Claim: James McAvoy worked on a television series.

Shameless is a British adult comedy-drama series set in Manchester on the fictional Chatsworth council estate . Produced by Company Pictures for Channel 4 , the series aired from 13 January 2004 to 28 May 2013 . The comedy drama , centred on British working class culture , was accorded critical acclaim by various sections of the British media , including The Sun newspaper and Newsnight Review on BBC Two . The programme was created and partially written by Paul Abbott , who is also the programme 's executive producer . In 2005 , the show won `` Best Drama Series '' at the BAFTA TV Awards and `` Best TV Comedy Drama '' at the British Comedy Awards . The network Showtime adapted the series into its own American version , which debuted in 2011 .