Hi-de-Hi! actor Jeffrey Holland films pilot for new sitcom Simply Ken

'Hi-de-Hi!' star Jeffrey Holland has filmed a pilot for a brand new sitcom.

The 76-year-old actor – who played holiday rep Spike in Jimmy Perry and David Croft's popular BBC One comedy series throughout the ‘80s – has shot a teaser episode for a show called 'Simply Ken', which has been written by former 'Shameless' and 'Outlaws' star Craig Shepherd and Alan Marni.

The premise of 'Simply Ken' sees Craig play main character Ken Codd, a divorced man in his 50s who is having a mid-life crisis, and Jeffrey will play his long-suffering dad.

'You Rang, M'Lord?' star Jeffrey believes the scripts and characters are wonderfully funny and that 'Simply Ken' - which also stars 'On The Up' actress Judy Buxton - has the potential to be as good as the shows that made him famous decades ago.

Speaking to Best of British magazine, Jeffrey said: “It's about a man called Ken Codd who is just about to turn 50 and he's in the middle of a mid-life crisis. "He's lost his wife and his home, he's lost his job, he can't get on with his daughter, he thinks she's a twit. I think it's got a future; it's got great potential.

"Fingers crossed that it's going to take off and someone's going to pick it up and commission a series.”

Jeffrey and Craig met through their shared love of Laurel and Hardy, a subject both men have one-man plays about.

Talking about the inspiration behind his stage show 'And This Is My Friend Mr Laurel', which is about the life of Stan Laurel, Jeffrey said: “The story of Stan Laurel's life is quite extraordinary. They see this scruffy little man on the screen and have a good laugh but they don't know the half of it. He was the brains behind the whole act. He worked with the writers of the storylines, he wrote all the scripts, he virtually directed all the films himself.

"They let him get on with it because he made their lives easier and, at the end of the day, Oliver Hardy used to go off and play golf and Stan went back to the cutting room floor and worked with the editors and put the film together. If he hadn't done all that, they wouldn't have bee the success that they were. People don't know all that but I thought that it would be a fascinating story to tell, so here I am telling it.”