Comic Steve Coogan has gone behind the cameras to produce his first TV series with new production company Baby Cow.

The Brighton-based TV star, whose roles include Paul and Pauline Calf and Alan Partridge, has stayed true to his roots with the new series, set to be called Beautiful Love, by filming parts of it in the Sussex area.

The series, written by and starring Rob Braydon and Julia Davies from The Big Train and Jam, will be a darkly comic tale of love and relationships, exploring issues like power struggles, sex, illness and hair loss.

Coogan's production company, set up with Henry Normal, may be called Baby Cow - but a horse rescued from a Sussex pony sanctuary is set to be the star when the series is shown in the autumn.

Sussex, a black shire horse, was picked from the 15 horses at the Three Greys Stables in Pyecombe as the mount for lead actor Rob Braydon.

Sussex was found tethered by the roadside near Lancing more than ten years ago and taken in by the Sussex Horse Rescue Trust, based in Uckfield, before going to the Three Greys stables in 1996.

When the BBC team came to the stables to film an episode of the series yesterday, gentle giant Sussex was the obvious choice as the show's centrepiece.

Rob Braydon, playing an inexperienced rider, had no problems with Sussex - despite not having ridden since he was a boy.

Sussex was also joined by a group of Three Greys regulars who appeared as extras on the show.

Ashley Raim, nine, Lauren Channell, six, and seven-year-old Pollyanna Brackenbury, all from Hassocks, joined Burgess Hill-based Louise Stoner and nine-year-old Daniel Boyce, son of Three Greys' owner Sue Boyce, to take part in the filming.

Louise, 12, has been riding since she was nine months old, so she didn't feel nervous in front of the cameras. She said: "The filming was good fun. We had to walk round as if we were having a lesson, but we had to to it over and over again so they could film different sides.

"I was excited when I heard I was going to be on TV. I'll probably be telling everyone at school to watch it when I get back. It was totally different to anything I've ever done before."

Producers have been planning the shoot at the Three Grey's Stables for the last four weeks. They chose the location after a former groom recommended it.

The stables' secretary Carolyn Baghurst said the film shoot had been a success: "It has been really good fun and the children have really enjoyed it."