BURGHER Hall began life as a 15-minute play for Script Yorkshire, before York writer Ged Cooper picked up tips at the Sitcom Trials in London and took the plunge to convert it into her first full-length work in response to Piggyback Theatre Company’s call for new writing.

Despite its present-day setting, Cooper’s tale of the dark and farcical goings-on in a debt-ridden stately home is the stuff of sitcom.

The whiff of nostalgia emanates from its depiction of a faded England of squabbling siblings, a sage old nanny with an endless supply of scones and a plucky village schoolgirl who prefers the everyday dramas of a calamitous country house to lessons.

Think Monarch Of The Glen, but with the extra bite of the odd old-money Yorkshire family or three.

Sir Henry Burgher has died, leaving his family with debts he had kept secret, although all-seeing Nanny (Ruth Ford) knew the awful full picture. Now Jocelyn (Daniel Wilmot), the 29-year-old heir with the graces, must rally his very practical but temperamental sister Hilary (Sally Backhouse) and feckless, nanny-fixated, sweet but wastrel younger brother, Evelyn (Matthew Pattison), into somehow keeping hold of the family pile.

Nanny is always on hand with her swear box and scones; so too is young Alice Jenkins (Lauren Burnett), the ever bubbly dogsbody and card-game enthusiast. Into the hall at rather regular intervals comes the vicar, Jim McTavish (Alan Flower), a comic staple but here with an irreverent twist. Jim, a Glaswegian with an accent as thick as cold porridge, is a former armed robber who found God while inside.

Who will come to the rescue? Step forward Californian film director Victor Grey (Lol Henderson), at the request of London-living Hilary and her contacts book, to use the hall for a Hollywood period drama. Nothing, however, goes smoothly, as Cooper keeps the surprises coming, while slightly overstretching the second half.

Her writing is marked by strong characterisation: every part here is well drawn, the comedy flowing naturally from the situations they are put in, rather than being forced (often a weakness of limp Sunday evening sitcoms). There are sharp English behavioural observations too, such as our habit of bringing out water for pow-wow meetings.

Under the direction of Cooper and co-director Beryl Nairn, the playing is a little uneven. Wilmot’s turn is more of a caricature, matching the mock heirloom paintings and stag’s head on Mike Rogers’ set; Ford’s character is the closest to a send-up but is both wonderfully comedic and full of humanity.

Pattison has more subtle comic tools; Burnett is a delightful bundle of energy; and Henderson’s Grey is quietly impressive.

The play’s two damaged characters are its most interesting and best played, Backhouse’s Hilary finding her match in Flower’s McTavish (whose accent is a one-man comedy in itself).

A few tweaks to matters of English society etiquette could be administered, but this is a fun night’s theatre by a playwright who should now feel emboldened to do further full-length works.

Burgher Hall, Piggyback Theatre Company, 41 Monkgate, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 01904 623568.