What if Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins from The Great British Bake Off were secret assassins? Okay, so not in real life, but that's the premise of Sky One series Hitman , which launches on Peacock on August 6. The show stars former GBBO hosts Mel and Sue as Jamie and Fran respectively, who play the hapless killers of the same name. It's great to see this dynamic duo on screen again and hopefully there will be a second season of Hitman .
Although "The Killing" premiered in the UK in March, there has been no news of any renewal. The show didn't get very good reviews in the U.S., where it seemed to fare about the same, with critics wishing it was a little funnier. Despite the lackluster reception, it's nice to see Mel and Sue together again - even if they're no longer making some baking-based innuendos on GBBO .
GBBO is not the first time Perkins and Giedroyc have collaborated - according to a 1999 article in The Independent , the two women met in Cambridge in 1988. Perkins recalled meeting her future comedy partner at a club on Giedroyc's birthday. The comedian said: "She had a totally different look on her face: there was vomit around her mouth, she was doing a really bad house dance early on, she was waving her arms and knocking everyone over." "She called me Barbara, Sheila , Debbie, but don’t know who I am.”
However, Giedroyc's memory is a little different, describing Perkins as "a crazy six-stone elf character" who "came out of nowhere" during a comedy act. Perkins "jumped on the stage...she looked like a frightened rooster and had cockscomb hair. She had three cigarettes with her and obviously no material. She just grabbed the microphone and rambled for 15 minutes. ’ and I walked up to her and said something really cheesy like, ‘Hi Sue, welcome to comedy. '"
After university, the pair began writing comedy together, eventually hosting a number of TV shows as a duo - the Channel 4 talk show Light Lunch in the 90s, and their eponymous ITV series Mel & Sue , the show was canceled after one season in 2015. And of course, there's GBBO , who left in 2016.
Surprisingly, Killers is the first sitcom to have a female co-star, The Sun reported. Perkins told BT.com that their characters were best friends, which was one of the things that drew them to the show. “We’ve been able to incorporate our well-worn techniques into sitcoms,” she said. "Because Mel and I have been friends for 30 years, it felt like an easy lateral transition into these roles."
While their chemistry may radiate on screen, there's no guarantee that "The Hitman" will be renewed. Both stars have a lot on their plate, which could impact future filming schedules. Giedroyc will present Good with Wood , a new woodworking competition show for Channel 4 (no broadcast date has been confirmed as of July 20, according to the Radio Times). She even launched the podcast " Mel Giedroyc I 's Quilting " this past February.
Meanwhile, Perkins also has her own podcast and is set to host a Netflix travel series, tentatively titled Perfectly Legal . According to Deadline , they began filming in March of this year, but there's no word yet on when it will be released.
One thing's for sure, though: Mel and Sue's friendship isn't going away. In 1999, Giedroyc told The Independent : "We'll be in touch 50 years from now. I'd love to see us like old discarded hams, talking about the old days in a dying ham home. I'll There might have been an orange wig and Sue would be pushing me around on the bath chair and I can’t imagine life without her, we’ll always be good friends.”
