Greg Davies returns for a one-off festive special of The Cleaner

Greg Davies is back as the UK’s favourite crime scene cleaner, Paul ‘Wicky’ Wickstead in a brand-new, one-off special of The Cleaner In Italy (w/t), which will air on BBC iPlayer and BBC One over the festive period.

Written by and starring Davies (Taskmaster, The Inbetweeners) and produced by SHUK, the hit comedy once again follows Wicky’s misadventures as a state-certified cleaning technician whose unusual day job involves scrubbing away the grisliest remnants of crime scenes.

Additional cast joining the special include Robert Webb (Peep Show, That Mitchell and Webb Look), Peter Serafinowicz (Guardians of the Galaxy, Amandaland), Kevin Eldon (Hot Fuzz, Four Lions), Tori Allen-Martin (Here We Go), Veronica Ferres (Call My Agent Berlin), Zita Sattar (Holby City), Milanka Brooks (Black Mirror) and Dylan Blore (Shetland).

In the show's first ever hour-long special, which began filming this week, Wicky reluctantly joins his girlfriend Ruth (Zita Sattar) and her friends Andrew and Andrea (Robert Webb and Tori Allen-Martin) on a hiking holiday in the Italian Dolomites. When an accident occurs, he's forced to spend the rest of the trip at a remote mountain hotel while Ruth heads off to enjoy the great outdoors. Surrounded by an eccentric hotel manager (Peter Serafinowicz), an array of peculiar guests, and a cast of increasingly suspicious staff, Wicky's boredom soon turns to paranoia...

Series one of The Cleaner launched to 5.4 million viewers, making it the second biggest new BBC Comedy series in 2021. All three series of The Cleaner were in the top five most viewed scripted comedies in the UK across the market in their respective years (2021, 2023 and 2024).*

Greg Davies, writer and star of The Cleaner In Italy (w/t), says: “I think Wicky has got to the stage in life where he only likes three things: his job, going to the pub and beer. To get the opportunity to force him to go to Italy on a hiking holiday is the perfect opportunity to test his breaking point. I can’t wait to show everyone how horribly wrong a holiday can go…”

Vivien Muller-Rommel, executive producer, says: “We’re absolutely delighted to be back with Greg, our brilliant guest cast and our fantastic crew for this very special episode of The Cleaner. There’s a real excitement about this one, and everyone involved is determined to make it our funniest adventure yet. We can’t wait for audiences to see it.”

Ben Caudell, commissioning editor for the BBC, says: "As filming begins on this new The Cleaner special, it’s a pleasure to see Greg Davies return to one of his most memorable creations. Wicky has become a standout character in British comedy, and Greg’s ability to place him in extraordinary situations is always a delight. This one-off episode brings together a terrific cast and an inventive new setting, and we’re very much looking forward to sharing it with viewers over the festive period."

You can watch all three series of The Cleaner on BBC iPlayer now.

The Cleaner In Italy (w/t) (1x60') is produced by SHUK for BBC iPlayer and BBC One. The show was commissioned by Jon Petrie, Director of Comedy for the BBC**. The executive producer is Vivien Muller-Rommel and the producer is Gareth Edwards. The director is Tom Marshall and the casting director is Tracey Gillham. The commissioning editor for the BBC is Ben Caudell. BBC Studios is handling global sales, excluding German-language markets. The Cleaner series 1–3 are available on BBC iPlayer, and on BritBox International in Australia, North America and The Nordics.

The Cleaner is based on the multi award-winning, long-running German comedy series Der Tatortreiniger (Crime Scene Cleaner), created by Ingrid Lausund.

• Watch The Cleaner on BBC iPlayer

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Notes

*All data excludes Christmas specials and the data for series 1 is BBC 30-day all-screens, as it aired in 2021 (before we had the new Barb data). Series 2, Series 3 and the Christmas special are Barb 28-day 4-screens.

**Commissioned prior to Jon Petrie, the outgoing BBC Director of Comedy, confirming his upcoming position at Hat Trick Productions.

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