Cucumber, a new gay-themed TV series set to air next year, will “lightly outrage”, according to Channel 4’s Chief Creative Officer Jay Hunt.`

The eight-part drama, which will broadcast alongside a sister show, Banana, on E4, and a web series, Tofu, is currently filming in Manchester, where the programmes are set. “We wouldn’t be Channel 4 if we weren’t planning to lightly outrage the Daily Mail. It’s so risqué that it wouldn’t get past an American network”, Hunt told at a press event discussing the programme.

Channel 4’s Head of Drama, Piers Wenger told The Independent on Sunday that some viewers may find content featured in the series challenging, saying “In a drama looking at the details of people’s sex lives, whether gay or straight people, of course you are required to bust taboos or ask probing questions. There’s no doubt people will find it challenging but it’s asking intelligent questions in an original way”.

Explaining the suggestive titles behind the shows, show creator Russell T Davies (Queer as Folk) told, “I once read about a scientific institute which had studied the male erection. It divided the hard-on into four categories, from soft to hard. One, tofu. Two, peeled banana. Three, banana. And four, cucumber. Right there and then I knew I had my drama”.

Earlier this summer, we announced the cast of the show, which includes Waterloo Road actress Georgia Henshaw and real-life gay Geordie, Andrew Hayden-Smith, who this week shared a picture from a costume-fitting for Cucumber.