Next Tuesday at 9pm BBC3 will be showing a one-off special of Phoo Action, a comedy-drama based on characters and ideas from Jamie Hewlett and Mat Wakeham’s Get The Freebies, a comic printed in The Face during the mid 90s.

The year is 2012 and London is in the grip of mutant criminals. Only Terry Phoo and Whitey Action can save the nation, uniting to create chaos and comedy, mischief and mayhem to become heroes for a future generation. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the wonderfully warped world of Phoo Action.

Full BBC press release and interview with various members of the production crew. Somehow a trailer has made it onto YouTube:

It looks pretty interesting and seems to capture one of the few things I like about The Mighty Boosh - the deranged lunacy of a kids show gone off the rails. This seems to complement Hewlett’s trademark style, although it’s a shame that this wasn’t animated as it’d look awesome if treated similarly to Dead Leaves. That said, the production team seem fairly impressive (including the talented Euros Lyn, director of one of my favourite Doctor Who episodes) and it stars Carl Weathers and Ray Winstone’s daughter, so I’m really looking forward to this. The BBC have hinted that it could be developed into a series if this special/pilot receives a warm reception, so fingers crossed!

For those unfamiliar with the source matter (as I am), here’s some scans of the first “issue”: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. More rarely-seen Jamie Hewlett artwork can be found amongst the broken links on this thread at The Drawing Board.