Weekly Newsletter |
Monday 21st February 2022 |
Thank you to everyone who voted in our annual awards recognising the best TV and radio! We start this week's newsletter with the results.
Latest comedy news
Comedy.co.uk Awards 2021 results
Taskmaster, The Cleaner, Ghosts, Horrible Histories, Would I Lie To You?, Inside No. 9, Michael Spicer: Before Next Door, Dead Ringers, The Unbelievable Truth and You're Dead To Me are the winners in the Comedy.co.uk Awards 2021. Click through to see videos and pictures from the winners.
Jack Whitehall embarks on Sky travelogue with Jamie Redknapp
Jack Whitehall is making a comedy travelogue for Sky with ex-footballer Jamie Redknapp. Production is underway on three episodes of Got Got Need With Jack Whitehall And Jamie Redknapp.
Firuz Ozari wins Leicester Mercury Comedian Of The Year 2022
Up-and-coming stand-up comedian Firuz Ozari has won the Leicester Mercury Comedian Of The Year 2022 competition.
Mrs Brown's Boys to return for full series
Mrs Brown's Boys is reportedly due to return to the BBC for its first full series since 2013.
Comedians pilot high vis vest challenge show
A group of comedians are piloting High Visibility, a hidden camera show based on the theory that you can get away with anything if you're wearing a high vis vest.
Nik Hill wins Silver Stand Up Competition 2022
Nik Hill has won the Silver Stand Up Competition, the Leicester-based contest for acts over the age of 55.
Radio 4 sitcom pilot for Giants' Scandi music duo Fjörd
Comedy duo Giants will pilot a new Radio 4 sitcom in April built around their Norwegian dance music act, Fjörd.
Dawn French announces new live tour for 2022
Dawn French has announced a new solo stage tour later this year, Dawn French Is A Huge Twat.
Sitcom star Jack Smethurst dies aged 89
Jack Smethurst, best known as Eddie Booth in ITV sitcom Love Thy Neighbour, has died at the age of 89.
The Witchfinder cast revealed
BBC Two sitcom The Witchfinder starts on 8th March, with Jessica Hynes, Daniel Rigby and Reece Shearsmith amongst the cast joining lead actors Tim Key and Daisy May Cooper.
Eddie Izzard and Gemma Arterton to star in Disney+ series Culprits
Disney+ has announced Eddie Izzard and Gemma Arterton will co-star in its new British comic thriller Culprits.
Here We Go sitcom series coming to BBC One
Alison Steadman, Katherine Parkinson, Jim Howick and Tom Basden will star in Here We Go, a family-based sitcom series that follows on from Christmas 2020 one-off Pandemonium.
Feel Good wins at Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards
Feel Good writers Mae Martin and Joe Hampson won the Best TV Situation Comedy prize at the Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards. Prizes also went to the writers behind radio series Olga Koch: Fight, film The Personal History Of David Copperfield and online sketch Remember Getting The Period Talk At School? #Menopause.
Freddie Flintoff quits A League Of Their Own
Freddie Flintoff has announced he is quitting A League Of Their Own, after twelve years of the hit Sky sports-based panel show.
Advert
Award-winning writer and comedian Adam Kay has announced This Is Going To Hurt... More, his biggest UK tour to date.
This Is Going To Hurt... More sees Adam Kay share entries from his phenomenally popular diaries as a junior doctor in an evening of stand-up and music. This live comedy show will also feature brand-new stories from his forthcoming book Undoctored: The Story Of A Medic Who Ran Out Of Patients.
Tickets are on sale now via www.gigsandtours.com
Features
Comedy Chronicles: Michael Mills: The great enabler
In the first of a new series looking at the producers who made Britain's most celebrated television comedies happen, Graham McCann turns to the remarkable career of the great Michael Mills.
Dr Stefania Licari talks about her debut live show
Dr Stefania Licari talks about being both an intensive care doctor and a comedian with a debut live show.
First Gig, Worst Gig: John Osborne
From a three-person audience to Radio 4's coveted comedy slot, John Osborne rewinds his performing life.
30 years of Men Behaving Badly
The iconic 1990s television sitcom Men Behaving Badly marked its 30th anniversary on Friday. We look at what made the series such a phenomenon in this article, speaking to writer Simon Nye and stars Leslie Ash, Valerie Minifie and Martin Clunes.
Simon Nye interview: Men Behaving Badly & 30 years of TV
We also chatted to Men Behaving Badly writer Simon Nye about the politics of profanity, what it feels like to be a British writer in America and whether his panto writing days are behind him.
British Comedy Quiz #190
Can you remember what catchphrase Basil Brush has? What about the name of the farm that Shaun The Sheep lives on?
TV listings
Shakespeare & Hathaway - Private Investigators
Another four new episodes from Series 4 of the hit crime comedy drama. Today's episode (which is on iPlayer), saw Frank and Lu hired to look for a missing manuscript from a dystopian sci-fi author.
Guessable?
Show regular Jason Manford plus attic debutants Mike Wozniak, Babatunde Aléshé and Jessie Cave play another round of beguiling games to test their guessing and bluffing skills.
The Stand Up Sketch Show
Routines by comedians Michael Odewale, Michael Stranney, Tom Lucy, Felicity Ward, Larry Dean, Esther Manito, Babatunde Aleshe and Finlay Christie are reconstructed as sketches.
Starstruck
Tom hosts a New Year's housewarming party. An unexpected visit from Vinay wreaks havoc, as Tom tries to stop his drunk brother from meeting his new girlfriend.
This Is Going To Hurt
A politician's visit to the ward puts even more pressure on the already beleaguered hospital workforce.
Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable
Bill Bailey comes face to face with multiple victims of his and his dog's bad behaviour, David Haye overshares about creative ways to take his training supplements and Rosie Jones confesses all the times she's used her disability for evil (knowing Rosie, we suspect it's a lot).
Lazy Susan
In the final episode of the sketch show, skits include famous ex-couples reuniting over a meal to answer some very awkward questions.
Cheaters
Two more episodes of the relationship-based comedy. Esther's school reunion goes disastrously wrong as she is forced to face some difficult home-truths about her life and the decisions she's made.
The Tuckers
Glyn has to lose weight fast and Murphy offers advice. Bobby helps Natalie move house with dire consequences. And Peggy is worried about Dai's health.
Frayed
Series 2 of the comedy drama created by and starring Sarah Kendall. Having escaped from her native Australia, Sammy's situation is barely improved.
Billy Connolly Does...
In this new series, Billy Connolly looks back on his career and tells some tales. Each episode is themed, and the first sees him reveling in his own and others' bad behaviour.
#CancelKarenDunbar
In this documentary Karen Dunbar considers how comedians navigate taste and people's sensibilities in the current cancel culture climate, exploring the new boundaries of offence.
Would I Lie To You?
Auctioneer Raj Bisram, comedian Deborah Frances-White, presenter Stephen Mulhern and Chaser Jenny Ryan join host Rob Brydon and regular captains David Mitchell and Lee Mack on the comedy panel show.
Dating No Filter
It's time to get some dancing shoes on for our hopeful singletons Aaliyas and Brandel as they hope to get passions racing on a salsa dancing date. London Hughes and Versona Rose are amongst the comedians watching on.
The Last Leg
Richard Ayoade is set to be one of the guests joining the boys on Friday night.
The Graham Norton Show
Benedict Cumberbatch, RuPaul and Daisy Edgar-Jones are set to chat with Graham this week, plus look out for music guests Regard x Years & Years who perform their new single Hallucination.
Paul Sinha's TV Showdown
Georgia Toffolo, Sindhu Vee, Chris McCausland and Jonathan Ross team captains Fay Ripley and Rob Beckett on the comedy quiz show, as The Chaser expert and stand-up comedian Paul Sinha tests the panellists' TV knowledge.
The Curse
A deeply troubled Albert throws himself into smelting gold as fast as Billy can sell it on, as Episode 4 of the crime comedy folds out.
For a complete list of TV and radio broadcasts, including repeats, see our full schedule.
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Time For LovingFilmed in Paris by Oscar-nominated director Christopher Miles from celebrated French dramatist Jean Anouilh's first original screenplay, this bittersweet, May-to-September romantic comedy-drama stars Joanna Shimkus, Mel Ferrer, Britt Ekland and Susan Hampshire. A tale of three love affairs seen from the viewpoint of a small studio room in Montmartre, Time For Loving showcases a classic score from legendary composer Michel Legrand (with vocals from Dusty Springfield and Matt Monro) and is featured here as a brand new high definition remaster from original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio. |
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The Goodies: Avengers DissembleThere was an idea. To bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if they could become something more. It didn't work out. In fact, The Goodies Superhero Talent Agency is rapidly running out of steam. Which certainly isn't going to make Iron Man's life any easier. Clearly, it's time for Graeme, Bill, and Tim to cut out the middleman, fire up the Trandem, and become heroes themselves. What could possibly go wrong? This is the first in what is hoped to be a new series of novellas of original Goodies stories, fully approved by all three Super Chaps before Tim Brooke-Taylor's sad death early in 2020, with profits in aid of his long-term charity, an adventure playground for disabled children. |
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ScrewThe diverse gang of officers in charge at Long Marsh men's prison each have their own unique take on the job. Blackly comic, refreshingly absurd, and violently shocking, their stories powerfully reveal that there's more to life in prison than we know. In charge of C-Wing is Leigh Henry (Nina Sosanya), a career officer who'd do anything for her prisoners - but she has a secret that if discovered, could cost her the job - and even her liberty... With the arrival of fiery new recruit Rose Gill (Jamie-Lee O'Donnell), part of the Governor's mission to replace long-time staff with fresh meat, Leigh must risk everything in her fight to hold onto the job that defines her. As tensions mount between Leigh and Rose, we discover that Rose has a secret too - one that could prove deadly... Because any minute now, an officer will be killed. |
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James Acaster's Guide To Quitting Social MediaThis is a self help book like no other. Because you are not helping yourself, James Acaster is helping you. When James quit all forms of social media in 2019 he felt like he'd been born anew, but he was worried he'd suffer withdrawal and get lured back online to compete in a never ending popularity contest with only one possible winner (f*cking Zuckerberg). He knew that in order to stay clean he'd have to replace everything social media used to give him with three-dimensional, real-life activities. And so it was that James found ways to anonymously bully strangers, see photos of everyone's dogs, get invited to as many parties as possible, immediately know about all celebrity deaths, get public figures fired, argue with everybody about everything, and so much more without even owning a phone (he painted over the screen of his old one to stop himself looking at Instagram). His life is amazing and yours could be too if you buy his publication. You will also need to do everything the book tells you to. Including helping him promote the book by tweeting about it. |
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Morecambe & Wise At ThamesThe best-loved double act that Britain has ever produced, Morecambe and Wise were a staple part of British television for three decades and their festive specials as much a part of Christmas as turkey, tinsel and terrible pop songs! The shows they made for Thames Television in the late '70s and early '80s were top-flight light entertainment, showcasing their mildly anarchic humour, impeccable sense of timing and keen eye for the absurd. Guest-starring Terry Wogan, Hannah Gordon, Dave Prowse, Deryck Guyler, Gemma Craven, David Frost, Glenda Jackson, Donald Sinden, Judi Dench, Leonard Rossiter and Alec Guinness, among many others, these fast-moving skits and musical parodies have lost none of their warmth and humour over the decades. This six-disc set contains all 26 editions of The Morecambe And Wise Show alongside all seven specials made for Thames Television, most unseen since their original transmission. |
For more, see our full list of new releases and items coming soon.
Comedy videos
Cat Burglar introduction
Creator Charlie Brooker and characters Rowdy and Peanut are amongst those introducing Cat Burglar in this video. The interactive cartoon is coming to Netflix globally this Tuesday.
East Mode - Asian Parent A.I. Is Always Watching
Need a new smart speaker? Look no further than the Asian Parent A.I.! Ready to help you with every single tiny aspect of your life, it's just like living back at home with your parents.
Holding - Trailer
The trailer for the comedy drama based on Graham Norton's book, which starts on ITV next month.
The Nan Movie - Trailer
Catherine Tate's iconic character Nan hits the big screen in March as she goes on a wild road trip from London to Ireland with her grandson Jamie to make amends with her estranged sister Nell.
Dubiously Dubbing: The Office
Ricky Gervais in other languages, thanks to the translation skills of Yiannis Vassilakis.
Comedy Central Live - Thanyia Moore
Thanyia Moore takes a trip to the seaside, falls in love with a bowl of soup and discovers the FUPA in her stand-up set for Comedy Central.
Who Has Been Cancelled?
Channel 4's latest sketch. Imagine a TV feature where you could instantly see who was problematic and/or cancelled to make your viewing experience much more guilt-free...
Spotlight
A.J. Wentworth, B.A.
TV legend Arthur Lowe starred in his final sitcom as the titular period prep school maths tutor. Somewhat overshadowed at the time (1982) as it wasn't broadcast until after his sudden death, the series is an utter joy, based on H. F. Ellis's comic stories originated in Punch, and would surely have continued had fate not intervened. A complete DVD is available to own.
Thanks for reading
Nicky Roberts has won the latest BCG Pro Gag-a-Week competition on the topic of "lawyers":
I just prosecuted a handbag, shawl and gloves. They were all accessories to murder.
Interested in learning comedy? You'll find online and in-person courses on stand-up and script writing via our BCG Pro courses directory.
British Comedy Guide
www.comedy.co.uk
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