In 2024, me and a bunch of comedians decided to make a comedy pilot ourselves. No broadcaster, no commissioning editor, no industry backing, and absolutely no guarantee that anyone would ever watch it. This is the story of how and why we did it. The Happiness Chain is an independent comedy pilot about Hannah (Kathy Maniura), whose life is falling apart, and Alex (a hopeless idiot, also coincidentally played by me), who decides to help her by attempting everything that anyone, anywhere, has ever done in the pursuit of happiness. It also stars Huge Davies, Rosalie Minnitt, Phil Ellis, Donna Preston and Boo Miller, and was directed by Ben Kent. In this three-part behind-the-scenes series, I’m talking to the cast and director about how we wrote, funded, cast, filmed and edited the pilot ourselves — and what happens when you decide to make the thing you want to make rather than waiting for someone to give you permission. This is Episode 1, in which I explore how the pilot grew out of a lost year spent interviewing a guy in a public toilet about the robot he’d built, despite having absolutely no idea why I was doing it. If you enjoy it, please like, subscribe, leave a comment or share it with someone who might be interested. It genuinely helps independent projects like this find an audience!