The BBC2 has signed up actors Indira Varma and Preeya Kalidas for a new series based on the fast-paced 24-hour news channels.

The satirical comedy, titled Broken News, is part of its Autumn schedule and looks at the world of rolling news where the ceaseless quest for the latest breaking story is out of control.

There's too much airtime and not enough news to go around, says its creator, writer and director John Morton. "In Broken News, the frenetic world of news isn't about news anymore. It's about predictions, speculations, recap, taking a look at tomorrow's papers or yesterday's papers, possibly even last Thursday's papers."

"The six-part comedy series reflects how we've all become news addicts in this multi-media age," continues Morton.

Both actors play the part of presenters. Indira Varma is Melanie Bellamy, presenting a section called The Standing News where the most newsworthy feature is the fact that she's standing up.

'Exactly how many routes round a news set can there be? Find out by watching The Standing News on ESN, standing up for news,' the publicity states.

Varma is also starring this Autumn in BBC2's epic series Rome, already the corporation's most expensive venture yet. It tells, in 12 parts, the story of the assassination of Julius Caesar and the gradual establishment of a Roman dictatorship, and goes out on BBC2 in November.


Preeya Kalidas plays news anchor Anita Ratchathani - the world's fastest newsreader within the series. She works at the '15 Second News' station.

A typical bulletin reads: "I'm Anita Ratchathani and this is 15 Seconds. The headlines this hour. At home. A car, that's right a car, gets stuck up a tree in Basildon. In international news. Israel threatens. And sport. Two new world records. That's it for now. More later."

Kalidas was most recently seen playing Maya in the BBC Three series Bodies.