MUMBAI: Fremantle International Distribution (FID) will be distributing the brand new talkbackTHAMES sitcom, The IT Crowd, worldwide.

The IT Crowd, which premieres with a double bill on the UK's Channel 4 today , is the latest highly-anticipated comedy offering from talkbackTHAMES producer, Ash Atalla.

Written and directed by Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd is about an IT department - Roy (Chris O'Dowd), Jen (Katherine Parkinson) and Moss (Richard Ayoade) - who work in the basement of Reynholm Industries while their beautiful colleagues work upstairs in fantastic surroundings. Filmed in front of a live studio audience, The IT Crowd is a surreal look at the underclass of a company.

FID will launch the hot new comedy at MIPTV 06 in Cannes in April, where it will feature within an exciting slate of programming.

Fremantle International Distribution head of acquisitions and development Shane Murphy said, "FID has a tremendous heritage in comedy and The IT Crowd is the beginning of a renewed focus on quality comedy programming. We are delighted to be working with talkbackTHAMES, along with some of the UK's most exciting comedy talent."

FID is also distributing another of Ash Atalla's creations, Man Stroke Woman, which launched on the UK's BBC3 in November 2005. The series, which aired throughout November and December, achieved market shares up to 73 per cent above the channel's average for the timeslot, and up to 114 per cent above the primetime average for viewers aged 16 to 34.

The show is now set to make the move to terrestrial, and will settle into its new home on BBC2 at the end of February.