Salford CBeebies star Joe Chambers is set to make his debut in the upcoming indie horror production Highly Recommended.
Chambers, a Salford-based actor, is set to play community caretaker Derek, whose disappearance opens the film and sets the rest of the night in motion.
Chambers is a familiar face to CBeebies viewers from The Rhyme Pocket and is also a regular on the UK pantomime circuit every Christmas.
“I have spent years being very loud and cheerful for children, first on The Rhyme Rocket and every December since on the pantomime stage somewhere in the country,” Chambers said.
“This role will be totally different, and I can’t wait to bring Derek to life…or death?” he added.
Chambers has spent the last decade alternating between educational presenting and pantomime stages from Newcastle to Kent, the role in ‘Highly Recommended’ takes a tonal shift.
His new venture entails a 90-minute horror comedy from Greater Manchester independent Angry Lynx Productions.
‘Highly Recommended’ is the debut feature film from writer and director Steven Griffiths, in which a small book club meets to discuss the week’s read, Mark Twain’s The Mysterious Stranger, and discover the book is hiding something they were not prepared for.
“Joe was the first person I thought of for Derek,” Griffith said, “Joe brings the warmth of a children’s TV presenter and the comic timing of a pantomime performer to a scene that desperately needs both before it gets very dark.”
“The film opens with one man alone in a community centre and something must go wrong… the audience must be on his side,” Griffiths added.
Filming is set to take place this weekend in a seven-day shoot at the Mottram Community Centre, with other cast members including Christine Walsh (Coronation Street and Hollyoaks), Neil Rowland (Coronation Street, Emmerdale Farm), and Wendy Patterson (Coronation Street, In The Flesh, Exciting Times).
The filming was completed in September 2026, with a public premiere pencilled for Halloween at Mottram Community Centre.
