Shhhhhh!: comedy or tragedy?

News International's much anticipated freesheet thelondonpaper launched last night. I admit it was an impressive debut; its 'Love' section recounting readers' "dates from hell" and the love columnist with advice for those "back on the market" was especially enticing. However the scoop which will surely secure thelondonpaper's lead in the battle of the freesheets is the revelation that Scottish comedy genius Armando Iannucci has produced a new library based sitcom with Father Ted writer Arthur Mathews called 'Shhhhh!'. An original title for what Mathews describes as a ‘a stupid narrative comedy set in a municipal library’. One can only hope that the show shatters the negative stereotypes us information professionals regularly suffer but I suspect there will be at least one hilarious character with a tight bun and a mothballed cardie. The sitcom will star Morwenna Banks, Rebecca Front, and Simon Greenhall, who played Geordie Michael in I'm Alan Partridge and the pilot is being taped this month.