FEATURING a stellar cast and plenty of Isle of Wight references, The Cockfields airs on TV tonight.

Set on the Island, the series will be shown on Gold tonight, tomorrow and Thursday at 10pm.

The Cockfields stars Joe Wilkinson (8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown), Diane Morgan (Motherland) and Sue Johnston (The Royle Family), together with Bobby Ball and Nigel Havers.

The County Press caught up with comic Joe to find out — why the Isle of Wight?

"We had connections with the Island so we chose to set it here. I've been to the Island a lot as my wife, Petra Exton, is from Ventnor.

"My writing partner David Earl's family is from Totland, so we filmed a lot at Totland Bay and along the Military Road.

"The show was filmed in two locations, on the Island and in Guildford."

While they were here, they were lucky with the weather, which made it easy to capture the Island at its best.

How did they attract so many top names for the show?

Joe said: "We got very lucky with the cast. We targeted a list of people we would love and amazingly they all said yes."

Joe revealed that he cheekily named his character, Simon Cockfield, after his best friend growing up.

"At first it was a little joke when I first wrote it, but now I know he will absolutely get me back one day.

"I might have made his name famous and I think he will kill me."

Joe revealed that the County Press has made the show on more than one occasion, with Bobby Ball reading the paper in one close up, and a rolled-up copy is used to chase a bird in another scene.

Joe has started planning the second series and is waiting to find out if it will be commissioned for a further run.