Frankie Boyle will be heading to Russia before it hosts the football World Cup in a new BBC2 programme.

In Frankie Goes To Russia, the comedian will “go behind the stereotypes and half-truths of Russian football and culture”.

Frankie Goes to Russia – BBC Two Announcement (C) ITN Productions – Photographer: Production)

The programme will air “against a backdrop of spy poisoning, alleged state-sponsored doping, threats of ultra-football hooliganism and perhaps the worst relations between Russia and the West since the Cold War”.

The controversial comic will visit several of the host cities and “discover the Soviet drunk tanks  brought out of retirement for unruly fans”.

He heads to a “sleepy seaside town” preparing to host the England team, and visits a city twinned with Glasgow.

The programme was one of several shows announced in BBC2’s new season line-up.