A new sitcom - set among IT workers in the dingy basement of a glamorous company - is due to arrive on the UK's Channel 4 next month. The IT Crowd, written by Graham Linehan (the scribe behind Father Ted, Black Books), will debut on the internet on 27 January, a week before its terrestrial broadcast on Friday, 3 February at 9.30pm.

Channel 4 describes the show's premise thus: "The high-rise towers of Renham Industries are full of go-getters, success stories, and winners... apart from in the basement. While their beautiful colleagues work upstairs in fantastic surroundings, the I.T. department - Jen, Roy and Moss - lurk below ground, scorned by their co-workers as geeky losers."

The six episode first series was filmed in front of a live studio audience and stars Chris O´Dowd, Richard Ayoade and Katherine Parkinson. Chris Morris, the well-known satirist, makes a rare acting appearance as the trio's dour Scottish boss, a character more akin to 70s corporate fantasist Reggie Perrin than The Office's David Brent, according to Linehan. The series is produced by Ash Atalla, whose previous credits include The Office. ®

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