In a bit of exciting, unexpected news, Groundhog Day actress Andie MacDowell is joining the cast of BBC sitcom Cuckoo, replacing the outgoing Taylor Lautner…
The Four Weddings and a Funeral star will board the cast as Ivy, the long-lost sister of Greg Davies’ Ken. She’ll replace Taylor Lautner as the lead actor, with his character, Dale, having headed off to Sierra Leone at the end of series four.
Regarding his departure and MacDowell’s arrival, Lautner said, “I’m so happy I get to pass my Cuckoo baton to someone as talented as Andie. She’ll do a great job keeping the Thompson family on their toes! I’ll miss everyone on the show – not least Chief Ken. But not all goodbyes are forever.”
BBC Three controller Damian Kavanagh added, “We’re delighted that Andie MacDowell will be joining the cast of Cuckoo for Series 5. Andie will bring a different flavour to the show and it’s incredibly exciting to see a talent of her calibre joining the brilliant existing cast.”
As the BBC’s head of comedy Shane Allen says, the “regeneration of the lead protagonist makes Cuckoo the Doctor Who of comedy”.
Cuckoo‘s fifth series will launch on BBC Three’s iPlayer channel at 10am on Friday 4th January as a box-set, and begin airing weekly on BBC One at 11:35pm on the same day.