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E4 is calling it quits on sci-fi comedy drama The Aliens, which featured Michael Socha, Michaela Coel and Jim Howick...

Fans of Fintan Ryan's The Aliens will have to make do with just one serving of the sci-fi comedy, as E4 has decided against renewing it for a second series.

The story of Michael Socha's Lewis, a xenophobic guard working at the border between the human world and its impoverished alien ghetto where he meets Michaela Coel's Lilyhot and Jim Howick's Dominic, The Aliens was a youth-skewed comedy with a social message. Lewis is forced to learn to accept difference against a fast-moving backdrop of drug deals, pilled-up raves and organised crime.

Channel 4 praised the series as "fantastic" and "bold", but cited the number of new drama series commissioned for next year's slate as a reason for it not returning. We'll have...

Stars: Michael Socha, Jim Howick, Michaela Coel, Daniel Eghan, Roy Thorn, Holli Dempsey, Trystan Gravelle, Michael Smiley, Ashley Walters | Written by Fintan Ryan | Directed by Lawrence Gough, Jonathan van Tulleken

E4 returns to top-form with a scintillating new comedy that sees writers repeat the success of Misfits…

The Aliens is certainly not your standard TV show. Set in the curious city of Troy, a segregated metropolis bearing resemblance to East/West Berlin during the Cold War, it kicks-off at a frenetic pace. The city’s duality exists due to a race of ‘aliens’ who show no distinction between humans. However, they exist as a sub-human species, with their hair being traded as a commodity by drug-lords (yes, you read that correctly).

Policing the borders of Troy is Louis (Michael Socha) who makes an alarming discovery early on in the show. After finding himself attracted to somewhat unsavoury videos of aliens on the web,...

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The Aliens, from the producers of Misfits, is raucous fun with a social message. Here’s what to expect from E4’s new sci-fi comedy…

Whenever humans imagine being invaded by an alien race, it’s pretty much always a big deal. Flying saucers land and what follows are mind-blowing technological developments, intergalactic war, the White House being evaporated, or Sarah Jessica Parker’s head winding up on a Chihuahua’s body. Rarely is first contact no biggie.

Except in E4’s The Aliens, a new comedy sci-fi written by Fintan Ryan (Rev, In The Flesh, Never Better) set forty years after an extra-terrestrial craft crash-lands in the North Sea. Out of it came a few hundred humanoid aliens who travelled ashore on rafts and were, for a short time, integrated into British society before political resentment and intolerance eventually forced them into a ghetto. Known as Troy,...

Spotted any of those messages from The Alien League that have been interrupting normal programming across Channel 4 shows as well as on radio, YouTube and in the cinema?

It's an innovative new marketing campaign for E4's new six-part drama The Aliens, which airs in March.

The culture-clash comedy drama with the premise that aliens have been living amongst us for decades. stars Michael Socha (represented by The Artists Partnership) as Lewis, a mild-mannered border guard who mans the checkpoint between the alien ghetto and the human side of the wall. But when he discovers that he is the world’s first half-alien, he finds himself drawn into a world of divided loyalties and a search for his own identity.

Michaela Coel (writer and star of E4's Chewing Gum), stars as Lilyhot, an enigmatic and alluring alien who is deeply embroiled in one of Troy’s criminal gangs.

This Is England star Michael Socha will lead E4's new sci-fi sitcom Aliens.

The actor, who also starred in BBC Three's Being Human, will play a border guard who mans the checkpoint between alien and human communities on the show.

The six-part series will focus on Socha's character as he discovers he is the first ever half-human, half-alien, and ventures to the criminal underworld of Troy to discover his true identity.

Socha said of the show: "I've never played anyone like Lewis before - it's going to be an exciting challenge for me.

"E4 is the home of some of the coolest dramas in the UK and I can't wait to take my first steps into the world of Troy."

Joining Socha is Top Boy star Michaela Coel, who plays an alien criminal.

Michael Smiley, Ashley Walters, Holli Dempsey and Trystan Gravelle will also star.

Fintan Ryan writes the series,...

E4 prepares to welcome Aliens and Tripped to its schedules, two newly commissioned sci-fi comedy dramas…

As we expanded upon here, there’s plenty for fans of UK sci-fi and fantasy TV to get excited about over the next year or so.

Freshly commissioned to join the likes of Jonathan Strange And Mr Norrell, Humans and more, are Tripped and Aliens, original sci-fi comedy dramas coming to E4.

Tripped began life as Alt, a parallel world comedy pilot written by Doctor Who and Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel’s Jamie Mathieson. In its first incarnation, Alt starred Craig Roberts and Gethin Anthony as the stoner and his mate who find themselves tripping between multiple parallel universe versions of their own lives and running from an assassin in the process. Now, the newly named Tripped features The Inbetweeners’ Blake Harrison and newcomer George Webster as Danny and Milo. Writing duties...

E4 has ordered two new comedy dramas, both with a sci-fi twist.

The Inbetweeners actor Blake Harrison will play lead character Danny in parallel universe series Tripped.

The four-part series will follow Danny and stoner friend Milo (George Webster) as they trip through alternate worlds, meeting different versions of themselves.

Tripped has been adapted from an E4 pilot titled Alt, written by Doctor Who's Jamie Mathieson.

Mathieson remains as co-creator and co-writer of episode one, while The Missing writing duo Harry and Jack Williams take over scripting duties for the remainder of the series.

Blake Harrison said: "I'm really excited to be working on Tripped. It's always frustrating when good actors make me look bad but on this show I get to have a lot of scenes with myself so I should look alright!

"Also they've let me have a sword so if anyone brings me a cold steak,...

We picked over the bones of In The Flesh series 2 with creator Dominic Mitchell, and found out his future plans for Roarton. Spoilers...

Interview

Warning: contains major spoilers for In The Flesh series one and two.

“Let’s stay away from labels. I don’t like labels.” In a sense, Dominic Mitchell’s In The Flesh has been fighting its labels from day one. It was a zombie drama but not really a zombie drama. It aired on the BBC Three, but it wasn’t one of the channel’s neon reality shows. It was created by a newcomer, but portrayed a world that was mature and bedded in. It was sold as a standalone mini-series but now looks as though it could run and run…

We chatted to In The Flesh’s creator, Dominic Mitchell, about labels, religion, sexuality, Morrissey posters, the ideas he couldn’t fit in to series two,...

In the Flesh, Season 2: Episode 4 – “Episode 4″

Written by Fintan Ryan

Directed by Damon Thomas

Airs Saturday nights at 10 on BBC America

If I’ve been missing some of the more character-driven moments of In the Flesh‘s first season during this plot-driven sophomore season, “Episode 4″ instills nothing but confidence and satisfaction. And while these weekly reviews are meant to follow the through-lines in a season of television, they’re also individual and episodic. So, the first and foremost thing that needs to be said of “Episode 4″ is that the dining room scene with the Walker family, Gary and Simon is simply brilliant. Putting aside some reservations about Gary’s character and his place in this season, the sequence is shot with an unusually high level of tension for In the Flesh, and the stories that both Gary and Kieren tell are brutally effective as a sort of capsule of...

In the Flesh, Season 2: Episode 3 – “Episode 3″

Written by Fintan Ryan & John Jackson

Directed by Damon Thomas

Airs Saturday nights at 10 on BBC America

Even more so than in either of the season’s first two episodes, “Episode 3″ allows In the Flesh to effectively utilize its extended episode order to tell a story that isn’t entirely necessary, yet it succeeds so much almost because it’s not necessary. Scattered among that thread, centered on the characters of Freddie and Haley, are continuations of the various plotlines developing this season. Some, of course, work better than others, but even if Freddie’s story isn’t what this episode is entirely interested in, it anchors the hour with emotional depth.

Roarton appears to be much larger than I had originally thought, and it’s still not quite clear how big it is, either in population or geographically. Among its inhabitants are...

Exclusive: John Stamos is in preliminary talks to star in the Fox comedy pilot Little Brother. I hear Stamos’ decision hinges largely on a rewrite, which is now being done by the project’s scribe, Everybody Loves Raymond alum Mike Royce. The project was originally ordered as an off-cycle pilot in September. It cast actor-comedian T.J. Miller (ABC’s Carpoolers) as one of the two leads in November but had been having difficulties finding the right actor for the other lead. The single-camera comedy, from 20th TV, 21 Laps/Adelstein Prods. and Hat Trick, is about a man, the role Stamos is eyed for, who finds out that he has a half-brother (Miller) he never knew about who also happens to be an ex-con. The project has a long history. It was originally written by British scribe Fintan Ryan and rolled by Fox for the past 2 seasons until Royce was brought...

Exclusive: Actor-comedian T.J. Miller (ABC’s Carpoolers) has landed the lead in Fox’s comedy pilot Little Brother, lifting the contingency on the project written by Mike Royce, which will now proceed with production. Little Brother, a multi-camera comedy from 20th TV, 21 Laps/Adelstein Prods. and Hat Trick, is about a man who finds out that he has a half-brother (Miller) he never knew about who also happens to be an ex-con. The project was originally written by British scribe Fintan Ryan and rolled by Fox for the past 2 seasons until Everybody Loves Raymond alum Royce was brought in in September to write a new script, which netted a cast-contingent pilot order. Royce is executive producing with Adelstein, Michael Thorn, Becky Clements and Jimmy Mulville, while Ryan is co-executive producing. Miller, whose feature credits include Cloverfield, Our Idiot Brother and Yogi Bear, recently released comedy hip-hop album The Extended Play E.

That was quick — a couple of weeks after he closed an overall deal with 20 Century Fox TV, former Everybody Loves Raymond executive producer Mike Royce has scored a pilot order for the studio. Fox is finalizing a cast-contingent pilot pickup for Little Brother, a multi-camera comedy from 20th TV, Adelstein Prods. and Hat Trick, about a man that finds out that he has a half-brother he never knew about, who also happens to be an ex-con. The project has a long development history. Originally written by British scribe Fintan Ryan, the comedy had been rolled by Fox for the past 2 seasons. (thus the company credit to the now defunct Adelstein Prods.; for the past 15 months, Marty Adelstein has been partnered with Shawn Levy in 21 Laps/Adelstein). Royce was recently brought in to do a rewrite, which netted the comedy a pilot order. Royce will executive produce with Adelstein, former Adelstein Prods.