The eight-part series is described as “raucous, riotous and razor sharp” and a “completely original take on the world of the police procedural”, which will “shock, move and invite audiences to laugh themselves silly by turns”.

Abbott commented: “I’m a big fan of well-told cop shows and jet-black social comedy, and I wanted to see how explosively we could bang two genres’ heads together. No Offence is reared on wilder-than-average seeds and I’ve had a ball with the AbbottVision team in building this concept. It’s a tilted, hardcore blend of cop drama, family saga and social mayhem.”

Piers Wenger, Channel 4 Head of Drama added: “No Offence is the best of what the world has come to expect from a Paul Abbott script: characters you can adore, gags which practically blind you with their brilliance and plots which, while appearing outlandish, challenge the way you think about the world. We’re delighted to announce the commissioning of this new series created and written by Paul and welcome him back to Channel 4.”

Set in a crumbling cop shop on the wrong side of Manchester, No Offence follows a group of bobbies on the front line, wondering what they did to end up here, in this force, on this side of town. Keeping these streets clean is a Herculean task, enough to demoralize even the keenest rookie. But there’s a reason these cops are in this force. As the never ending rabble off the local estates pours in, Inspector Vivienne Deering, the station’s sharp, funny (peculiar) and hard as they come boss, and her team led by DC Dinah Kowalski (smart but impetuous, stuck in the middle, single mother in her 30s) and DC Joy Freers (buttoned up so tight she might pop! But nobody’s mug), show they have what it takes to crack crime and to expose the addled, the skanky, the pimps, the petty and the really proper nasty bastards for the sewer rats they are.

> Buy the complete Shameless Series 1- 8 boxset on Amazon.

Are you looking forward to No Offence? Let us know below…