“The brand-new murder mystery drama series, which is entitled Murder Before Evensong as Richard’s namesake novel, will feature Harry Potter alum Matthew Lewis.”, — write: www.dailymail.co.uk
The writer, 62, will see his project in the works soon as Channel 5 and AMC Networks’ Acorn TV have announced the news.
The brand-new murder mystery drama series, which is entitled Murder Before Evensong as Richard’s namesake novel, will feature Harry Potter alum Matthew Lewis.
The actor is well-known for his role in the epic saga as Neville Longbottom in the series, and will star as Canon Daniel Clement for his new role.
The six-part series sets the bar high with Fool Me Once’s director David Moore behind it, while Rev Richard and Radford Neville are executive producers for The Lighthouse, alongside Catherine Mackin and Don Klees for Acorn TV.
The plot follows Daniel, who lives with his widowed and opinionated mother, Audrey, whom he shares with two dachshunds, Cosmo and Hilda.
But when he announces a plan to install a lavatory in the church, the parish is quickly divided and is not long after Anthony Bowness – cousin to Bernard de Floures, patron of Champton – is found dead at the back of the church.
I’m A Celeb sensation Richard said: ‘I am beyond excited that Canon Clement and his flock are to be turned into television by the brilliant team at The Lighthouse.
‘I’m already planning my cameo appearance. Look out for a sinister archdeacon on a sit up and beg bicycle!’
Meanwhile Harry Potter favourite, 35, added: ‘I’m beyond thrilled to be throwing on the old dog collar and diving into the world of Champton so charmingly created by Rev. Richard Coles.
‘I’ve been an admirer of his work for some time and love the characters and stories he’s written.
‘It’s an honour to work with this creative team and have the opportunity to bring the character of Canon Clement to life for fans of the book and new viewers alike.’
Paul Testar, Commissioning Editor, Drama, and also Executive Producer, said thrilled: ‘We cannot wait to bring Murder Before Evensong to life, blending intrigue and wit with a truly unique central character.
‘Matthew Lewis is the perfect choice to lead this adaptation of the Reverend Richard Coles’ beloved novel, and with The Lighthouse team behind this series it will offer a fresh take on the murder mystery genre while celebrating the charm and secrets of village life.’
It comes after the author paid a tribute to his late husband David Oldham as he marked his birthday with an emotional post last week.
The reality star took to Twitter as he shared a candid snap of David, who was also a priest, surrounded by his dogs while knitting with a grey face mask on.
He penned: ‘David’s birthday today. He would have been forty eight. RIP.’
David sadly passed away after battle with alcoholism in 2019 aged just 42 and during his time in the jungle the star admitted he left a ‘massive hole in his life’.
Opening up about his grief with Oti Mabuse, Richard admitted: ‘I miss him. And I want him to walk in the door.
‘I had a dream he walked in the door and he was just carrying a Co-op bag, just like he’d been shopping and I said to him “I thought you were dead” and he said “No I was just out shopping”.
‘I said “It’s nice to see you, thanks for coming back” to which he said “Oh I’m not staying, I met somebody else”,’ Richard added, to which he and Oti began to laugh.
‘But he’s just a massive hole in my life and I’m living my life around that loss and I’ve met Dickie now, and that’s great.
‘So we’re in a relationship now together but I just miss David very much.’
Richard and David met back in 2007 and entered a civil partnership three years later in 2010.
Revealing how they met during I’m A Celeb he explained that David had heard him preach a sermon before ‘picking him up’ after Church.
He added that he hadn’t even realised he was romantically interested in him until he received a special text from him.
Richard said: ‘I came to preach a sermon in his church and he sort of picked me up afterwards!’
Elaborating, he said of David: ‘He heard me preach and afterwards he said that he was thinking about getting ordained and could he come and talk to me about it. So he came round one Sunday for lunch and it was all very proper and professional’.
He then explained how they talked and talked but Richard had to dash off to church, so David asked if he could come and talk to Richard again.
As Richard agreed they’d sort something in a month or six weeks, he got to church and his phone pinged, and it was a text from David saying: ‘Don’t you get it?’.
Richard then joked that that was when the penny dropped.
The star previously said David was ‘probably’ already an alcoholic, but neither of them was aware.
Speaking to BBC Radio Northampton, Richard said David had ‘always had an enthusiastic fondness for alcohol’.
He said: ‘An enthusiastic fondness for alcohol when you’re 20 or 25 is one thing, when you’re 35 or 40 it’s another thing and his drinking just got out of control’.
He explained that David used ‘an anaesthetic for when life was tough and then it just kind of rampaged.
‘People used to talk about the ‘demon drink’ which sounds like a rather melodramatic way to describe it… But it is like someone is seized by a demon and when David was at his worst he was really difficult and it was very tough.’
Richard is now dating actor Dickie, 60, who is the son of Brian Cant, who presented children’s TV shows such as Playschool and Dappledown Farm in the 60s and 70s.
They met on the dating site Elite Singles and the pair hit it off straight away, with Coles suggesting that marriage could soon be on the cards, telling The Times he could ‘imagine it heading that way’.
The actor, from Kent, has starred in Mary Queen of Scots, Stan & Ollie and Doctor Who.
But the decision to date again after David’s death was a very difficult one, and it took him three years to even consider it.