Rev sitcom starts filming third series

Hollander (left) will be joined by Dexter Fletcher (top right) and Kayvan Novak in the new series

Filming has begun on the third series of Rev, the BBC Two sitcom about the mishaps of an inner-city vicar.

Tom Hollander returns as Reverend Adam Smallbone, who will be seen facing up to the pressures of parenthood with his wife Alex (Olivia Colman).

Actor and director Dexter Fletcher and Fonejacker star Kayvan Novak will join the cast as an award-winning modern artist and local Imam respectively.

Six new episodes of Rev will be made for broadcast next spring.

Simon McBurney and Miles Jupp are among other regulars who will be back for the new series.

So will Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville, reprising his role as Adam's arch rival Roland Wise.

Created by Hollander and James Wood, Rev was crowned best situation comedy at the 2011 Baftas.

Series two was screened in 2012 but producers had to delay filming another series because of the blossoming careers of its stars Hollander and Colman.

It was confirmed last year that an American version of the show, to be set in a deprived neighbourhood of Chicago, was in development.