TV

Sky1 tried to 'nick' 'Gavin & Stacey', 'The Inbetweeners'

Published Sunday, Aug 28 2011, 14:32 BST | By Alex Fletcher | 28 comments

Sky1's controller Stuart Murphy has admitted that he tried poaching Gavin & Stacey and The Inbetweeners from the BBC and Channel 4.

Murphy revealed at the Edinburgh TV Festival that he actually made an offer to Henry Normal, head of Gavin & Stacey producers Baby Cow, to try lure them into leaving the BBC.

Baby Cow were offered two series and a film as part of the deal, he said.

"They wanted to stay at the BBC and finish at the BBC and I respect them for that," he said.

Gavin & Stacey stars Ruth Jones and James Corden have both ended up working on new Sky 1 shows instead. Jones has written sitcom Stella, which will air in 2012, while Corden is working on a fourth and fifth series of panel show A League Of Their Own.

Murphy added that he "tried to nick" The Inbetweeners following its huge success on E4 and said that he was still keen to work with the cast and writers of the show in the future.

> Stuart Murphy: Meet The Controller - Live Blog