Teenage acting star Lenny Rush, who secured a Bafta award at age 14, is taking on a new comedic challenge as the lead in the upcoming BBC sitcom The Reluctant Vampire. Written in the 1980s by legendary comedian Eric Morecambe as a foray into children’s fiction, the series centers on a young boy born into a household of bloodsuckers who finds himself unable to embrace his vampiric heritage. His character, Val, lacks sharp fangs and has no taste for blood, eventually discovering he is not a vampire at all but a rogue human. According to i’d have felt awful if they, ‘We’ve written this for you’ and …” he trails off, pulling a face of exquisite pained courtesy. I really do get the feeling that The Reluctant Vampire is for everyone.”.
Although Rush is famously modest about the casting process, he admits the scripts were developed with him in mind. Executive producer Shane Allen, who previously oversaw Am I Being Unreasonable?, was a long-time admirer of the original books and sought to bring them to screen with the teen actor. The production team includes the writers behind Alan Partridge, known for their skill in extracting cringe-inducing humor from seemingly ordinary situations. The show blends this style with a rich tradition of surreal comedy involving inanimate objects, whispering bats, and sudden, invisible interjections. And it has the writing team behind Alan Partridge, so can conjure awkwardness out of thin air, rush likens the show to The Naked Gun and Airplane. According to but it also taps into a comic tradition that goes even further back: a delight in the ridiculous, people talking to bats and gargoyles, invisible women interjecting by surprise, a surrealism whose comedy comes from the audacity of acting it with such commitment. “In my opinion,”, Rush, “sometimes things are labelled as a family show but they’re aimed at kids.
The ensemble cast features Tom Davis, who plays Val’s father with exaggerated, energetic movements and a booming voice. Rush describes Davis’s performance as a major draw for a younger demographic, noting that despite the grand, slapstick nature of the character, the dialogue remains sharp and genuinely funny. The show also stars Sian Clifford as his mother and Asim Chaudhry as a Lurch-like figure, while newcomer Gabriel Nagy plays Val’s brother, a traditional, functioning vampire who serves as a direct foil to Rush’s character. It’s like watching the essence of British comic sensibility – slapstick shot through with genuine pathos, in the hands of Neil and Rob Gibbons. Ready to strike an elderly victim in her bed, only for Rush to derail it all by rushing in saying he needs a wee, the show opens with Davis in full vampire regalia.
Rush’s career trajectory has been steady since his debut at age seven in the CBeebies documentary series Our Family, followed by a role as Eli in Apple Tree House. His breakout success as Ollie in Am I Being Unreasonable? established him as a major talent, earning him a Bafta for best male performance in a comedy and a subsequent nomination in the same category this year. Reflecting on his growth, Rush credits his comedic timing to an early interest in classic British comedy, having watched programs like Mr Bean and Monty Python, and a fascination with the UK version of The Office. Still only 17, Rush has been a fixture on TV for many years, starting aged seven in CBeebies documentary series Our Family. Then, aged eight in Apple Tree House on CBeebies he played Eli, a young rascal on an estate of well-intentioned young rascals.
Regarding his own physical stature and the condition spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, Rush notes that the show incorporates these traits into the plot, with Val’s parents questioning his development and height. However, he maintains that his goal has never been to use his condition as a primary narrative point. Instead, he views the show’s unvampiric premise as a broader metaphor for the universal teenage struggle of trying to belong, fit in, and navigate school while failing to meet expectations.
Following his work on Doctor Who, where he appeared in two episodes as a 13-year-old genius, Rush is looking ahead to a role as Dobby in the upcoming Harry Potter series. He remains tight-lipped about the project, avoiding comment on the public controversies surrounding it. Despite his busy filming schedule during his school years, he insists that his acting work was balanced with his education, largely due to his mother’s firm focus on his attendance.
The Reluctant Vampire is set to premiere on BBC One on Sunday, 4 October, at 6:40 pm. For Rush, the experience of working with such a talented ensemble provided him with a chance to learn from his co-stars while cementing his own identity as a professional actor. He believes the final result is a family-oriented show that resonates with viewers of all ages, skillfully balancing surreal antics with relatable emotional truths.
