The script was rewritten more than 65 times while the episode was being produced. That figure, disclosed by the team behind No Big Deal, corrects the idea that AI production means typing an instruction and waiting. The British sitcom, believed to be the world’s first written by a human and produced entirely using AI, is out now free on YouTube and can be watched here.
The pilot was written and created by Andrew Dickinson and produced by ModeLabs.ai, a UK AI studio. Dickinson, a former angel investor and investment manager, set the comedy in the world of venture capital, at an investment firm called Janus chasing the next billion-pound business idea, usually with disastrous results.
Why the production method changed
The project did not begin as an AI production. It began as a conventional television plan, and the economics ruled that out.
“I originally planned to make the pilot through traditional television production, but it quickly became clear that the process would be slow and prohibitively expensive. When I met the team at ModeLabs, I realised AI offered an entirely new way to bring the project to life.”
The change of route did not reduce the craft required, it moved it. Instead of a shoot, the team ran an iterative loop between writing and production.
“Making the Pilot wasn’t simply a case of pressing a button. Every shot, camera movement, performance, line reading, location and visual detail had to be carefully planned, refined and recreated through an iterative creative process between the writing and production teams. Even while we were making it, the script was rewritten more than 65 times.”
Skills that still had to come from people
Dickinson drew the storylines from his own career in investment, and wrote the music as well.
“I wrote No Big Deal during my time as an angel investor and investment manager. Every storyline began with a real incident that has been exaggerated and expanded for comic effect. I also wrote all of the original music used throughout the series, which was performed and recorded with the help of my good friend and outstanding musician Andy Pike.”
The comedy itself has a conventional character set: Derek Tudor, a brilliant but unpredictable investor who cannot keep his thoughts to himself; Lydia de Mabro, the firm’s de facto leader after its only successful investment earned her a board seat; John Stevens, a well-meaning but spectacularly underqualified founder who inherited the money to start the business; and Perry Kent, an investment banker treating Janus as a stepping stone to a US Green Card. The pitches include fart-proof underwear, clinical toilets and questionable items of sex furniture.
Dan Hawthorne of ModeLabs.ai said the technology is production tooling rather than the point of the show.
“No Big Deal is brilliantly written and genuinely funny. AI isn’t the punchline – it’s simply the production technology that made an ambitious independent comedy possible.
“We’re incredibly proud of what our team has achieved. Combining emerging AI technology with talented writers and filmmakers has opened up exciting new creative possibilities, and we’re grateful to Andrew for trusting us with his vision.”
No Big Deal episode one is free to watch on YouTube now, here.
The production team keeps channels on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X and Reddit.
