Expectation and Happy Tramp North co-producing Meantime starring James McAvoy

Guilt producers Expectation and Happy Tramp North are reuniting to adapt Frankie Boyle’s novel Meantime into a six-part series for Sky.

James McAvoy will star in the darkly comic 6 x 60-minute crime thriller as Felix McAveety, an addict whose best friend is found murdered in a Glasgow park, and whom police suspect is the perpetrator.

In a fog of intoxication and paranoia, Felix sets out to clear his name, enlisting the help of an ageing former detective inspector-turned-crime novelist and a chaotic friend.

The trio’s haphazard quest for truth becomes an exhilarating and comical race through the murkier edges of contemporary Scotland, as events rapidly spiral out of control.

Boyle adapted his novel for the screen with Neil Webster, and the pair exec produce alongside McAvoy, director Jon S. Baird, Nerys Evans for Expectation, Alex Moody for Sky and Eric Coulter, with the latter also serving as producer.

McAvoy leads a cast that also includes Jamie Michie, Shauna MacDonald, Josette Simon, Janine Harouni, Christopher Eccleston, Mark Bonnar, Shirley Henderson and Benedict Wong.

The drama is the latest commission for Expectation, which this week has already secured unscripted orders about Charles Dickens for the BBC and a Cobra meeting simulation for Channel 4.

Meantime will launch next year on Sky and Now.