Sue Perkins insists new BBC comedy 'Heading Out' is not based on her

Comedian and broadcaster Sue Perkins has taken the lead-role of her new self-penned comedy series 'Heading Out,' which is set to launch on BBC Two next week.

The main protagonist in the story may come across as it if is based on Perkins herself, but she insists it is not about her.

Perkins plays Sara, a 40-something veterenarian who, like Perkins, is a lesbian. Yet unlike Perkins, Sara has never come out to her parents. She is given an ultimatum by her closest friends on the eve of her 40^th birthday: tell her parents she is gay or her friends will tell them.

Sue said: “People will think the main character is me but it isn't at all. I am shy and a bit awkward like her but that isn't my story about coming out and that's not my parents.

But I never felt like I should really root it to my own experience, because my own experiences wasn't funny enough.”

Perkins also stated she does not want people to label the show as 'gay TV'.

She said “I'll be sad if people refer to it as a gay sitcom, because it so isn't. It's a sitcom and it's got a gay character in it.”.

Perkins continued "equally with the love story to ask – why label it? We are feel the same. We all feel. We all feel pain and unrequited love, we all feel awkward when it's a possibility, we all feel shy when push comes to shove.”

The new series stars Dawn French, 'Great British Bake-Off's Mel Giedroyc and 'Eastenders' June Brown.

'Heading Out' starts on BBC Two on Tuesday, February 26^th