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Brian Blessed is to star as Henry VIII in a series of sketches called Henry 8.0, from Monkey, for Â鶹Éç Comedy's on-line platform Comedy Extra.

Set in the present day, Henry is alive and well and living in a suburban semi with his long-suffering wife, Catherine Parr. Shot from the perspective of his webcam, the sketches show Henry addicted to the internet and have him do battle with on-line shopping, downloading music as well as internet dating.

Brian Blessed said: "When I got the scripts I just wanted to do it immediately. It's completely magical and original."

Written by Mark Davison and Glen Long, Henry 8.0 starts on-line on Thursday 26 November.

The show was commissioned by Â鶹Éç executives Simon Lupton and Martin Trickey and David Granger was executive producer for Monkey.

Simon Lupton said: "We thought this was a terrific idea which was very sharply written and well observed. There really was only one person who could play Henry and, fortunately, he shared our enthusiasm and agreed to do it. Monkey have done a great job and we are thrilled to have Brian and these pieces on Comedy Extra."

KT