The BBC has announced plans for a radio musical comedy based on the life of the Duchess of Sussex.

Entitled The Sixth In Line To Be King And I, it will air on New Year’s Day.

The “Rodgers and Hammerstein-inspired” piece, on Radio 4, will look at Meghan’s life and her future, as she expects her first child.

The 15-minute musical is described as an “inspired celebration of Meghan Markle’s life to date”.

It will also “look ahead to what promises to be an exciting 2019 for the happy royal couple as they expect their first child in the spring”.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (John Stillwell/PA)

Pippa Evans will play Meghan, while Richie Webb and Dave Lamb have also been cast.

It is one of two episodes of the 15 Minute Musicals series.

The first, Eurostars, airs on New Year’s Eve and features a Eurovision Song Contest-style performance from “our non-Brexit-obsessed counterparts on the continent as they look back on their action-packed 2018”.

Songs could include Boom Bang-a-Barnier and Save Your Lira For Me.

The mini-musicals were announced as part of the Christmas and New Year highlights on BBC Sounds.

Other shows include Christmas specials of That Peter Crouch Podcast and Fortunately With Fi And Jane.

Tom Daley (right) and Dustin Lance Black
Dustin Lance Black with Tom Daley (Ian West/PA)

In Surrogacy: A Family Frontier, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black investigates UK attitudes towards surrogacy in a new podcast series for BBC Radio 5 Live.

Lance and his husband, British Olympic diver Tom Daley, became parents in June to a baby born via a surrogate.

Domestic goddess Nigella Lawson will “talk life, death, and roast chicken” in The Food Programme on Radio 4.

Nigella Lawson
Nigella Lawson (Ian West/PA)

There will also be interviews with the likes of Courtney Love, Bob Marley, Madonna, David Bowie and Adele from the BBC Archive.

BBC Sounds can be downloaded to listen to the Christmas and New Year highlights.