EXTRA SPECIAL: Ashley Jensen, the star of comedy show Extras, has landed a plum role in a US comedy produced by ABC, the channel broadcasting Lost and Desperate Housewives, writes Phil Miller.

Ms Jensen, from Annan in Dumfriesshire, is to star in Ugly Betty, after her acclaimed role as Maggie Jacobs in the BBC2 comedy.

In Ugly Betty she will play another sidekick role as a friend of the show's main character, played by actress America Ferrera, who is hired as a personal assistant to the editor of a fashion magazine, to try to stop him sleeping with his assistants.

Ugly Betty could bring wider fame to the actress who won best comedy newcomer and best TV comedy actress at the British Comedy Awards for her performance in Extras alongside Ricky Gervais.