Emmerdale actor Reece Dinsdale is to star in a radio comedy recorded over Zoom.
Dinsdale, who currently plays Paul Ashdale in Emmerdale, stars as himself in 'Umbreen's Junction'.
The comedy, which will be broadcast on BBC Radio Leeds next week, was written by Radio Leeds presenters Nick Ahad and Yasmeen Khan.
Khan also stars as Umbreen, a mouthy but complex teenage acting hopeful who consults Dinsdale for career advice.
You may remember Dinsdale, who's also a top screen director, as the ill-fated Coronation Street character Joe McIntyre, who appeared on the ITV soap between 2008 and 2010.
Dinsdale told Radio Today: "What a complete joy to be asked to participate in this project.
"Knowing Nick Ahad and his brilliant writing already, I didn’t need asking twice. The bonus was working with his co-writer and my fellow performer, the uproariously funny Yasmeen Khan. With the wonderful Mez Galaria also involved, I was more than happy to play fourth fiddle to their inestimable talents."
Ahad said: "Yasmeen used to make me laugh when she’d phone me in character as Umbreen. The first plan was to have Umbreen make a phone appearance on my BBC Radio Leeds show, but the idea quickly grew to co-write a radio comedy; once Reece Dinsdale agreed to play himself we knew we were on to a winner.
"The whole thing was a technical challenge, having been written and recorded on Zoom, but it was great to work together on a funny and timely project."
Khan said: "I wanted to create my own version of a ‘mouthy’, funny, layered teenage character. Umbreen is fast-talking, seemingly not the sharpest but is deceptively smart.
"Writing her in a longer form has allowed us to take a sketch character and discover who she really is; it’s rare to hear stories about young Asian women, but this isn’t an ‘issues’ based story, it’s about a teenager tackling something at a pivotal time in her life."
Listen to Umbreen's Junction on BBC Radio Leeds each day next week from Tuesday to Friday (12.30pm).
