Lee Mack and Catherine Tate to star in remake of Everybody Loves Raymond

The BBC1 pilot, which is titled The Smiths and written by Lee Mack, will be filmed in front of a live audience later this month.

Emmy award winning Everybody Loves Raymond ran for nine seasons between 1996 and 2005 and starred Ray Ramano, Patricia Heaton, Brad Garrett, Doris Roberts and Peter Boyle. The show revolved around the life of Rayond Barone, a sportswriter from Lynbrook, New York. Raymond, his wife Debra and their children lived opposite his interfering and opinionated parents and older brother. Much of the comedy came from Raymond's inability to take anything seriously and penchant for making jokes in the most inappropriate of situations, much like Mack's alter-ego in his hit sitcom Not Going Out.

Mack's remake of the show will be set in Cheshire and stick fairly close to the original, following a successful sportswriter who lives opposite his overbearing family.

This won't be the first time Lee Mack and Catherine Tate have worked alongside each other. Tate, who is most well known for her BBC sketch show and a turn as a companion in Doctor Who, appeared with Mack in a live show at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1999.