“Well this is weird and there’s no way around that,” said Danny Baker when his BBC2 comedy Cradle to Grave, based on his autobiography Going to Sea in a Sieve, was first announced. “To see your life played out by actors is always going to be peculiar.” No more so when it’s dyed-in-the-wool Boltonian Peter Kay playing the role of your south London docker father. Yet here we are, with the first trailer of Cradle to Grave, and Kay’s accent sounds reassuringly authentic.
Authentic too is the sepia-tinged tone here. Cradle to Grave tells the story of 17-year-old Baker’s south London upbringing in 1974 and, by the look of this trailer, certainly passes the 70s smell test. Mauve and orange colour schemes? Check. Floppy hairdos? Check. Baba O’Riley on the soundtrack? Check, check, check.
Cradle to Grave airs 3 September, 9pm, BBC2
