HE has worked with the likes of Steve Coogan and Ian McKellen and his latest show for the BBC stars Stephen Merchant.

But TV writer Joe Tucker, who grew up in Knutsford Road, always puts his ideas through the ‘Warrington test’ before he pitches them to commissioners.

He told Weekend: “I don’t know if this is true but I remember hearing that record producer Pete Waterman once said: ‘If they dance to it in Warrington, it’ll be a hit in Britain’. So I always think when I’m writing something: ‘What would my family in Warrington think of this?’

“When you’re pitching stuff to commissioners, you start thinking about what the channel wants and it’s easy to lose a sense that it’s ultimately for an audience. So my little thing is thinking what would my family make of this? Would they think it’s just nonsense or would they be into this?”

The latest show to pass the test is Click and Collect, starring Stephen Merchant and Asim Chaudhry.

Taking the coveted 9pm slot on BBC One on Christmas Eve, it is about two mismatched neighbours driving across the country to pick up the toy that will make a little girl’s Christmas dreams come true.

Joe, who created the script with his writing partner Lloyd Woolf, added: “It’s quite unusual that a one-off thing like this would get that kind of a slot so I’m excited but also slightly terrified.

“We wrote a show called Witless (about two friends in witness protection) and we kind of toyed with the idea of doing a Christmas special. It didn’t quite work for it, so we came up with this. It has a similar dynamic because it’s basically another odd couple.

“We’re fans of Stephen and Asim’s shows and they’re not just performers but writers as well so that was a daunting thing when we were showing them the script and wondering what they’d make of it.

“We’ve written it over the course of the year and then they began shooting it in November and they’re just finishing it now.

“It’s quite scary because it will be finished with literally days to go. It had to be filmed in winter so it doesn’t leave much time.”

Set on Christmas Eve, the programme is about a parent’s quest to travel 300 miles to pick up the last remaining ‘Sparklehoof Unicorn Princess’ that would make his daughter’s Christmas.

Joe, who attended St Wilfred’s CE Primary School, added: “The whole thing is a little bit of a homage to the film Trains, Planes and Automobiles and it was Lloyd who had the first seed of the idea.

“He’s got kids and he just said imagine if you couldn’t get your kids’ Christmas present but then you find it through click and collect and the store is miles away.

“It wasn’t based on direct first-hand experience. I can’t say I’ve driven 300 miles to get a present but I think everyone can relate to the general experience of the nightmare of getting things at Christmas. Each year there is a new toy phenomenon and often you don’t know until it’s sold out. I remember being a kid when Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles were sold out everywhere.”

Inspired by his brother Ralph’s love of shows like The Young Ones, Blackadder, Red Dwarf and The Comic Strip Presents, Joe got his first taste of the industry when he wrote and starred in short film Fez.

He said: “I played this teenage tearaway from Warrington called Fez and we just made it for our friends and to amuse ourselves.

“But I sent a copy to Steve Coogan as he’d just started a production company called Baby Cow. I put it in a jiffy bag and didn’t expect to hear anything.”

The next thing Joe knew he was being invited down to London to meet Steve as his team wanted to pitch Fez to BBC Two.

Joe added: “It was quite a surreal time in my life because I was still in school doing my A-levels but I would occasionally go down to London to meet Steve Coogan.

“Nothing came of it in the end. We did pitch it to the BBC and ironically it was the same commissioner who did, in the end, give me my first TV commission albeit 10 years later.

“But it gave me a sense that maybe this is possible. Maybe this isn’t total madness. Before that I had no idea how you got onto TV.”

Joe then studied animation, graduating from the National Film and Television School in 2007, before reuniting with Steve along with none other than Ian McKellen who he cast for his stop-motion short film, For the Love of God.

It won a handful of awards at festivals around the world and led to Joe having dinner with The Blues Brothers and An American Werewolf in London director John Landis. Before teaming up with Lloyd on a number of shows such as Sky’s Parents, Comedy Central’s Big Bad World and BBC’s Witless, Joe was part of the CBeebies Horrible Histories writing team for five series.

Joe, whose uncle was Warrington ‘secret artist’ Eric Tucker, said: “It was a good training ground because it had to be educational, factually accurate, funny and suitable for children while keeping adult viewers in mind too.

“So it was always a good challenge to write something like that. I also briefly worked with the brilliant Sherrie Hewson earlier this year and was delighted to discover that, during her Coronation Street years, she’d lived in a house about five minutes’ walk down Knutsford Road from my own.

"Growing up in Warrington in the ‘80s and not knowing anyone who worked in the media, it all felt a million miles away to me – but it goes to show it wasn’t quite as far away as I thought...”

Click and Collect is on BBC One at 9pm on Christmas Eve