Daisy and Charlie Cooper pay tribute to their old pal in the final series of their BBC3's hit mockumentary...
This Country has won a BAFTA and built an army of followers since the mockumentary first arrived on our screens three years ago, but now it's time to say goodbye to Kerry and Kurtan Mucklowe.
The third and final series comes to BBC3 next week, but one person who sadly won’t feature is Michael Sleggs, after the actor who played ‘Slugs’ passed away last summer.
Yet the show's creators and stars, Daisy and Charlie Cooper have turned their friend’s tragic passing into a hilarious first episode, which serves as the perfect tribute to his memory.
"That was actually the last episode we wrote," explains Charlie. "We thought he might get better, so it was really tough when he passed. We found it hard separating ourselves from those characters, but in the show Slugs turns up and dumps some important information and then leaves, so we started to think of how we could get him to do that from beyond the grave. It was an upsetting scene to film."
As such, the opening tale of this six-part series sees Kerry taking a job at the local recycling centre, before falling out with Kurtan when Slugs’ farewell message discloses the truth about a dark chapter from their past.
"Michael always wanted to be involved in the series whether he was here or not," says Daisy. "I went to see his sister shortly after he’d died and she started off by saying he had a few death bed requests and one of them was to have his actual coffin with his body in it in the first episode.
"Mental! Me and his sister started off crying and we were on the floor pissing ourselves laughing and that’s exactly what we wanted to capture I suppose in that episode – how much of a pain in the arse he still is!’
Daisy and Charlie hope fans will enjoy their tribute to Michael and have also revealed why they decided to bring their hit show about life in the Cotswolds to an end.
"I think we’re ready for something new and also we’ve run out of ideas," says Daisy. "The point of the whole show is that nothing happens in the village, so we always knew there was a limit. We wanted to go out while we were on top and the quality was still high – but we’ll be back if we need more cash!"
The pair have hinted that they'd be open to the prospect of a movie if there was demand for one, but Daisy and Charlie have also mentioned the possibility of a cross-over with fellow BBC comedy show, People Just Do Nothing...
"We met them at the BAFTAs and they were the nicest, funniest blokes," explains Charlie. "If the opportunity came up we'd definitely be open to doing something..."
"Maybe Kerry and Kurtan could go to one of their raves," says Daisy. "Or they could come and play a gig in the Cotswolds. The vicar would love them!"
Over to you boys!
This Country will air weekly on BBC iPlayer from Monday 17th February.
