Rob Brydon is returning to sitcoms for the first time since Gavin & Stacey, and his new BBC comedy Bill’s Included is just around the corner. The six-part series will premiere on Friday 20 November 2026 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, following a newly divorced landlord who decides that renting his spare rooms to university students might be the answer to his problems. Unfortunately for Bill, living with four students turns out to be quite a bit more complicated than he’d imagined.

Written by comedy duo Ben Ashenden and Alexander Owen, and produced by Steve Coogan’s production company Baby Cow, the series stars Brydon as Bill Beam, a well-meaning but rather overenthusiastic man who finds himself living alone after his wife leaves him for their gardener. When a fire at the local university halls creates a student housing shortage, Bill decides to rent out his spare bedrooms, hoping to earn some extra money and find a bit of company along the way.

However, Bill isn’t interested in being an ordinary landlord. He wants to be friends with his new tenants, even referring to himself as their “land friend”, whether they like it or not. As the five attempt to adjust to living together, the series will explore their unlikely friendships, generational differences and the difficulties of sharing a home with people who have very different ideas about how things should be done.

Meet the Cast and Characters of Bill’s Included

Alongside Brydon, the comedy introduces four university students, each with their own personalities and problems, who suddenly find themselves sharing a house with a man old enough to be their dad.

Dylan Brady plays Christian, a privileged, image-conscious student who is less than thrilled about his new living arrangements. He’s desperate to be liked but doesn’t always make it easy for people, and he’s especially unimpressed by Bill’s attempts to become part of the group.

Ada Player stars as Hettie, an endlessly positive student who loves everyone, whether they love her back or not. She’s enthusiastic, a little oblivious and determined to keep everyone happy, although her own relationship isn’t going quite as well as she’d like to believe.

Harry Baxendale plays James, a sweet-natured and slightly naive fresher who always tries to see the good in people. He’s keen to make friends and avoid upsetting anyone, although his rather unusual hobby of brewing mead might not go down too well with the other housemates.

Yasmin Al-Khudhairi takes on the role of Zahra, a serious medical student who would much rather concentrate on her degree than get involved in university drama. Unfortunately, she’s ended up living with three students and a landlord whose enthusiasm she finds exhausting. Describing how Zahra sees Bill, Al-Khudhairi joked that he’s “a cross between a children’s TV presenter, a golden retriever, and a sad clown.”

The supporting cast also includes Samantha Spiro as Bill’s next-door neighbour Siobhan. The pair have a close friendship, with the possibility of romance too. Nigel Lindsay plays fellow neighbour Martin, while Kevin Eldon stars as local record shop owner Drew.

Rob Brydon on His First Sitcom Since Gavin & Stacey

Speaking ahead of the show’s premiere, Brydon revealed that he’d been keen to return to sitcom acting after spending recent years presenting programmes including Would I Lie to You?, Destination X and The Floor. “I haven’t done a sitcom since Gavin & Stacey,” he explained, revealing that the project had been in development with Baby Cow for around four or five years.

Brydon also admitted that Bill shares some of his own personality traits, although they’ve been exaggerated for comedy. Like his character, he can sometimes be a people pleaser, and Bill’s determination to make everyone like him is a big part of the show’s humour.

Despite their differences, the students will gradually develop their own relationships with Bill, who finds himself learning just as much from his younger housemates as they do from him. The actor hopes viewers will enjoy spending time with the characters, much as audiences have done with his previous comedy work.

The series consists of six 30-minute episodes and is directed by Dave Lambert, with Brydon, Steve Coogan, Ben Ashenden and Alexander Owen among its executive producers.

For CultureCues, we’re looking forward to seeing Rob Brydon back in a sitcom, especially after loving him as Uncle Bryn in Gavin & Stacey over the years. We’re huge fans of the show, and let’s face it, he’ll probably always be Uncle Bryn to us! But we’re excited to see him in something new, especially as we could do with more good sitcoms on our screens. The whole idea of Bill sharing his home with four university students sounds like a good laugh, and we’re interested to see how the different generations get along and what they learn from each other. We love the sound of it, so we’re hoping Bill’s Included will be another comedy to add to our favourites.

Bill’s Included premieres Friday 20 November 2026 at 9.30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

More From CultureCues

Off Campus Season 2: When Is It Out and What Can Fans Expect?

BBC Announces The Other Elliot Sister, New Jane Austen Drama Following The Other Bennet Sister

Nobody Wants This Season 4: Netflix Officially Renews Hit Romantic Comedy