They F**k You Up: Peter Capaldi to Direct Dramedy Pilot for Sky

Doctor Who actor Peter Capaldi has signed on to helm Sky Studios’ forthcoming comedy drama pilot titled They F**k You Up. Production is expected to start early next year, according to Deadline.

They F**k You Up is based on Sarah Naish’s memoir But He Looks So Normal: A Bad-Tempered Parenting Guide for Adopters and Foster Parents. The adaptation is being written by Thomas Eccleshare.

The story centers around a mother who adopts five children. The project is being described as a “funny, honest and caustic” look at parenting. It is a production by Tod Productions and Sky Studios, with Katie Churchill set as a producer. Executive producers are Elaine Collins and Anil Gupta.

“She’s sort of like the best mother in the world and the worst mother in the world,” Eccleshare said about the main character. “She will leave her kids on the side of the motorway to make their own way home but also fully support them through their quite extreme difficulties.”

Capaldi is best known for his portrayal as the twelfth version of the titular time lord in Doctor Who. In 1995 he won an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for his feature directorial debut Franz Kafka’s It’s a Wonderful Life, which he also wrote.