Comic Hill moves to children's TV

Harry Hill started out on TV as a cult late-night favourite

Comedian Harry Hill is taking his zany and surreal brand of humour to a younger audience with a new children's show for ITV1.

Shark Infested Custard will be shown in an after-school slot.

Producers Avalon said it was the first time a mainstream comedian had created a programme specifically for children.

His show will feature celebrities in plaster, a boy who is half human, half speed camera and a tightrope-walking frog called Jacques Chirac.

Hill is also writing and illustrating a children's book, to be published next autumn.

'High-octane'

In less than a decade on TV, he has gone from cult late-night favourite to prime-time host and now children's entertainer.

He has reached a wide audience on ITV in recent years with Harry Hill's TV Burp and as the voice of You've Been Framed.

Avalon says Shark Infested Custard will include "kid-friendly" stand-up comedy and feature Hill's "high-octane, playful, mad-cap anarchy".

Avalon joint managing director Richard Allen-Turner said: "He has always attracted a dedicated following of younger fans to live tours and TV shows.

"As a parent himself, I know Harry is looking forward to the challenge of producing a series specifically for kids."