spectrum‘s Michael Theo in his first acting role. 

The BBC have finally confirmed a start date for Ben Miller and Sally Phillips’ new comedy.

Austin will land on BBC One at Friday 4th April at 9:30pm and there’s a short trailer up on the BBC site now.

For the binge-inclined, the whole six-part series will land on the iPlayer at the same time.

Airing on the BBC, the show comes from a number of companies, including ITV studios. They confirmed back in November 2025 that work has already begin on a second series.

Ben Miller, star, co-creator and Executive Producer, said:

Austin - Ben Miller and Sally Phillips
Austin (c) Northern Pictures/Lincoln Pictures/ABC

“Love is in the air in season two, and as Austin’s dad, I’m excited to see him dive into the world of romance. That said, I would advise against any 90s-style double dating. One decade of that was plenty… A huge thank you to the peerless ABC, ably abetted by ITV Studios, and our friends at Screen Australia and Screen Canberra, for helping bring Austin’s journey back to life. We are all beyond excited to start filming again, and reunite our joyously neurodivergent family.”

Original article (of 12/07/24) continues…

Austin – BBC acquires Ben Miller’s new Australian comedy

The BBC has acquired Austin, a new eight-part comedy starring Ben Miller (Professor T), Sally Phillips (Veep), and Michael Theo (Love on the Spectrum).

The show, co-created by Darren Ashton (Spreadsheet) and Ben Miller, tell the story of a cancelled children’s author who suddenly discovers he has an neurodivergent Australian son.

Austin

Here’s the setup for Austin

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.

Gia Carides (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and Roy Billing (Underbelly) also star.

The show has enjoyed positive press from its Australian airing, with The Guardian saying: “This very funny and sharply executed comedy series has a big heart… Another season, please!”

While there’s no BBC trailer yet, ABC iView have kindly obliged…

The eight-part Austin comes from Northern Pictures and Lincoln Pictures, in association with Screen Australia, Screen Canberra and ITV Studios.

The writing team for Austin includes Lloyd Woolf and Joe Tucker (Black Ops), Adam Zwar (Squinters) and Kala Ellis (Spreadsheet). The directors are Darren Ashton and Madeleine Dyer (Colin From Accounts).

Austin has been picked up for both BBC iPlayer and a linear airing – we’ll keep you posted.